Maximilian-Kolbe-Service.Pdf

Westminster Abbey Opactwo Westminster A Service to celebrate the 125 th anniversary of the birth of St Maximilian Maria Kolbe Nabożeństwo z okazji 125 lecia narodzin Św Maksymiliana Marii Kolbe Sunday 13 th January 2019 6.30 pm Niedziela 13 stycznia 2019 18:30 Niepokalanów 1940 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ‘Be better every moment, time is precious now’—reminded St Maximilian Kolbe, world champion in realising dreams. Rajmund Kolbe was born 8 th January 1894. When he was ten years old, the Mother of God appeared to him with two crowns for him to choose from. A white crown for purity and a red crown for martyrdom. He chose both. He liked the sciences and was curious about future inventions; it was not easy for him to decide upon a religious life. He practised hard to be obedient to God’s will and not to stray from the path of humility. At the same time, he was assertive, he could fight successfully to achieve the goals set for him by God. As a student of the Franciscan high school in Lwów he entered the order of Friars Minor Conventual, receiving the name of Maximilian Maria. He was sent to study in Rome, where in 1915 he was awarded a doctorate in philosophy and in 1919 another in theology. ‘Give your whole self into the hands of Merciful Providence, that is to the Immaculate, be calm’—he wrote. In 1917, together with his friends, he formed a Marian Association, now known as the Knighthood of the Immaculata, whose aim is the conversion of all to the way of faith. On 28 th April 1918, he was ordained priest. He wrote; ‘Do what you must in faith, without concerning yourself with the affairs of others; in this way you will have more time to fulfil your own duties. Whatever befalls you, it is all permitted by God for your greater good. Accept it then in peace and with love, and do not worry about anything.’ He resolved to establish a periodical for lay members of the Knighthood. He understood the challenges of contemporary life. ‘We must be on the attack to recapture any ground stolen by the enemy, to harness all inventions for the service of God’ – thus he urged his companions, but he still had to acquire funding for his plans. ‘I was ashamed to hold out my hand for alms’, he recalled. In the end, he asked a parish priest in Kraków with whom he was acquainted, and he received a donation as well as a list of possible donors. He found it hard to pay the costs of the first edition, and his superior admonished him, ‘That’s how it ends, my child, when you tilt at windmills.’ He went to pray at Mary’s altar for help and as he rose, he noticed an envelope placed at her feet with the exact sum required to cover all the costs. In January 1922, 5,000 copies of the first Knight of the Immaculata were issued. Kolbe wrote of his success, ‘Everybody wants and chases after success, but few find it, because they do not look where it is to be found.’ The magazine has appeared regularly since that day. He fought hard for the purchase of his first printing press. His superiors argued: St Francis did not have a printing press, he did not produce magazines, yet he still became a great saint. ‘Is this a reason for us to sit around in a 13 th -century armchair, denouncing the advances of technology?’ answered Kolbe. ‘Let us not be afraid of progress, let us sanctify it!’ The friars agreed on the condition that he would find the money for the press. Again, he turned to Mary and later… he purchased a hand- cranked copying machine, because there was no electricity in the monastery in Grodno to which he had been sent. He wrote articles, turned the crank, and 4 delivered the Knight to the post office. He had a few brothers to help him. At last donations began to increase, the printing house became more modern and eventually Father Maximilian built a monastery publishing house not far from Warsaw. Truth shone out from the barracks in which the brother-publishers lived, increasing vocations as well as circulation figures for the Knight and membership of the Association, which numbered a million in 1939. Maximilian Kolbe also published a daily paper and dreamed of worldwide distribution and his own press agency. He was a man of prayer. He quoted St Bernard, to call on the name of Mary in all difficulties, for she will always save us if we but call on her for help. ‘Why do you worry and grieve?’ he wrote. ‘Leave everything to the Immaculate and trust her with everything. She can turn all evil to good.’ He surprised his superiors with another idea, a request to travel to Japan to organise publication of the Knight there. Do you have the money? ‘Not yet.’ Do you speak Japanese? ‘No, but I will learn.’ Do you have the support of any acquaintances there? ‘No, but the Immaculate will sort it out’, he replied. In February 1930, five missionaries went to conquer the East taking hand luggage only. One month after arriving in Nagasaki, Maximilian Kolbe sent a telegram: ‘We are sending out the Knight of the Immaculata in Japanese—we have a printing press.’ They lived in poverty, but soon the first converts came, followed by vocations and Maximilian Kolbe built a monastery for them. In 1938, two years after his return to Poland, Father Maximilian launches a shortwave radio station Radio Niepokalanów and in that year receives 900,000 letters from readers of the Knight . He plans to build a film studio and an airport, but his plans are cut short by the war. The monastery publishing house becomes a monastery workshop for refugees. Towards the end of 1939, the friars are sheltering 3,500 people of whom 2,000 are Jews. Maximilian Kolbe is arrested on the 17 th February 1941. Twenty friars offer to take his place and that of the other friars arrested with him. The request is refused by the Germans. He is taken to Auschwitz and tortured. Whenever a prisoner escapes, ten people are chosen at random for death by starvation. Maximilian Kolbe is not chosen, but when he hears Franciszek Gajowniczek, grieving for the fate of his family, he declares, ‘I will take his place.’ The offer is accepted. For two weeks, only prayers are heard from the bunker of death, no swearing, followed by silence. On 14 th August 1941, only Maximilian is left alive, so an executioner gives him a lethal injection of carbolic acid. In 1982, Pope John Paul II declares Father Maximilian Kolbe a saint. ‘Who is a Knight of the Immaculata?’ wrote St Maximilian. ‘He does not close his heart to himself, to his family, to his nation, but he embraces the whole world with it, each and every person, because they are all, without exception, redeemed by the Blood of Our Lord Jesus. They are all our brothers.’ Elżbieta Sobolewska-Farbotko 5 ŻYCIORYS „Co chwila bądź lepszy, teraz czas drogi”—mawiał święty Maksymilian Kolbe, mistrz świata w dyscyplinie realizacji marzeń. Rajmund Kolbe urodził się 8 stycznia 1894. Kiedy miał 10 lat, objawiła mu się Matka Boża, ukazując do wyboru dwie korony, białą i czerwoną. Biała oznaczała czystość, a czerwona—męczeństwo. Wybrał obie. Lubił nauki ścisłe i rozmyślał o przyszłych wynalazkach; niełatwo mu było podjąć decyzję o zakonie. Dużo nad sobą pracował, aby stać się posłusznym woli Bożej i nie schodzić z drogi pokory. Równocześnie był asertywny, potrafił skutecznie walczyć o realizację celów stawianych mu przez Boga. Jako uczeń franciszkańskiego gimnazjum we Lwowie wstąpił do Zakonu Braci Mniejszych Konwentualnych, otrzymując imię Maksymilian Maria. Wysłany na studia do Rzymu, w 1915 uzyskał doktorat z filozofii, a w 1919 z teologii. „Oddaj się cały w ręce miłosiernej Opatrzności Bożej, to jest Niepokalanej, bądź spokojny”—notował. W 1917 założył z przyjaciółmi maryjne stowarzyszenie, nazywane współcześnie Rycerstwem Niepokalanej, którego celem jest nawracanie na drogę wiary. 28 kwietnia 1918 przyjął święcenia kapłańskie. Pisał: „Z ufnością czyń, co masz czynić, nie wdając się w sprawy innych; tak uzyskasz o wiele więcej czasu do wypełnienia własnych obowiązków. Cokolwiek ci się przydarzy, to wszystko Pan Bóg dla twego większego dobra dopuszcza. Przyjmuj więc w pokoju i z miłością, i o nic się nie troszcz.” Dla świeckich członków Rycerstwa postanowił założyć pismo. Rozumiał wyzwania współczesności. „Musimy ruszyć do ataku, opanować teren zabrany przez wroga, wprząc wszystkie wynalazki w służbę Bożą”—przekonywał kolegów, ale musiał zdobyć na swoją działalność pieniądze. „Wstydziłem się wyciągnąć rękę po jałmużnę”—wspominał. Wreszcie poprosił znajomego proboszcza w Krakowie, który złożył ofiarę, dając mu jeszcze kilka adresów. Trudno mu było spłacić druk pierwszego numeru, a przełożony pouczał: „Tak to kończy się, moje dziecko, gdy ktoś z motyką porywa się na słońce”. Poprosił o pomoc Maryję i wstając od modlitwy zauważył kopertę z dokładną kwotą na pokrycie kosztów. W styczniu 1922, w nakładzie 5 tysięcy egzemplarzy, wyszedł pierwszy „Rycerz Niepokalanej”. Kolbe pisał w nim o szczęściu: „Wszyscy szczęścia pragną i za nim gonią, ale niewielu je znajduje, bo nie szukają tam, gdzie ono jest.” Odtąd pismo ukazuje się regularnie. O zakup pierwszej maszyny drukarskiej walczył z ojcami, którzy argumentowali: Św Franciszek nie miał drukarni, nie wydawał pism, a został wielkim świętym. „Czyż to powód, żebyśmy się rozsiedli na XIII wieku jak w fotelu, potępiając zdobycze techniki?”—odpowiadał Kolbe.—„Nie bójmy się postępu, ale go uświęcajmy!” Ojcowie zgodzili się pod warunkiem, że znajdzie na maszynę pieniądze. Znowu pobiegł do Maryi, a potem… kupił maszynę na korbę, bo w klasztorze w Grodnie, dokąd został wysłany, nie było elektryczności.

Load more