Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941) was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar who founded the Militia Immaculatae (Knights of the Immaculata) and the Marian publishing apostolate at Niepokalanów. Imprisoned at Auschwitz, he volunteered to die in place of a stranger, Franciszek Gajowniczek, and was murdered with a phenol injection on 14 August 1941. Canonized as a martyr by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

August 14

• prisoners
• the pro-life movement
• drug addicts

Canonized

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