Relics of St. Maximilian Kolbe to be venerated in Diocese
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
In honor of the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz, Poland, the Conventual Franciscan Friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, will be bringing the saint’s relics to two parishes in the Diocese of Trenton.
St. Peter Parish, Point Pleasant Beach, will host the relic in the church all day from July 29-31. Presentations by parish clergy are planned but not yet finalized.
St. Catharine of Siena Parish, Seaside Park, will hold a prayer service Aug. 7 at 4 p.m., during which Conventual Franciscan Father Bart Karwacki, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Seaside Heights, will speak.
The reliquary contains many symbols from the life of St. Maximilian: the base is in the shape of his birthplace of Poland, covered in the “thorns” of occupation by the Third Reich. Out of those thorns bursts forth a lily of purity and a tulip of martyrdom, symbols of love triumphing over hate. The strands of the saint’s beard are housed in a glass case entwined with the Franciscan knotted cord representing his vocation to the Order and their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
Serving first as a missionary to Japan, in 1941, St. Maximilian demonstrated heroic charity by giving his life in place of fellow prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek; a husband and father who was one of ten men chosen to suffer death by starvation after being subjected to hours of standing in the hot summer sun, in the Auschwitz (Poland) concentration camp during World War II as consequence for one prisoner’s successful escape. Franciszek’s a cry of despair,” What will become of my family?” moved St. Maximilian to step forward and ask to be taken instead.
Canonized Oct. 10, 1982, St. Maximilian Kolbe was declared the “Patron Saint of our difficult century,” and a Martyr of Charity, by Pope John Paul II. He is the patron saint of prisoners, journalists, families, the pro-life movement and the chemically addicted.
St. Peter Parish is located at 406 Forman Avenue, Point Pleasant. For further information and a schedule of events, see their website at saintpetersonline.org or call 732-892-0049.
St. Catharine of Siena Parish is located at 50 E Street, Seaside Park, and may be reached at 732-793-0041.
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In honor of the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz, Poland, the Conventual Franciscan Friars of Our Lady of the Angels Province, will be bringing the saint’s relics to two parishes in the Diocese of Trenton.
St. Peter Parish, Point Pleasant Beach, will host the relic in the church all day from July 29-31. Presentations by parish clergy are planned but not yet finalized.
St. Catharine of Siena Parish, Seaside Park, will hold a prayer service Aug. 7 at 4 p.m., during which Conventual Franciscan Father Bart Karwacki, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Seaside Heights, will speak.
The reliquary contains many symbols from the life of St. Maximilian: the base is in the shape of his birthplace of Poland, covered in the “thorns” of occupation by the Third Reich. Out of those thorns bursts forth a lily of purity and a tulip of martyrdom, symbols of love triumphing over hate. The strands of the saint’s beard are housed in a glass case entwined with the Franciscan knotted cord representing his vocation to the Order and their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
Serving first as a missionary to Japan, in 1941, St. Maximilian demonstrated heroic charity by giving his life in place of fellow prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek; a husband and father who was one of ten men chosen to suffer death by starvation after being subjected to hours of standing in the hot summer sun, in the Auschwitz (Poland) concentration camp during World War II as consequence for one prisoner’s successful escape. Franciszek’s a cry of despair,” What will become of my family?” moved St. Maximilian to step forward and ask to be taken instead.
Canonized Oct. 10, 1982, St. Maximilian Kolbe was declared the “Patron Saint of our difficult century,” and a Martyr of Charity, by Pope John Paul II. He is the patron saint of prisoners, journalists, families, the pro-life movement and the chemically addicted.
St. Peter Parish is located at 406 Forman Avenue, Point Pleasant. For further information and a schedule of events, see their website at saintpetersonline.org or call 732-892-0049.
St. Catharine of Siena Parish is located at 50 E Street, Seaside Park, and may be reached at 732-793-0041.
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