Holy Card: Full-Color Cardstock 2 1/2" W x 4" H (closed)
Saint Medal: Oxidized Silver 1" H

Saint Maximilian Kolbe was born in 1894 in Poland and at age 12, he received a vision from Mary that changed his life forever. Soon after, he joined a Franciscan seminary and took his final vows in 1914.

Before his ordination as a priest, Maximilian founded the Immaculata Movement devoted to Our Lady. He spread the Movement through missionary work in Japan and India. He fell ill during his travels and returned home to Poland in 1936. After the Nazi invasion in 1939, he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

On July 31, 1941, in retribution for one prisoner's escape, ten men were chosen to die. Maximilian offered himself in place of a young husband and father. He endured two weeks of torture before he was executed with an injection of carbolic acid. He was canonized on October 10, 1982.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe is recognized today as the patron of those addicted to drugs. His feast day is August 14th.