The Martyr of Charity, St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941), before his death in the Auschwitz concentration
camp, had a full and fruitful life.
"The Polish-born Franciscan Friar had spent the previous twenty-three years as a priest, evangelizer, media mogul,
social commentator, missionary and religious reformer. His life's work cut short at age 47, St. Kolbe nonetheless
left behind an impressive body of writings. In the 1950s the English-speaking world first began reading bits and
pieces of those writings translated from the original Polish, Italian and Latin. Now, at long last, devotees and scholars
alike can find the entire wide-ranging array of those writings collected together in a two-volume compendium.
I heartily welcome this first English critical edition of The Writings of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe. Its pages are
suffused with Christian hope. Under the general editorship of Antonella Di Piazza, FKMI, the text has meticulous
footnotes, comprehensive indices, and a brilliant introduction by Fr. Giuseppe Simbula, OFM Conv.
Because the frenetic pace of St. Kolbe's active ministry afforded him no time to compose a theological Summa,
this edition assembles together the wide scope of his extant writings into a unified synthesis. It represents a virtual
magnum opus of Kolbean thought-at one and the same time pastoral, anthropological, philosophical, spiritual,
ascetical and mystical.
These two volumes give vigorous new life to the prophetic voice of truth of one of the greatest saints of our times."
(Fr. James McCurry, OFMConv.)