Question on Maximillian Kolbe

[jeanne]

Yesterday I went to hear George Weigle (author of WITNESS TO HOPE, the biography of JP II, and many other books) speak. The church where he spoke was built in 2000 so everything in it was very new (except beautiful stained glass windows which were salvaged from a Polish church which closed in Massachusetts) There was a statue of St Maximillian Kolbe, and in his hand he was holding what looked like a crown contained within what looked like a loaf of bread. Does anyone know the significance of this bread/crown?

Jeanne

[Jaga]

Kolbe was devoted to St. Mary, he was a knight of St. Mary, he was also proclaimed the martyr of charity. Maybe somehow these signs (charity-bread, Mary - queen of the heaven) related to it.

[troubledgoodangel]

I haven't seen this particular statue, but it probably references the vision St. Maximilian had as a boy, where Our Lady appeared to him holding two crowns in her hands, one white "for remaining pure for life," and the other red, "for becoming a martyr." The story goes that St. Maximilian chose both. Incidently, I have done an extensive study on this Saint at Orchard Lake in early 80's, and my thesis is available on display at St. Mary's Mullen Library. Besides of the analysis of that Saint's spirituality, which I think was quite thorough, part of my study focussed on the rebuttal of columnist Richard Cohen's accusations that St. Maximilian was anti-semite, charges which I had proven wrong. The Saint's Writings (7 volumes), show with absolute certainty that he had great esteem for the Jews, and that his well-intended recriminations of the Protocols of the Elders of Sion, from which the Saint quoted profusely, were evidence of that loving concern!

[jeanne]

Jaga and troubledgoodangel,

Thanks for your input, these explanations seem plausible.

If anyone else has any ideas, they would be appreciated.

troubledgoodangel,
Where is Orchard Lake? and would your thesis be available online?

Jeanne

[Jaga]

Troubleangel,

thanks for your input. This is probably a very good explanation of the crown or crowns. Are your works available somewhere in virtual world? It looks that you done remarkable research really!

[troubledgoodangel]

admin said:

Troubleangel,

thanks for your input. This is probably a very good explanation of the crown or crowns. Are your works available somewhere in virtual world? It looks that you done remarkable research really!

To say the truth, I don't know but I doubt that students' theses from 1983 would be on the Internet, for there wasn't any Internet at the time. Orchard Lake is in Michigan, near Ann Arbor and Pontiac. It is the largest Polish-American school in both Americas. Some of the halls are located in former headquarters of the Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. The St. Mary's Library is remarkably well stuffed with precious Polish books and World War II manuscripts. Much of the stuff has been salvaged after the war and is a priceless source for private "family "research on lost relatives and Polish history. Just to see the library is worth going there. The 7-volume Writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe are available also. I had the privilege to be the first student in the U.S. to get hold of the first English translation approved by the Vatican in virtue of my research directly related to this Saint.

[jeanne]

How interesting.The St Mary's Library sounds like a goldmine of information. Would love to visit there someday.