The man who would be King was convinced of Joan’s purity and her devotion and he sent the seventeen-year-old Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of the relief army.
Joan did more than merely participate, she led the French troops, a woman mind you, a child, only seventeen years old! Joan participated in the One Hundred Year’s War, armed warfare, between England and France, during the Late Middle Ages. Joan knew in her heart, the saints of God offered her divine guidance to help save her country, France from English dominance. Born into a good family, at twelve years old, Joan heard voices she later identified as Saints Michael the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. Saint Joan of Arc is the patron saint of military men and women. His group, in English, The army of the Immaculate one has over 3 million members in 48 countries.
His last words were reported to be, “Hail Mary!”ġ00,000 Polish Catholics died at Auschwitz, a single death camp among many camps. When only a few remained alive, they were injected in their veins with acid, a horribly painful death. One guard testified Kolbe never stopped praying. Kolbe offered to take that man’s place in the isolation bunker with the other nine. One of those picked begged for his life to be spared for his wife and young children. Following a prisoner escape, ten men were randomly picked to die as a punishment. Father Maximillian never stopped doing his priestly duties, hearing confessions, and he was beat for holding Mass with smuggled bread. In 1941, the Nazi’s arrested and imprisoned him, and shipped him to Auschwitz, a concentration camp, or a death camp. He was ordained a priest at the age of 24 and returned to Poland where he worked constantly to further the mission of Jesus.Īs World War II began to bring death to the world, Father Maximillian welcomed thousands of refugees, especially Jews. He chose both.Īt 16 years old he joined the Franciscans, the great Catholic order founded by Saint Francis, and was sent to Rome to study, where he founded an association of the faithful whose mission is to win the whole world for Christ through the Mother of God and the Church. Mary offered him a white crown or red crown, white representing purity, and red representing martyrdom. At only ten years old, he had a vision of Mother Mary. Maximilian Kolbe is considered a patron of journalists, families, prisoners, the pro-life movement, the chemically addicted, and those with eating disorders. So we pray to them to intercede on our behalf.īecause of the life he led, St. A patron saint is a heavenly advocate for us, in God’s presence, the saint can pray for us, or ask God for favor. Because of parts of their lives or their ministries, saints are often named as patrons of this or that. As a good Catholic, we pray to saints to help us we look to their lives in the hopes of being like them. A Saint is a title given to someone who is officially recognized by Mother Church as sharing eternal life with God in heaven. On All Saint’s day, we celebrate every Saint of the Catholic Church. November 1st is All Saint’s Day it is a holy day of obligation which means every Catholic is to attend Mass just like we do every Sunday. Minister Craig invited me to speak about the saints tonight.