St. Maximilian Kolbe is widely know as a "martyr of charity," offering his life at Auschwitz in place of a husband and father who was chosen to die. This supreme act of love perfectly summarizes his life and expresses a motto that he lived by.
St. John Paul II pointed to this phrase when visiting a chapel in Rome dedicated to St. Maximilian Kolbe in 1979.
Pope Benedict XVI similarly commented on this phrase, giving more context to it in a general audience message in 2008.
This principle appears to be consistent with what St. John Paul II coined as the "culture of life," as opposed to the "culture of death."
World War II clearly showed the world how hatred and violence inevitably lead to death, while love and self-sacrifice lead to new life.
St. Maximilian Kolbe continues to teach us today to embrace love in our everyday lives and to be a creative force in the world.
