Kolbe and Therese

Today’s saint, the great Pole Maximilian Kolbe, widely remembered for his sacrificial death in Auschwitz, 'often referred to St. Therese's Little Way and Oblation to Our Lord's Merciful love in his letters and notebooks. He saw this little saint as a key component and exemplar of the movement of consecration to Jesus through Mary, by the writings and spirituality that she taught and lived so heroically. He was so impressed by her life, that he visited the Basilica at Lisieux dedicated to her, while it was still being constructed.  He set foot inside the monastery church where she died and noted that, "on the main altar the statue of St. Therese has been lit up; beside her tomb, at the foot of the Immaculata - yes- I prayed. In my mind, I commended everyone and everything..."  When he arrived in Southeast Asia in 1933 seeking to establish mission churches there, he sought to head "first to the church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus" which the Chinese of Singapore had recently built in her honour...Inside, he reports that Jesus was in the centre in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and there was 'a large statue of the little saint against the backdrop of a stained-glass window, depicting episodes of her life.' He comments on how his prayer time was spent speaking with this young girl who was 'Patron of all missions' and noted that 'She was able to carry out missionary work, so much so that the … citizens of the far away Singapore even built her a temple. Yet she never cast her gaze beyond the walls of the small convent in Lisieux."' [With acknowledgements to another website.]

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Sue B, Theresa K, Fr Jon

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS - housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)