Novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe

Day 1

10 min

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.

Novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe

Opening prayer:

O St. Maximilian Kolbe, knight of the Immaculate and martyr of love, you laid down your life so that a father might return to his family. Kindle in me your fearless charity and your boundless devotion to Mary, that I too may live and die for others. Amen.

Read the meditation and offer the intention of the day.

Day 1: The two crowns

As a child in Poland, Maximilian saw Our Lady hold out a white crown of purity and a red crown of martyrdom, and he answered that he would have them both. That bold childhood 'yes' shaped his whole life, for he received the white crown in chastity and the red in the bunker of Auschwitz. He teaches us to desire holiness boldly, to ask great things of God, and to hold nothing back from the love that asks everything.

O St. Maximilian, who as a child chose both crowns from the hands of the Immaculate, obtain for me the boldness to desire holiness without fear, that I may give my purity and my whole life to God and keep nothing back from His love. Amen.

Today's intention:

For the grace to desire holiness without fear or reserve.

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

Pater noster, qui es in cælis,

sanctificétur nomen tuum.

Advéniat regnum tuum.

Fiat volúntas tua, sicut in cælo et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidiánum da nobis hódie,

et dimítte nobis débita nostra,

sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris.

Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem,

sed líbera nos a malo.

Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum.

Benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta María, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.

Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.

Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper,

et in sǽcula sæculórum.

Amen.

Closing prayer:

St. Maximilian, who turned a death camp into a place of song and hope, intercede for me before the Immaculate to whom you gave yourself wholly. Win for me the grace I now ask and a love so great that it counts no cost. Amen.

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen.