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Today is August 14, the Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr.
We read at today’s Mass, “While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage” (Jos 3:17).
Today’s reading from the Book of Joshua recounts a powerful moment: the Israelites, at long last, crossing into the Promised Land. As the priests stood holding the Ark of the Covenant in the middle of the Jordan River, the waters held back, and all Israel passed over on dry ground.
This moment in salvation history prefigures something greater. The Church Fathers saw the Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary — the vessel who bore the presence of God, the one who carries Christ to his people. Just as the ark led the Israelites safely through the waters, Mary leads us, too, into the fullness of life. That’s what we pray for every time we say the Hail Mary: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
It’s especially fitting that today we also honor St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Conventual Franciscan priest who gave his life at Auschwitz to save another prisoner. He died in a starvation cell with nine others, and his final words were a whispered Hail Mary. His trust in Mary gave him courage in the face of evil, serenity in the face of death.
Continued below.
We read at today’s Mass, “While all Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage” (Jos 3:17).
Today’s reading from the Book of Joshua recounts a powerful moment: the Israelites, at long last, crossing into the Promised Land. As the priests stood holding the Ark of the Covenant in the middle of the Jordan River, the waters held back, and all Israel passed over on dry ground.
This moment in salvation history prefigures something greater. The Church Fathers saw the Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary — the vessel who bore the presence of God, the one who carries Christ to his people. Just as the ark led the Israelites safely through the waters, Mary leads us, too, into the fullness of life. That’s what we pray for every time we say the Hail Mary: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
It’s especially fitting that today we also honor St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Conventual Franciscan priest who gave his life at Auschwitz to save another prisoner. He died in a starvation cell with nine others, and his final words were a whispered Hail Mary. His trust in Mary gave him courage in the face of evil, serenity in the face of death.
Continued below.
Guided by the hand of Mary
Marian devotion, modeled by St. Maximilian Kolbe, reveals how trust in Mary leads us with courage into the fullness of life in Christ.