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USA (Boynton Beach, Florida) Relics of Saint Maximilian Kolbe on Display

In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Conventual Franciscan Friar, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Our Lady of the Angels Province has scheduled a pilgrimage of a relic throughout their province U.S. and Canadian territory.

The reliquary being displayed is one of four that was created in 1971 (11 years prior to his canonization – thus marked as B. Max. Kolbe as he was then only elevated to blessed) to hold a portion of his beard that in 1938 was shaved after Friar Maximilian received permission from his Minister Provincial. It contains many symbols from the life of St. Maximilian: the base is in the shape of his birthplace of Poland, covered in the “thorns” of occupation by the Third Reich. Out of those thorns, however, burst forth a lily of purity and a tulip of martyrdom – symbols of love triumphing over hate. The strands of the saint’s beard are housed in a glass case entwined with our Franciscan knotted cord representing his vocation to the Order and their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.