Fr David Pickett, Rector of St Oswald’s, Guiseley, and St Paul’s, Esholt

ON the 14th of August, over three weeks after our supposed return to pre-Covid conditions, the Church will remember and celebrate a very special modern saint, Maximilian Kolbe – martyr and priest.

Maximilian Kolbe was born on 8 January 1894 in Poland and priested in 1918. After the outbreak of World War II, he and other friars fought against the regime by publishing anti-Nazi papers, as well as providing shelter for 2-3000 Polish refugees, many of whom were Jewish. On 17 February 1941 Fr Kolbe was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz. There he continued his priestly ministry, hearing confessions and holding mass with smuggled bread, for which he received beatings by the Guards.

At the end of July 1941 three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men cried out, “My wife! My children!”, Fr Kolbe stepped out of line and volunteered to take his place. According to an eyewitness, in his prison cell, Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied to house further prisoners, so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection. He died that day, August 14.

This true story is all about sacrifice. The sacrifice of self for others. Over these past 17 months so many people, especially those on the front-line of the NHS, have put their lives on the line for others, offered up their physical and mental well-being to help others keep theirs. Not all of them made it. Many lost their lives. But their families and friends will hopefully find consolation in the fact that their death wasn’t in vain. That their sacrifice – like Fr Kolbe – meant that others would live.

There have been millions of other sacrifices made over this period of the pandemic by so many different groups. Like Fr Kolbe they too must be remembered. They must never be forgotten.

This week the NHS of the United Kingdom was awarded the George Cross by Her Majesty The Queen in recognition of 73 years of dedicated service, including the courageous efforts of healthcare workers across the country battling the Covid-19 pandemic. This was rightly awarded, and we heartily applaud it. But sadly, many others will not get that recognition, so we, in our hearts and minds, offer up our prayers and thanks to them, with the assurance that their sacrifice will also never be forgotten.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’’

John 15:13