Saint Maximilian Kolbe Medal Necklace – Patron Saint of Prisoners, Families and Recovering Addicts

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Patron Saint of Prisoners and Families

Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan friar who, before the Second World War, ran one of the largest Catholic publishing operations in Europe, including a magazine, a radio station, and a religious community he founded near Warsaw. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 and sent to Auschwitz, he continued quietly ministering to fellow prisoners under conditions designed to strip away every trace of dignity. When guards selected ten men to die by starvation as punishment for another prisoner's escape, Kolbe volunteered to take the place of one of them, a husband and father named Franciszek Gajowniczek, so his family would be spared the loss. He survived weeks in the starvation bunker before being killed by lethal injection on August 14, 1941. Gajowniczek survived the war and attended Kolbe's canonization decades later. Kolbe is remembered today as a patron of prisoners, families, journalists, and the pro-life movement.

A Gift For...

• Someone incarcerated, or a family member supporting them
• Someone in recovery from addiction, or supporting a loved one through it
• Journalists, publishers, and media professionals
• A father or family facing hardship
• Anyone who's sacrificed something significant for someone else's family
• A person drawn to stories of quiet, deliberate courage

A Confirmation Gift for Maximilian

Considering Maximilian for a confirmation name? "Chose to Stand In" or "Gave Freely" both fit within the 20-character line limit. He suits confirmation well because his entire legacy rests on one deliberate choice made for a stranger, a clear example of faith translated directly into action.

The Saint Maximilian Kolbe Medal

The design shows Kolbe haloed, holding a cross in his Auschwitz prisoner uniform marked with his camp number, 16670, set against a watchtower and barbed wire referencing where his final act of sacrifice took place. The natural gold or silver of the metal forms the illustration itself. Black ink is applied to the pendant surface and the metal shows through as the image. A shatterproof liquid glass coating seals the surface. The result has a depth and precision that printed medals don't achieve.

Personalization and Engraving

Reverse engraving available in Tangerine cursive, 2 lines, 20 characters max each. Well-suited pairings: a name with "Gave Freely," or a family date paired with "Chose to Stand In."

Saint Maximilian Kolbe's feast day is August 14th. The man he saved, Franciszek Gajowniczek, lived another fifty-three years and was present when Kolbe was declared a saint, close enough to see exactly what his own survival had cost someone else.

Related Devotions for Polish Saints of the Twentieth Century and Recovery

• Saint Faustina Kowalska Medal. Faustina and Kolbe were both Polish, both lived through the same era of national suffering, and both were canonized by a fellow Pole, John Paul II, making them a natural pairing for anyone drawn to Poland's twentieth-century saints specifically.
• Saint John of God Medal. John of God is patron of alcoholics specifically, giving Kolbe's recovering-addicts patronage a direct companion for anyone whose gift is centered on that struggle rather than his prisoner or family story.
• Saint Matthias Medal. Matthias is also invoked as a patron of alcoholics, standing alongside John of God as a second, apostolic-era companion for Kolbe's recovery patronage.