Have mercy on us, O Son of David: St. Maximilian Kolbe, compassion and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Scriptual Quote:> “And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, hearing that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ And Jesus stopped and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said, ‘Lord, we want our eyes opened.'” (Matthew 20:30-31)Context:The cure of the two blind men of Jericho (Matthew 20:29-34), the final miracle recorded by Matthew before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, holds significant theological weight. It follows immediately after Jesus teaching on service as a law of the Kingdom (Matthew 20:28) with a concrete act of healing. The cry “Lord, have mercy on us” (misertus autem eis Iesus, tetigit oculos eorum) echoes through centuries of Christian prayer, reflecting awareness of human fragility begging for Jesus’ compassion.Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe:August 14th commemorates the Memory of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe (1894-1941), a Polish Franciscan priest and martyr who died in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. He voluntarily offered his life in place of a fellow prisoner sentenced to death by starvation, Franciszek Gajowniczek, a family man. This offering represents the most radical “misereor nostri”: not only the cry for one’s own need but the surrender of one’s life for another’s.I. “Misereor nostri”: The Cry of the Blind and Jesus’ Response:The two blind men of Jericho cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:31), while the crowd rebuked them to be silent. This rebuke represents the temptation to silence the cries of those suffering—the anonymous, the marginalized, and those without institutional voice. Yet, the blind men cried out even louder (Matthew 20:31). Jesus stopped, called them, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32), respecting the uniqueness of each need.“Lord, open our eyes” (Matthew 20:33) was their response—the most fundamental prayer of human existence, acknowledging their blindness and begging to see. Jesus, moved with compassion (ἐσπλαγχνίσθη), touched their eyes (Matthew 20:34). The verb “moved with compassion” (literally “entranced”) describes Jesus’ visceral reaction to human suffering. Healing was not a distant act but a physical touch that communicated divine compassion.The healed men followed Jesus (Matthew 20:34), for healing was not an end in itself but the beginning of discipleship. To see with open eyes meant seeing Jesus, following Jesus, walking on the path he walked—a path leading to the Cross. The disciple who received healing was called to see what he could not before: that the Messiah’s way passes through suffering, and the mercy received compels him to exercise it towards others.II. Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Living “Misereor” Until Death:Born in 1894 in Poland, Maximilian Kolbe entered the Franciscan Conventual Order. In 1917, he founded the “Militia Immaculatae” (MI) in Rome, a Marian apostolate that became one of the largest lay organizations in the Church during the 20th century. He returned to Poland and established Niepokalanów (1927), the world’s largest Franciscan convent with over 700 friars and a printing press dedicated to apostolic work.In 1939, with the German invasion of Poland, Maximilian remained in Niepokalanów to assist refugees, including thousands of Jews. Arrested in February 1941, he was sent to Auschwitz. In July 1941, after an escape, ten prisoners were sentenced to death by starvation as retaliation. Maximilian asked to replace Francis Gajowniczek, who wept for his children. The commander agreed. Maximilian died on August 14, 1941, after three weeks, with a phenol injection.

III. Mary Immaculate: the Center of St. Maximilian’s Spirituality

Maximilian’s Marian devotion was not a peripheral aspect of his spirituality but its center. The Militia Immaculatae aimed to “convert sinners through the intercession of the Immaculate Mary.” The choice of the title “Immaculate” is theologically accurate: Mary, free from original sin, is the model of clear vision, always seeing clearly the mystery of God because the “blindness” of sin never affected her.Maximilian developed an original Marian theology: Mary as “the Immaculate Conception,” not only as one conceived immaculately but as the very personification of the Immaculate Conception as an eternal act of God. This intuition aligns with the theology of Thomas Aquinas and the spirituality of Francis, who saw in Mary the most perfect creature to have emerged from God’s hands. The “miserere nostri” of Matthew 20:30 has its privileged mediation in Mary: she, who is “immaculate,” intercedes for those who are “blinded” by sin.The offering of Maximilian’s life for Francis Gajowniczek is the concrete application of Marian devotion: Mary, who intercedes for sinners (as proclaimed in the Magnificat, “her mercy endures from generation to generation”), finds her instrument in Maximilian. The “miserere nostri” that the blind men of Jericho directed at Jesus, Maximilian directs by proxy to another: “Have mercy on this father of the family; I take his place.”

IV. “Aperti sunt oculi eorum”: The Vision That St. Maximilian Opened

Those cured by Jesus’ “miserere” (“have mercy on us”) “saw and followed Him” (Matthew 20:34). The cure from blindness opens the way to discipleship. Maximilian “opened the eyes” of millions: the Militia Immaculatae now has over three million members worldwide. Niepokalanów continues to function as an editorial and spiritual center. The “fruit” of his life and death far exceeds human calculation, like the seed that falls on the ground and produces hundreds of fruits.Beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982 by Pope John Paul II, himself Polish and a devotee of Mary, Maximilian was canonized as a “martyr of charity”: he died not merely for a cause but for a person. This specificity is theologically significant: Christian mercy is not abstract but concrete, love for this particular human being, with a name and children. The “miserere nostri” of Mt 20:30 has this concreteness: not “mercy for the blind in general” but for these two who are here.The eve of Assumption on which Maximilian died is theologically eloquent: he who lived entirely consecrated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception died on the day before the feast in which Mary is exalted with her body in glory. The “blindness” of Auschwitz was answered by a man who saw with open eyes through mercy: who saw in the other not the tattooed number but the face of a brother, and who said “miserere nostri” not for himself but on behalf of the other.