On Tuesday, December 5, 2023, the third and final volume of the Writings of Kolbe (Edizioni Messaggero Sant’Antonio di Padova Publishing) was presented in the Sala Immaculata lecture hall at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome.
The first volume contained the letters of St. Maximilian. The second volume contained all his other various writings, arranged according to type: writings for spiritual retreats, meditations, daily notes, articles, unpublished writings, personal writings, legal writings and writings for inventions. The third volume, subtitled “Lectures-Process,” was edited by Friars Raffaele DI MURO; Emil KUMKA; Tomasz SZYMCZAK; Roman WADACH; and Cristoforo ZAMBELLI. It closes the trilogy by presenting the public with something new in the world of Kolbean writings: the lectures he gave throughout his apostolic journey and the testimony collected during his beatification and canonization process.
The speakers at the book presentation were the book’s editors: Friar Raffaele DI MURO, Dean of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure (Seraphicum) and Director of its Kolbean Chair; Friar Emil KUMKA, editor of the book’s index; and Friar Tomas SZYMCZAK, Secretary General, who was in charge of the lectures in the book.
The unpublished writings by or about Maximilian M. Kolbe in this latest volume, open up new avenues of investigation. Friar Raffaele DI MURO explained further: “With this new publication, all the literature produced to date on St. Maximilian M. Kolbe will have to be reexamined from a different perspective. In addition to the important lectures in the book, the testimony collected during Kolbe’s process of beatification and canonization is also very important, because it manages to give us a more intimate profile of him. The witness testimony sheds new light on the entire collective imagination of St. Maximilian.”
Antonio TARALLO
