Invading Hell

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. - Matthew 16:18

What is “it” in this verse? Who is not going to prevail?

When I read this verse as a kid, I always thought the Church was simply an instrument of defense against this world. It is quite peaceful anyway to walk into a church and get away from all the busyness and stress of this world at times. But as I got older, I started realizing that the Church is actually in an offensive stance. “It” in this verse refers to the Church! There seems to be no indication that hell is mercilessly battering a whimpering Church. It is instead quite the opposite. As powerful as the enemy is, it pales in comparison to Christ’s Church.

However, the Church’s way of attacking Hell is not through violence or sheer power. That is how the kingdoms of the world operate. The kingdom of God, rather, works in Faith, Hope, and Charity. She does not seek greatness in domination but rather in service. She serves in all settings and at all times. Even in hell on Earth: Auschwitz. Although Auschwitz operated for 5 years until 1945, God invaded this camp and won in 1941. He didn’t send an army. He instead sent Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar and priest.

Prior to his martyrdom, Saint Maximilian Kolbe already served and loved our Lord greatly. I won’t dive too much into depth as I want to focus more on the days before his martyrdom.

When 3 men escaped from Auschwitz, the Nazis selected 10 men to die in the escapees’ places. When Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish Catholic, was selected to die, he cried out, “My wife! My kids!” Immediately, Saint Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to take his place without any hesitation. “I am a Catholic priest from Poland. I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children.”

The Nazis accepted this switch.

You would think that men would be wailing in despair and hopelessness in the starvation cells. Would they cry as they felt the physical pain of hunger? Would they get hangry? Or would their hearts sink each day and lose care for all things as they approached the end of their lives? Such are the conditions of hell.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe transformed this setting into a Chapel of praise and prayer. Camp staff noted that Kolbe led men in prayer, recited Scripture, and sang songs of praise. He even heard confessions and provided spiritual comfort to his fellow men, providing much-needed morale for the end of their lives. An assistant to the guards had this incredible eyewitness account.

“In the cell of the poor wretches there were daily loud prayers, the rosary and singing, in which prisoners from neighbouring cells also joined. When no SS men were in the Block, I went to the Bunker to talk to the men and comfort them…I had the impression I was in a church…”

Kolbe essentially transformed a sort of hell on earth into a religious experience. The part that makes me shake is how he got other men in the neighboring cells to join him in prayer and praise. This shows that Kolbe’s faith and hope were beautifully infectious. He was truly the salt of the earth in earth’s darkest part.

In the Book of Revelation, we get a glimpse of heaven and we see that heaven is filled with praise and prayers. These are precisely used to ultimately destroy the evil one’s kingdom in the last days, as we see throughout the book. In a similar manner, what Kolbe essentially brought into the starvation bunker is not just prayers and praise. He essentially brought Heaven.

As men kept on dying off, Kolbe still stood and knelt in prayer. After 14 days in the starvation cells, the Nazis wanted to clear out all the cells and kill off any surviving men via lethal injection. It is said that Kolbe calmly raised his arm to receive the carbolic acid injection, finally entering into his heavenly home. He allowed other men to encounter Christ, gave them hope, and showed them that there is something far more beautiful beyond the hellish conditions they found themselves in.

Kolbe’s time in the starvation chambers is just one of the many beautiful ways Christ works throughout history. The Church has never cowered from the evils the Nazis committed.

Instead, she invaded Hell in 1941. Although Auschwitz continued to operate for a few more years after Kolbe’s death, Hell did not claim Kolbe’s soul. I also dare to say it didn’t claim the souls of the men who died with him either. These men got to have a real encounter with Christ working through Kolbe. Kolbe never used intense theological arguments to accomplish this and instead relied upon Christ-like charity.

Although we may never enter into a starvation bunker, we will still encounter evil in our lives. This could take place within ourselves, our relationships, or other unfortunate events we are bound to encounter in a fallen world. However, we can be like Kolbe. We can lead our lives in praise, prayer, and charity. We can die to ourselves and this world every day and rise for Christ. We can lead our brothers and sisters out of darkness to Christ. This is how the Church works. This is how the gates of Hell will not prevail. And this can be how the Church invades hell.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!