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Events that happened Today in Church History
Today is the 18th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe. It was his fellow Pole Pope John Paul II who elevated this great priest, communicator and devotee to the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Kolbe, born in 1894, met a tragic but noble end by taking the place of a young Jewish father with a wife and children at the terrible Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. He willingly gave his life for another as Christ asked, "No greater love than to give one's life for another." This Conventual Franciscan priest founded the Militias of the Immaculate Mary, a monthly newsletter that spread rapidly, as well as founding the cities of the Immaculate Conception on the outskirts of Warsaw. John Paul pronounced that Saint Maximilian Kolbe's feast day would be celebrated universally in the Church on August 14, the day of his death and the eve of the glorious Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary to whom Saint Maximilian Kolbe dedicated his life just as our current Holy Father has dedicated his pontificate to Mary through Totus Tuus. It is interesting to note that currently, two Polish saints bookend this marvelous Pope's papacy. St. Kolbe was one of the first in the long, record-breaking number of saints John Paul II has canonized and Saint Faustina Kowalska the most recent of saints. At his canonization on this day in 1982, the Pope declared Saint Maximilian as a "Martyr of Charity."
For other time capsule events that happened Today in Church history, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
 Two kinds of truth
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"There are two kinds of truth; speculative and practical. Speculative truth is the truth of knowing, such as comes to us from philosophy, mechanics, physics and chemistry. Practical truth, however, is concerned with doing and living, such as ethics and morals."
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