與聖馬克西米連·科爾貝相關的兩頂冠冕源於他十歲左右經歷的一次著名童年異象:聖母瑪利亞顯現,手中拿著兩頂冠冕。
白冠:象徵純潔和英勇的德行。
紅冠:象徵殉道和為信仰獻身的意願。
當瑪利亞問他是否願意接受其中一頂冠冕時,科爾貝回答說他想要兩頂。他以畢生的虔誠和神職實踐白冠的象徵意義,並在1941年奧斯維辛集中營的飢餓地堡中,自願代替其他囚犯殉道,從而獲得了紅冠的象徵意義。
The two crowns associated with St. Maximilian Kolbe refer to a famous childhood vision he experienced around the age of ten, where the Virgin Mary appeared to him holding two crowns.
The White Crown: Symbolized purity and a life of heroic virtue.
The Red Crown: Symbolized martyrdom and the willingness to sacrifice his life for his faith.
When Mary asked him if he would accept either of the crowns, Kolbe replied that he wanted both. He lived out the white crown through his lifelong devotion and priesthood, and achieved the red crown when he willingly took the place of another prisoner in the starvation bunker at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1941