Friar at Marytown Wins Kolbe Award

A painting of St. Maximilian Kolbe found in Niepokalanow, Poland

This year’s Kolbe Award winner is Brother Raphael Ruffolo – a Conventual Franciscan. Having entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1949, Brother Raphael helped found Marytown, which at that time was located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He also served as guardian of the institution and was instrumental in moving it to its current location in Libertyville, Illinois. Marytown is of course a community of Conventual Franciscan friars and includes the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a retreat house, as well as the National Center for the Militia of the Immaculata and several other important places.

Marytown in Libertyville, Illinois

Criteria for the Kolbe Award require the winner to spend his life teaching others the values of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Virgin Mary, and the Eucharist. Brother Raphael has done precisely this through his work at Marytown.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta won the Kolbe Award in the past

The Kolbe Award came into existence in 1989 through an act by the National Director of the Militia of the Immaculata at the time, Friar James McCurry, OFM Conv. Past award winners include Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Claude R. Foster.

(Sources of all related images: Conventual Franciscans, www.wikipedia.org, and www.marytown.com.)