Show Notes

In this episode, Fr. Matt and Fr. Brian talk about Triumph of the Heart, a 2025 film about the final days of the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest killed at Auschwitz.

(0:05) Fr. Brian and Fr. Matt catch up on the past few weeks. Fr. Matt talks about his recent pilgrimage to Rome for the canonizations of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, and Fr. Matt shares about the new academic year at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

(2:30) Before discussing this episode’s movie, Fr. Matt shares that he watched three movies on his flights to and from Rome: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and Burnt (2015). Fr. Brian recently saw Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025) with a group of seminarians.

(5:25) Our hosts introduce this episode’s film, Triumph of the Heart (2025), about the final few days of the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Fr. Matt provides a short biography of the saint and shares how that story influenced his own discernment of the priesthood. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest imprisoned in Auschwitz during World War II. When another prisoner escaped, the Nazis planned to execute 10 others. Maximilian offered himself in place of one of the 10.

(9:45) Fr. Brian warns listeners that because of its setting in Auschwitz, the film and their discussion of it deal with some and intense and horrific imagery.

(15:04) Fr. Brian talks about how the filmmakers use fictionalized versions of the other men imprisoned with Maximilian Kolbe as a way to tell the stories of all the groups that were imprisoned by the Nazis.

(19:19) Fr. Matt shares how Triumph of the Heart reminds him of The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928).

(26:54) Fr. Matt tells the story of how some of the very few first-class relics of St. Maximilian Kolbe were collected.

(34:43) Fr. Brian talks about the beautiful manner in which the film depicts the final days of St. Maximilian and the other last few men from the original group of 10 prisoners. He was particularly touched by the very end of the film, when all of the prisoners are seen at a wedding banquet. Fr. Matt and Fr. Brian discuss that, as horrible as martyrdom is, it is also a victory.

(38:34) Fr. Brian and Fr. Matt talk about other films and television shows that depict the saints and other important Catholic figures. They also discuss some more contemporary saints, including St. Edith Stein, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, and St. Carlo Acutis. Wrapping up the episode, Fr. Matt and Fr. Brian give their Seeds of the Word ratings.