Teresa chose St. Maximillian Kolbe as her patron saint. Kolbe is a 20th century saint and Teresa admired his desire to strive to do more for the Blessed Mother.
Kolbe was from Poland. At the age of 12 he had a dream that he asked Mary, the mother of God, what he was supposed to do. She asked him to choose from 2 crowns a white one ( perseverance in purity) and a red one (the road to being a martyr). Kolbe chose both. I now had 2 very striking pieces to add to the cross. Because Kolbe was put to death at Auschwitz after volunteering to take the place of a man with a family I decided to add a heart with a beat on it. I was ready to start the cross. It would be a red and white base for the Polish flag, crowns and heart. This cross was ready to start.
