POPE JOHN PAUL II (the Polish Pope)
We love this picture of the younger Pope John Paul when he visited Australia, December 1986.
He has given us all so much nourishment. Karol Wojtyla loved Our Blessed Mother Mary, the Mother of Jesus so much and devoted his life and Papacy to her gentle guidance and care. In Tribute the CD "Mother Sweetest Best" contains in track No 12 a Polish Hymn giving her our praise, our thanks and our love. You may download this sample as you read further on.
Dear People of Australia, dear Friends,
I have experienced the warmth and hospitality of the whole Australian nation. You have truly opened your hearts to me and received me as a friend and brother. The vastness of your country, with all its majestic features and natural beauty, is surpassed only by the hospitality and enthusiastic spirit of its people, from the Aborigines and Islander people whom I met in Alice Springs to your most recent immigrants, whom I seem to encounter at nearly every stop along the way. In the youth and in the elderly, and in all the parents with their families, I have had the joy of discovering the secret of Australia's greatness, your most precious treasures.
I came to Australia to join my brothers and sisters of the Christian Faith in celebrating Jesus Christ as the Way, theTruth and the Life. This is the heart of our faith. This is the basis of our hope. This is the source of our joy.
I also came to speak words of esteem and friendship for all who believe in God, and for all men and women of good will. My message has likewise been a proclamation of human dignity, and an appeal for human solidarity and peace, under the sign of truth and justice, freedom and love.
And all of this, dear people of Australia, is my wish for you today and in the years ahead. Remember always who you are, where you are going and why. Remember how much you have to offer to the world and how much its destiny depends on you. As a nation you are called to greatness, for you are called to love God and serve your fellowman!
And now: Advance, Australia Fair!
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 23, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Diocese of Rome published the written prayer to implore favors through the intercession of the late Pope John Paul II.
The prayer is being disseminated by the postulator of the cause of his beatification, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, of the Diocese of Torun, Poland. The monsignor is currently judicial vicar of the Court of Appeals of the Diocese of Rome.
In the last phase of the process of beatification, proof will be required of a miracle attributed to Karol Wojtyla's intercession. The process of beatification will officially begin June 28.
Here is the text of the prayer:
O Blessed Trinity,
We thank you for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendour of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is
the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that Pope John Paul11 will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.
Download Polish hymn to Our Blessed Mother (from CD Mother Sweetest Best)
track No 12 "Badz Pozdrowiona " HERE
To order a CD click on the 'Products' navigation tab on the top left of your screen or ORDER BY PHONE on 61 (0)2 8113 5794 (leaving your contact details including time and country, and we will return your call)
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Childhood in Poland
Born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920, Karol Josef Wojtyla was the son of a retired army officer and a school teacher. He studied literature and philosophy and later was a playwright and poet.
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And later still. Our Pope.
Doctor of miracles
Pawel Zuchniewicz talks to Dr. Patrick Theillier
Lourdes is the shrine, located in the French Pyrenees, famous for numerous healings and conversions. At the same time this is the place of the last trip of John Paul II. The Holy Father's visit lasted two days: 14 and 15 August 2004.
'Kneeling here, before the grotto of Massabielle, I feel deeply that I have reached the goal of my pilgrimage', the Holy Father said after his arrival at the shrine. Then he lit a candle and drank water from the spring, which appeared one hundred and forty-six years ago.
On 11 February 1858 Mary appeared to fourteen-ear-old Bernadette Soubirous. There were more apparitions. On 25 February the White Lady showed the girl where to move away the soil so that water could gush. Bernadette heard the command, 'Drink of the spring and wash yourself in it'. The Church approved the visions four years later. Lourdes has become a pilgrims' place (especially the sick) and 11 February was proclaimed the World Day of the Sick by the Pope from Poland. 'Lourdes, which John Paul II called 'sanctuary of human suffering' hosted the Pope on Saturday, a sick person among the sick, and sometimes even very ailing', Radio France Internationale reported on 14 August 2004. One of the eye witnesses of that pilgrimage was doctor Patrick Theillier. He is the 12th head of the Medical Bureau of Our Lady of Lourdes since the time the office was called into being. That's why we can call Patrick Theillier a doctor of miracles.
After over one year after the visit of John Paul II to Lourdes and half a year after his death I talk to Dr. Patrick Theillier about miracles, the Pope and his relationships with this shrine.
- It was a very important place for him and the best evidence is the fact that he wanted to come here before his death, the doctor says. - I remember when he came out of his papamobile and knelt on the prie-dieu. Then he was about to fall. Some thought it was because he was so weak but he was deeply moved.
- Then John Paul II met numerous sick people...
- I can say that just after the departure of the Holy Father a woman who was cured came to the Medical Bureau. She comes from Marseilles, she is married and has two children. Twenty years earlier he had a serious car accident. Her back was injured. From that time she wore a corset and she had serious migraine attacks almost every second day. Before going to bed she had to take pain-killing pills and every night she had to place the pillow in such a way as to minimalise the ailment. In August she came to Lourdes. And when she heard the Pope saying 'I bless you', she felt that her disease disappeared. That evening she fell asleep without any pills and fixing the pillow for the first time within twenty years. On 17 August, two days after the Holy Father's departure, she came to us and reported of her healing. I have been in touch with her. A year passed from that event and she has been completely healthy. Many things have changed in her life. She cares for the sick in hospitals in her home town. She also helps the sick in their pilgrimages to Lourdes.
An example of the legacy he left behind for us to follow...
Selections on new book on “The Culture of Peace” of the late Pope John Paul II written by Father O’Connor. (Taken from Zenit 24/07/05)
In the introduction Father O'Connor notes that John Paul II used the phrase "culture of peace" constantly in his speeches on international matters. This reflected "the Pope's conviction that the diplomatic process is inherently capable of reinforcing the deepest aspirations of mankind."
But it is not an abstract ideal. Rather, this peace is a consequence of humanity's efforts to promote global community and solidarity. The pillars of this community are cooperation, dialogue, reciprocity, and commitment to the irreplaceable dignity of all persons.
The introduction to each chapter lists a number of traits of the culture of peace contained in the documents. In the first chapter, containing the addresses to the diplomatic corps, they are:
-- A natural courtesy. The messages always begin with a greeting and contain expressions of gratitude.
-- A disciplined challenge. John Paul II warns diplomats that the dialogue for peace is not easy and is analogous to the biblical merchants search for fine pearls.
-- Transformation of the will. Security comes from choices born of the will. The culture of peace asks that the will be guided by rationality.
The third chapter of the book collects John Paul II's two speeches made before the U.N. General Assembly, and also some addresses to conferences of U.N. organizations. Father O'Connor finds these themes in this material:
-- Doing away with the possibility of provoking war. The 1979 address delineates ways in which war can be prevented. The Pope urged the General Assembly to discover and eliminate the roots of hatred, destructiveness and contempt. Moreover, the United Nations must analyze the tensions that damage human rights.
-- A commitment to peace. A commitment to freedom, solidarity and peace involves taking a risk. The risk of conquering fear, of embracing the weak and the suffering and of awakening the soul to the civilization of love.
-- Education. Culture is vital for mankind, since it is a specific way of our existing and being and determines the social character of our existence. The essential role of culture is to educate, enabling us to be more and not just to have more. As well, the task in a culture of peace is both to moderate and regulate all that would debase human nature.
-- The resources of the earth. The Pope expressed his concern for the plight of the hungry. Within the culture of peace there should be attention to humanity's stewardship of creation, to ensure a correct use of resources.
Those in Mortal Sin Can't Go to Communion, Says Pope
In a Message to Priests at Course on "Internal Forum"
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In keeping with Church teaching, John Paul II issued a reminder that no one who is aware of being in a state of mortal sin can go to Communion.
The Pope confirmed the traditional teaching of the magisterium in a message published by the Holy See on Saturday. The message was addressed to young priests who attended a course last week on the "internal forum" -- questions of conscience -- organized by the tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The Holy Father dedicated his letter, signed March 8 in the Gemelli Polyclinic where he was hospitalized, to the relationship that exists between the Eucharist and confession.
"We live in a society that seems frequently to have lost the sense of God and of sin," writes John Paul II. "In this context, therefore, Christ's invitation to conversion is that much more urgent, which implies the conscious confession of one's sins and the relative request for forgiveness and salvation.
"In the exercise of his ministry, the priest knows that he acts 'in the person of Christ and under the action of the Holy Spirit,' and for this reason he must nourish [Christ's] sentiments in his inner being, increase within himself the charity of Jesus, teacher and shepherd, physician of souls and bodies, spiritual guide, just and merciful judge."
The Pope continues: "In the tradition of the Church, sacramental reconciliation has always been considered in profound relationship with the banquet of the sacrifice of the Eucharist, memorial of our redemption.
"Already in the first Christian communities the need was felt to prepare oneself, with a worthy conduct of life, to celebrate the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, which is 'Communion' with the body and blood of the Lord and 'communion' ('koinonia') with believers who form only one body, as they are nourished with the same body of Christ."
Because of this, the Pontiff recalls St. Paul's warning to the Corinthians when he said: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27).
"In the rite of the Holy Mass," notes the Pope, "many elements underline this exigency of purification and conversion: from the initial penitential act to the prayers for forgiveness; from the gesture of peace to the prayers that the priests and faithful recite before Communion."
"Only someone who is sincerely conscious of not having committed a mortal sin can receive the Body of Christ," states the papal message, recalling the doctrine of the Council of Trent. "And this continues to be the teaching of the Church also today."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the difference between mortal and venial sin in Nos. 1854 to 1864.
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