Anniversary of St. JP II's death today - his love for Mary

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today is the Anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s death, April 2, 2005. This article was a blessing for me; hopefully, it blesses you:

Cardinal recalls John Paul II’s devotion to Mary
Rome, Italy, Apr 5, 2011 / 06:02 pm (EWTN News)
Cardinal Giovanni Coppa recently recalled John Paul II’s commitment to the Blessed Mother.

The former nuncio to the Czech Republic noted that the late Pope wrote the opening lines of a St. Louis Marie de Monfort prayer at the top of each page of his writings.

Cardinal Coppa said it was the John Paul II’s custom to write the words from St. Louis Marie de Monfort’s prayer at the top of each page, beginning with the phrase “Totus tuus,” which was his papal motto.

“The Pope not only recited this prayer every day, but he also wrote part of it on the right-hand corner of each page of his homilies, speeches and encyclicals,” the cardinal told L’Osservatore Romano on April 1.

“On the first page he wrote the beginning of the prayer: Totus tuus ego sum, ‘I am all yours;’ on the second page, Et omnia mea tua sunt, ‘And everything I have belongs to you;’ on the third, Accipio Te in mea omnia, ‘I put you at the center of my life;’ and on the fourth, ‘Praebe mihi cor tuum,’ Give me your heart’.”

He repeated the lines on every page of the document in question, Cardinal Coppa recalled.

“At the archives of the secretary of state we have thousands of these pages on which John Paul II intimately and movingly expressed his love for the Virgin Mary,” he added.

This custom practiced by the pilgrim Pope showed that “his love for the Virgin Mary was a love without limits,” the cardinal continued. “He never lost an opportunity to speak about Mary. He dedicated his encyclical ‘Redemptoris Mater’ to her: redemption in fact became the common thread of his entire Petrine teaching.”

St. John Paul II, pray for us.
“Totus Tuus” - I am all yours, Mary, and all that I have is yours!

 

[Irishmom2]

Thank you for sharing this! I did not know this about John Paul II. He was, and still is, my favorite pope.

 

[Lily_Bernans]

I’m not a great Marian myself, though of course I do love and revere our Blessed Mother. The parish I go to is named in honor of our Blessed Mother.

I did know about St. Pope John Paul II’s great love for Mary. He credits her with saving his life after he was shot, and he made a very emotional visit to Fatima afterwards to thank her. He was very good friends with Sister Lucia.

He was a wonderful writer. During my studies for my Master’s degree, I studied many of his writings, and now, as a professor myself, I use them in my classes. He wrote beautiful prayers and poetry as well.

He is my favorite pope; I think he is one of the greatest persons of modern times, along with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

[MariaChristi]

I’m not a great Marian myself, though of course I do love and revere our Blessed Mother. The parish I go to is named in honor of our Blessed Mother.

I did know about St. Pope John Paul II’s great love for Mary. He credits her with saving his life after he was shot, and he made a very emotional visit to Fatima afterwards to thank her. He was very good friends with Sister Lucia.

He was a wonderful writer. During my studies for my Master’s degree, I studied many of his writings, and now, as a professor myself, I use them in my classes. He wrote beautiful prayers and poetry as well.

He is my favorite pope; I think he is one of the greatest persons of modern times, along with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Lily,

Thanks for your reply, and for your comments on Pope St. John Paul II. I hope that you also continue to grow, through his intercession and his example, into a greater love for Mary. I am continually blessed by his writings. In fact my husband is beginning a series of 9 classes during our afternoon Bible Studies on JPII’s encyclical “The Holy Spirit in the Life and Work of the Church” See HERE. We are just finishing our study of John’s Gospel and so it is a beautiful way to conclude before we take our “summer -break” from our weekly Bible Studies in our parish. The series begins May 1 - how lovely to begin in Mary’s month – Mary overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, to bring Jesus into the world!

It is difficult to compare the “Giants” among our saints in this modern era. I watched the funeral of Mother Mary Angelica yesterday on EWTN and was so blessed by the testimony of God’s work in her. Only God knows the greatness of each one who is Faithful to Him.

I was impressed by short clip of Mother Angelica speaking, possibly on the call-in section of her TV show when she spoke to someone who lived alone and was handicapped and Mother said something like: “So you are alone, and suffering from your handicap,…but you are more powerful than any nation, because you are praying from the point of your pain.” That is not an exact quote – sorry I had not the presence of mind to write it down, when I heard it – but it was truly the Holy Spirit’s Love coming through her motherly words. What an example for all of us Mother Angelica was and is! Another clip showed her defending Pope St. John Paul in another TV show. Mother was definitely unafraid to speak the Truth!

 

[Luigi_Daniele]

St JPII I <3 U!

 

[MariaChristi]

St JPII I <3 U!

Dear Luigi and Irish Mom,

Thank you both for your replies!