Pope St John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland on the 18th of May 1920.
He was ordained a priest on the 1st November 1946 and consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow on the 28thSeptember 1958. He became Archbishop of Krakow in 1964 and attended the Council of Vatican II. St Pope Paul VI made him a Cardinal on the 26th June 1967.
St John Paul II became Pope on the 16th of October 1978 and was the second longest serving Pope after Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) in modern history and the first non-Italian Pope since Pope Adrian VI (16thcentury). During his Pontificate he wrote 14 Papal Encyclicals and may Apostolic letters and Exhortations. He visited 129 countries, beatified 1,340 people and canonised 483 Saints.
Pope St John Paul II died on the 2nd of April 2006and his cause for canonisation commenced one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived. He was Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 1st May 2011 and Canonised by Pope Francis on 27th April 2014(Divine Mercy Sunday).
His Papal motto was Totus Tuus (all yours). He took this motto from one of St Louis Marie of Montfort’s books “True devotion to Mary”. “I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart” He consecrated his life and papacy to Our Blessed Lady. He understood that he could not exclude Mary from his life as this would be disregarding the will of her son Jesus as he gave his mother to us.
“From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s will in all things. From Mary, we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary, we learn to love Christ, her Son and the Son of God. As a great sign that has appeared in the heavens, Mary guides and sustains us on our pilgrim way, urging us on to “the victory that overcomes the world, our faith”
St Pope John Paul II, pray for us.
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