A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Madrid, April 3, 2011.- There are lots of anecdotes about John Paul II that reflect and make palpable his holiness. He was a holy person from the beginning to the end, from A to Z. The motor in his life was prayer and his devotion to the Virgin. He once said ‘They try to understand me from the outside, but you can only understand me from within.’
The recent publication of the book Why He is a Saint, written by the postulator for the canonization of John Paul II, offers multiple facets of his character. Here we have gathered some of the anecdotes published in this book and others.
The announcement of the coming beatification of the creator of the World Youth Days on May 1st has been the cause of much joy for many people. In more than one occasion, Benedict XVI, has encouraged young people to follow the light in the wake of the saints ‘In the history of the Church, the saints found strength in faith to overcome their own weaknesses and all adversity. They have been instruments of peace, promoters of justice, and advocates of a more human world. Also, if you believe, if you know how to live and give each day witness of your faith, you will be an instrument that will help other young people as yourselves to find the purpose and the joy of life that springs from meeting with Christ.’ (Message for WYD Madrid).
Hopefully looking to John Paul II will help all the young people of the world prepare the way towards the World Youth Day of Madrid.
Amigo de sus amigos (Friend of his friends)
The affection that he felt for his friends and childhood companions remained alive in him despite the passing of the years. He met with them to eat, organized excursions, and wrote to them. In more than one occasion, when he was already the Pope, he reestablished relations with people whom he had lost contact.
That is what happened, for example, with the Jewish engineer Jerzy Kluger, a childhood friend from his days in Wadowice. He lost contact with Jerzy due to the tragic events of the Second World War and the deportation of the Jews to Nazi concentration camps. After being chosen as the Pontiff, the two friends regained contact and met with assiduity at the Vatican as well as Castel Gandolfo until the death of John Paul II.
There have also been multiple examples of affection with the staff of the Roman Curia. In many occasions he would wish them happy returns on their saints’ days or on the anniversary of their sacerdotal or episcopal ordinations. On the last day of his life, he wished to say good-bye not only to the highest echelon of the Vatican, but with Franco, the person that took care of the Pontiff’s quarters, or with Arturo, the photographer that was with him for numerous years.
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Pages 20-27.
Buen humor en la juventud y en la vejez (Good temperament in youth and old age)
In one occasion, a person dear to the Pope was asked what impressed him the most about John Paul II, to which he responded was his good temperament. ‘It may seem that to be in a good mood forms part of the quirks of a person. But to me it seems that it was a constant in the lives of the saints. At 80 years, he maintained the same good temperament that he had when he was young….it cannot proceed more than from one that receives his optimism from the conviction in the knowledge that he was created by and for God.’
Due to his advanced age, John Paul II, had to use a cane to walk. He did not take long in accepting with serenity this new state, as he demonstrated twirling it about as if it was a toy before millions of young people during the vigil of the WYD Manila (1995). There was not a lack of moments in which he downplayed the subject using his typical irony. In 1998, in one of his speeches he said, ‘I would like to ask you all: Why does the Pope use a cane?...I thought you would answer: Because he is old! Instead you have given the correct reply: Because he is a ‘shepherd’! The shepherd needs to use a cane to support himself and he also uses it to maintain order in his flock.’
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page 129.
Confidence in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Every Good Friday John Paul II would go to confess in St. Peter’s Basilica. The following is an anecdote that manifests the confidence of John Paul II in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
A priest from New York was going to pray in one of the Roman parishes when, upon entering, he found a beggar. After a moment observing him, the priest realized that he knew this man. The beggar was a companion in the seminary and was ordained a priest on the same day as he. The priest, after identifying himself greeted the beggar and listened to words from the beggar’s lips on how the man had lost his faith and his vocation. The priest was profoundly shaken.
The next day the American priest had the opportunity to be with the Pope. When his turn arrived, he asked the Holy Father to pray for his old companion from the seminary and he briefly described the situation to the Pope.
A day later the priest received an invitation from the Vatican to dine with the Pope. The invitation also indicated he should bring him the beggar from the parish. The priest returned to the parish and commented to his friend the Pope’s wishes. Once the beggar was convinced, he took him to where he was being hosted and offered him clothes and a chance to clean himself up.
The Pontiff, after dinner, indicated to the priest that he should leave the two alone. He asked the beggar to listen to his confession. The man, astonished, answered that he was no longer a priest, to which the Pope replied, ‘Once a priest, always a priest.’ ‘But I am outside the powers of my office,’ insisted the beggar. ‘I am the Bishop of Rome, I can take care of that,’ said the Pope.
The man listened to the confession of the Holy Father and then asked that his own confession be heard. Afterwards the man cried sorrowfully. Finally John Paul II asked him in which parish had he been begging and he designated him assistant to Pastor of that parish with the duty of assisting beggars.
Source: ACI Prensa (CNA Catholic News Agency). You can also read this anecdote in Why He is a Saint. Page 41
Devotion to the Divine Mercy
Among the thousands of men and women of God that rose to the altars, the person that he most appreciated was the religious polish woman Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), apostle of the devotion of the Divine Mercy.
In August 2002, in Lagiewniki, where Sister Faustina lived and died, John Paul II entrusted the world to the Divine Mercy, to the unlimited confidence in God the Merciful. ‘Today, how great is the need of the world for the mercy of God! Where hate and the thirst for vengeance governs and where war causes pain and death of innocents there is a need for the grace of mercy to calm the minds and hearts so that peace can spring forth. Where life or dignity is not respected there is a need for the merciful love of God whose light manifests the inexpressible value of every human being. Because of this, in this sanctuary, I want to solemnly consecrate the world to the Divine Mercy.’
John Paul II passed away April 2, 2005 at 21:37, when Saturday was concluding and the 8th day of Easter, the Sunday of Divine Mercy was beginning.
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page. 158.
Enfermos, lección constante para él (The sick, a constant lesson for him)
During his first trip as Pope when he went to Mexico in 1979, he visited a church filled with the sick and disabled people. One of his companions witnessed ‘The Pope stopped before each one and I had the impression that he venerated everyone. He bowed toward them, tried to understand what they were saying and afterwards he caressed their heads.’ The people responsible for the ceremony did not take long to realize that in these types of trips, they should not have more than 30 sick or disabled people before the altar. Otherwise, since John Paul II greeted each and every one of them, he would miss the appointments that he had afterwards.
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page. 110..
Faith and strength
When they insisted to him that he slow his work pace, take less trips and rest more, his answer was always the same, ‘I will rest in the Eternal Bliss.’ During the course of his last Holy week he answered a cardinal that suggested that he not exhaust himself, ‘If Jesus did not descend from the cross, why should I?’
Conscious that his time was limited, he wanted to make the most of it. In the last years of his life he said, ‘I realize more and more that the moment when I will have to present myself before God is drawing nearer. The gift of life is too precious for us to be weary of it.’
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page. 131.
Globality in a global world
He is the first Polish Pope and the first Pope from a communist country. If the collapse of communism since 1989 was produced mainly pacifically, then according to many it was thanks to John Paul II. A qualified political expert once said, ‘Each one made a contribution: the American Reagan, the British woman Margaret Thatcher and the Frenchman François Mitterrand, but to join them together the intervention of the Holy Father was necessary.’ Including the Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev openly recognized it when he affirmed, ’I am not the one that finished communism, rather it was John Paul II’
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page. 104.
Humility and gratitude
In 1991, the 10th anniversary of the assassination attempt, John Paul II travelled to Fatima to express his gratitude to the Virgin. During the greeting, one of those present turned to him and exclaimed, ‘Holy Father, happy birthday!’ The Pope continued advancing after hearing these words, but afterwards came back and answered, ‘You are right, the first life I received, the second life I was given 10 years ago.’ A gift that made him adopt the custom of celebrating every May 13th in the afternoon at the time of the attack, a holy mass of thanks in the private chapel.
Source: Why He is a Saint. Slawomir Oder. Page. 94
Instrument of God
He always considered himself an instrument of God, at His service. “My vocation is a mystery, even to me”, John Paul II said on one occasion. “How can we explain the ways of God? And yet, I know that at certain times in my life I understood clearly that Christ was telling me what he had told thousands of people before me, ‘Come, follow me!’. It was was clear that what I felt in my heart was neither a human voice nor an idea of mine. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest.”
Ordination was a key moment in Karol Wojtyla’s life. He said himself, “Nothing was more important to me or brought me greater joy than celebrating daily mass and serving the people of God in the Church. And it was like this from the day I was ordained a priest. Nothing could ever change that, not even being Pope now.”
Source: Why He is a Saint by Slawomir Oder Por qué es santo. Slawomir Oder. Pages 32 and 40.
Los jóvenes siempre en su corazón (Young people always in his heart)
His love for young people prompted him to start World Youth Day in 1985. During the 19 WYD’s celebrated during his pontificate, millions of young people from all over the world have come together.
“What is youth?” John Paul II said in an interview. “It is not only a period of life that corresponds to a number of years, but it is time given by Providence to each person, during which to look for the answers to fundamental questions, like the wealthy young man in the Gospel; not only the meaning of life, but a specific plan to begin to build a life. There is enormous potential for good and creative possibilities in young people. Nobody invented world youth days. It was the young people who created it. It is not true that it is the Pope who brings young people from one end of the earth to the other. It is they who bring themselves to him.”
Source: John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Page 131
Read his World Youth Day messages.
Karol Wojtyla in private
“Karol Wojtyla was exactly as people saw him in public: A loving man, a Christian who looked beyond himself. His personal uniqueness was mainly apparent in his relationship with God, which is why his spirituality was attractive and magnetic. So much so that in suffering as well as in joy, he did not have a groundless relationship with a distant divinity. In a typical day, being with God was his greatest passion, his most intense priority and at the same time, the most normal thing in the world. God is not a moral code, but a Person with whom we can speak personally, even being able to say when necessary, “Sometimes I don’t understand you!” (In the words of Joaquín Navarro-Valls, former spokesman for John Paul II).
Source: Joaquín Navarro-Valls. Recuerdos y reflexiones.
Lolek even managed to convert Mafia bosses
As a child his friends called him Lolek, a nick-name adopted later by his parents and other close friends in Poland.
Who said that it would be impossible for Lolek to become Pope and for his example to covert so many...!? On November 14th 2002 John Paul II visited the Italian Parliament, the first visit from the head of the Catholic Church in 150 years. His speech, which centered on international terrorism and globalization, was so eloquent that after seeing it on television Italian Mafioso Benedetto Marciante, head of the Cosa Nostra and accused murderer and extortionist, turned himself in to Rome police.
Source: Aciprensa
Mortificación desapercibida (Unnoticed mortification)
“His example to us was in teaching that it is better to suffer with God than to be happy alone. Often, for John Paul II it only meant taking advantage of an occasion that came up in daily life to make a sacrifice, whether small or large. To reject the bed prepared for him on an airplane during a long trip and sleep, or at least try to sleep, in the seat, or to eat less with apparent indifference during a meal. The goal of appreciable austerity was always to guarantee his soul the perfect union with Christ, and to listen with complete availability to the inner call of God.” (In the words of Joaquín Navarro-Valls, former spokesman for John Paul II).
Source: Joaquín Navarro-Valls. Recuerdos y reflexiones.
¡No tengáis miedo!(Do not be afraid!), his first words as Pope
“Do not be afraid” were the first words that John Paul II announced to the world from Saint Peter’s Square when he inaugurated his papacy on October 22nd 1978. These words would flow like a melody through his work as the Vicar of Christ until his holy death in 2005.
Do not be afraid to open the doors to Christ! This expression is possibly one of the most encouraging and revolutionary declarations in the modern world, which is torn between anguish and fear of the monsters it has created itself: war, the culture of death, the loss of human dignity etc.
Oración como motor de la existencia (Prayer as the driving force of existence) 
“One time when he thought he was alone in his chapel, I saw him sing while gazing at the Tabernacle. He wasn’t singing liturgy, but popular Polish songs. Saint Augustine, who said, ‘to sing is to pray twice’ came to my mind again. It personally seemed to me that in him could be simultaneously seen the intellectual wealth of a theologian and the spontaneous innocence of a child.”
Source: Joaquín Navarro-Valls. Recuerdos y reflexiones
Pedir perdón y perdonar (Ask for forgiveness and forgive)
On March 12th 2000, he asked forgiveness for the human errors committed during the history of the Catholic Church. He made reference to the Crusades, the Inquisition, discrimination toward women and ethnic groups.
The moment the Pope found himself in a jail cell with Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate him, was also put in the past, even though John Paul II always said that he had forgiven him in that first moment.
Quién es Juan Pablo II, por Benedicto XVI (John Paul II, according to Benedict XVI)
John Paul II was a priest until the end because he gave his life to God for His flock and for the entire human family through his daily devotion to serving the Church; more than ever, amid the suffering of his final months. In the first years of his pontificate, still young and full of energy, the Holy Father went to the very ends of the earth, guided by Christ. But afterward, he increasingly entered into the communion of Christ's sufferings. And in this very communion with the suffering Lord, tirelessly and with renewed intensity, he proclaimed the Gospel, the mystery of that love which goes to the end (cf. John 13:1).
It was clear that the Pope's lessons about suffering went far beyond his verbal teachings. As he served, his life demonstrated what his words expressed: "In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of love. ... It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love"
Source: Cardinal Ratzinger's Homily at John Paul II's Funeral Mass and Light of the World. Benedict XVI
