St. Pope John Paul II
St. Pope John Paul II will probably be known in Church History as ‘the Great,” since so many people already attribute that title to him. He certainly would deserve it!
He was instrumental in bringing about the fall of European Communism, which had threatened the world’s freedom. He also prepared the Church for entrance into the Third Milennium. His many world pilgrimages, his great literary output, and his many canonizations and beatifications are but a few of his vast papal accomplishments.
But not to be lost in all these is his deep personal Marian devotion – and especially his great contributions toward the fulfillment of the Fatima message. Who would ever forget his papal coat-of-arms with the big letter M for Mary, and the words “Totus Tuus” (I am all yours!) with which hs was inspired from reading St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s great classic, “True Devotion to Mary.”
Also significantly, his first world pilgrimage was to Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Shrine in Mexico to dedicate all his later pilgrimages to her patronage – since she is the “Star of Evangelization.” His own native Poland boasted great Marian devotion focusing on the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
But his direct papal involvement with Our Lady of Fatima began on her Feast Day, May 13, 1981, in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square. A would-be assassin name Mehmet Ali Agca shot the Holy Father while he was moving through the crowds in his pope-mobile. Rushed to the hospital, the doctors saved his life.
While there, he realized that May 13 was both Our Lady of Fatima’s Feast Day and the day he was shot. He immediately read the so-called “Third Secret,” which mentions a pope who is shot. He recognized himself as the pope of that prophetic message.
He realized from the Secret that he was supposed to die. So he would say – not so much that Our Lady spared his life but – that she gave it back to him. As he often put it, “one hand guided then gun, and another hand guided the bullet.”
In gratitude to Our Lady, he determined to make the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart with the bishops of the world as she had requested in her July 13, 1917, apparition at Fatima. Pope John Paul II fulfilled Our Lady’s request on March 25, 1984, when he made the Consecration of Russia in Rome with more than 2,880 bishops joining him throughout the world.
Sister Lucia later reported that “Heaven accepted it!” As evidence of this acceptance, the Berlin Wall was peacefull taken down in 1989; the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991; many nations became free again; and more than 650 new monasteries were built in Russia between 1991 and 2011.
The final triumph of Mary has not yet come – but it is coming. Our Lady of Fatima must not be ignored, for as St. Pope John Paul II said, “Fatima is more important now than it was in 1917!”
Father Apostoli is a founding member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and one of the world’s foremost experts on Our Lady of Fatima. Ignatius Press published what many consider to be the definitive work on Fatima – “Fatima for Today” – in 2011. He also serves as Vice-Postular for the Cause of Canonization of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. The Message staff is grateful to Father Andrew for providing this exclusive look into St. Pope John Paul II and his great Marian devotion.
