One Year Ago Today

Unveiling the sign of the newly named Saint John Paul II National Shrine during the April 27, 2015 ceremony.

April 27^th marks the anniversary of Saint John Paul II’s canonization, which was a time of great excitement at the Shrine last year.  We hosted an all-night vigil with a Eucharistic procession, live entertainment, and a viewing of the canonization in Rome. We also unveiled our “Saint John Paul II National Shrine” signage and followed this with Mass and veneration of the great saint’s relics.

It was a joyous day that we remember fondly, and we hope that you will join us today in our reminiscing. We also suggest reflecting upon Pope Francis’s words about Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II at their canonization Mass:

In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude. 

St. John Paul II, on this anniversary of your canonization, we thank God for you, and we ask you to remember us in your prayers!

The Upcoming Canonizations

The final gallery of our permanent exhibit encourages visitors to live out the universal call to 
holiness by reflecting upon the lives of some of the saints beatified and canonized by St. John Paul II.

Pope Francis recently announced that Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified Baouardy, an Arab mystic who became a Carmelite nun, will be canonized on May 17. Sister Mary was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1983, nearly one hundred years after her death.

St. John Paul II beatified 1,338 people during his papacy, and he often emphasized the truth that all people are called to be saints. Let us ask Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified, whose incredible story can be found here, to pray for us today, that we may all live out the call to holiness as she did.

Miracles and More

Floribeth Mora Diaz, accompanied by her husband, Edwin, places the relic of St. John Paul II on a small table after presenting it to Pope 

Francis during the canonization Mass for Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 27, 2014 (CNS).

The Knights of Columbus have dedicated a page of their website to the history of their relationship with Saint John Paul II. Full of historical, biographical, and inspirational material, this page is worth taking a look at!

One notable article featured on the page is about the miracle that paved the way for St. John Paul II’s canonization. It says:

The miracle for canonization involved a Costa Rican woman, Floribeth Mora, who was suffering from a potentially fatal aneurysm. Mora said that she received an inexplicable healing after she invoked John Paul II’s intercession. According to Mora, she was watching a broadcast of the 2011 beatification ceremony for John Paul II and contemplating the pope’s image on a magazine when she heard a voice telling her not to be afraid and to get up. She recalled that shortly after, she felt better and renewed in spirit. When doctors later examined her, they could not offer an explanation for her healing. 

For more, read the full-length article here.

St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Canonization of Saint John Paul II

Today the Church officially celebrates the canonization of Saint John Paul II! We praise the Lord for this Divine Mercy Sunday, and for His gift of the late Holy Father who witnessed so well to faith, hope and love in the modern world. 

We’ve reflected much on the legacy of Saint John Paul II in past months, but today we want to highlight some “essential insights” he gave to the Church.

The Saint John Paul II Shrine’s theologian in residence, Michelle Borras, reflected on these in the Knights of Columbus’s Columbia Magazine, where she summarized his contributions into five main points:

He re-centered the Church on “Christ, the Redeemer of man,” and so showed the way to an “adequate anthropology.”

He gave us a theology of human love.

He articulated the “saving mission of the family.”

He fearlessly defended the dignity of the human person.

In his suffering, he pointed us to the mercy of God.

Read the full story here, and join us today in thanking God for the gift of Saint John Paul II.

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Patron Saint of World Youth Days

Pope Francis made an exciting announcement in his 2014 World Youth Day message:

We have seen, then, that the Beatitude of the poor in spirit shapes our relationship with God, with material goods and with the poor. With the example and words of Jesus before us, we realize how much we need to be converted, so that the logic of being more will prevail over that of having more! The saints can best help us to understand the profound meaning of the Beatitudes. So the canonization of John Paul II, to be celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, will be an event marked by immense joy. He will be the great patron of the World Youth Days which he inaugurated and always supported. In the communion of saints he will continue to be a father and friend to all of you.

Our beloved Blessed John Paul II will be the patron saint of World Youth Days! This is just one more reason to look forward to his canonization on Divine Mercy Sunday. If you haven’t already, check out the Blessed John Paul II Shrine’s schedule for the canonization weekend.

Blessed John Paul II, Pray for Us!

Chaplain Celebrates Mass at John Paul II’s Tomb

On December 6, 2013, Blessed John Paul II Shrine Chaplain Father Gregory Gresko concelebrated Mass at the tomb of Blessed John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Basilica. He reflected upon his experience here:

To be at the tomb of Blessed John Paul II is to be reminded of the beauty of dwelling in the house of the Lord, gazing on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplating His temple, as the Psalmist says in Ps 27. To celebrate the Eucharist on the altar containing the holy remains of the man whom the Church soon will recognize as Saint John Paul II is in itself a confirmation in faith as the Church has just concluded the 2012-13 Year of Faith -- confirmation of the greatness of the Communion of Saints to which each one of us as Christian faithful is called, but also of the spiritual presence of the saints among us, most strongly whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. The tomb of Blessed John Paul II is a reminder of God’s call to holiness that is written on the hearts of all people who call themselves Christian, who are consecrated into the Lord in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. It is a firm reminder that every one of us is called by God to become a saint in whatever state of life we find ourselves – to embrace a life of genuine holiness by following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in the daily path of this earthly journey, until we realize the promise of everlasting life in the beatific vision of God’s heavenly Kingdom. As the Gospel of the two blind men reminds us (Mt 9.27-31), Jesus is ready to enlighten our darkness in this Advent season through the gift of His healing touch, if we only would have faith and hope-filled trust in Him. May this Advent be a time when we ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts with the gift of a stronger faith, so that inspired by ever stronger hope, we might believe more fervently with open hearts to God’s perfect Love incarnate in the Infant Jesus this Christmas.

For more about his experience and for photos from the Mass, check out the Blessed John Paul II Shrine website.

Plans For The Canonization

The Blessed John Paul II Shrine made headlines again, this time with our plans for Blessed John Paul II’s joint canonization with Blessed John XXIII, April 27. See the story for details on our celebrations, our plans to open the 16,000 square foot permanent exhibit summer 2014, and a great interview with Patrick Kelly, executive director of the Shrine, who speaks about Blessed John Paul II’s “legacy of love.”

Blessed John Paul II To Be Canonized Divine Mercy Sunday

Well the news is out! Yesterday Pope Francis announced that the canonization of both Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II is to take place on April 27, 2014, the day the Church celebrates the Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday. 

This is a special day for Blessed John Paul II, for he instituted Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000, he died on the vigil of the feast in 2005, and he was beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2011.

Of course, we here at the Shrine couldn’t be more excited. Yesterday was full of visitors, celebrations, and prayers. In his homily for Mass celebrating the canonization announcement, our Chaplain Fr. Gregory Gresko introduced the congregation to the first-class relic of the soon to be canonized Blessed John Paul II, hosted on the altar for veneration: 

In the relic we have before us today, we encounter evidence from Blessed John Paul II’s own life of the extent to which he would go in order to show God’s Love. This first-class relic -- containing a piece of the white papal cassock he was wearing that became soaked with his blood when his would-be assassin attempted to take his life by shooting him in Saint Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981 – is a sign of John Paul II’s gift of himself to the Church, to you and to me, his personal testimony that shows us what it means to be a witness to God’s Love…

Fr. Gresko’s full homily is worth the read! For more on happenings at the Shrine yesterday, check out this report from the Catholic News Service. It includes some sneak peaks of our re-modeled Be Not Afraid exhibit.

Blessed John Paul II, Pray for Us!

A Model Of The Perennial Youth Of The Gospel

Today the Church celebrates St. Teresa de los Andes, the first Saint of Chile. After living a short life here on earth, from 1900 to 1920, Teresa is a saint for the young and one of the primary intercessors for the upcoming World Youth Day in Brazil.

At her canonization, Blessed John Paul II said:

Sr. Teresa “de los Andes,” Teresa of Jesus, is the light of Christ for the whole Chilean Church; the Discalced Carmelite, the first fruit of holiness of the Teresian Carmel of Latin America, today is enrolled among the saints of the Universal Church…God made shine forth in her in an admirable way the light of his Son, Jesus Christ, so that she could be a beacon and guide to a world which seems to be blind of the splendor of the divine. In a secularized society which turns its back on God, this Chilean Carmelite, whom to my great joy I present as a model of the perennial youth of the Gospel, gives the shining witness of a life which proclaims to the men and the women of our day that it is in the loving, adoring, and serving God that the human creature finds greatness and joy, freedom, and fulfillment. The life of Blessed Teresa cries out continually from within her cloister: “God alone suffices!” She shouts it out particularly to the young people who hunger for truth and seek a light which will give direction to their lives. To young people who are being allured by the continuous messages and stimuli of an erotic culture, a society which mistakes the hedonistic exploitation of another for genuine love which is self-giving, this young virgin of the Andes today proclaims the beauty and happiness that come from a pure heart.

St. Teresa de los Andes, pray for our young, that they may proclaim true joy through purity of heart.

Information from Matthew and Margaret Bunson’s John Paul II’s Book of Saints.