These Champions Of The Faith

Today is the feast of the Martyrs of Paraguay, three South American Jesuit saints killed in the mid-seventeenth century for their missionary work among native peoples. In his homily for their canonization, Saint John Paul II said:

Neither the obstacles of the wilderness, the misunderstanding of people, nor the attacks of those who saw their evangelizing activity as a threat to personal interests, could intimidate these champions of the Faith. Their unreserved self-offering led them to martyrdom.... The entire life of (Roch) Gonzalez de Santa Cruz and his companion martyrs was completely characterized by love: love for God and, in him, for all people, particularly the most needy, those who did not know Christ’s existence or had not yet been liberated by his redeeming grace…the fruits did not take long in coming. As a result of their missionary activity, many people abandoned pagan worship to open themselves up to the light of the true faith.

Saints Roch Gonzalez, Alphonsus Rodriguez, and John de Castillo, please pray for us on this day of your feast, that we may be fearless in proclaiming the Gospel.

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

A Kingdom Without Spectacles

In his homily yesterday, Pope Francis invited the faithful to pray for the grace to build the Kingdom of God quietly.  The Kingdom does not grow through spectacles, he said, but it instead blossoms through the silent witness of those living prayerful lives:

The Kingdom of God is humble, like the seed: humble but it becomes great by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is up to us to let it grow in us, without boasting about it: let the Spirit come, change our soul and carry us forward in silence, in peace, in tranquility, in closeness to God, to others, in worship of God, without spectacle.

Saint John Paul II was the first to call for a New Evangelization, and he encouraged the faithful to bear witness to the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ, particularly in historically Christian cultures where many have taken their eyes off of Him. As Pope Francis said yesterday, this New Evangelization does not require spectacles. It requires that we silently and humbly live prayerful lives.

St. John Paul II, pray for us, that we may allow the Holy Spirit to quietly build the Kingdom of God in us.   

Did You Know? The Name of John Paul II

Many people know that St. John Paul II took the name of his predecessor John Paul I, but do you know the origin of the name “John Paul” or why the two Popes took the name?

St. John Paul II explained his intentions in his first encyclical:

I chose the same names that were chosen by my beloved Predecessor John Paul I. Indeed, as soon as he announced to the Sacred College on 26 August 1978 that he wished to be called John Paul—such a double name being unprecedented in the history of the Papacy—I saw in it a clear presage of grace for the new pontificate. Since that pontificate lasted barely 33 days, it falls to me not only to continue it but in a certain sense to take it up again at the same starting point. This is confirmed by my choice of these two names. By following the example of my venerable Predecessor in choosing them, I wish like him to express my love for the unique inheritance left to the Church by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and my personal readiness to develop that inheritance with God's help.

Through these two names and two pontificates I am linked with the whole tradition of the Apostolic See and with all my Predecessors in the expanse of the twentieth century and of the preceding centuries. I am connected, through one after another of the various ages back to the most remote, with the line of the mission and ministry that confers on Peter's See an altogether special place in the Church. John XXIII and Paul VI are a stage to which I wish to refer directly as a threshold from which I intend to continue, in a certain sense together with John Paul I, into the future, letting myself be guided by unlimited trust in and obedience to the Spirit that Christ promised and sent to his Church.

St. John Paul II took on the names of these three predecessors, and he carried their legacies on into the twenty-first century. May he pray for the Church now, that She moves forward in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Peaceful Audacity of St. John Paul II

In an interview with Vatican Radio this past weekend, Cardinal Roberto Tucci gave a first hand account of the events in communist Poland during Saint John Paul II’s first visit there as Pope. Listen here.

This 1979 pilgrimage to Victory Square is featured in our exhibit, for it was an important moment in the late Holy Father’s stand against the Soviet Union. With his peaceful audacity, St. John Paul II played a key role in the fall of communism. He brought hope to those living behind the “Iron Curtain,” and that hope was eventually fulfilled.

St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

Guide Us On All Paths

O God, You are our Creator.

You are good and Your mercy knows no bounds.


To You arises the praise of every creature.


O God, You have given us an inner law by which we must live.


To do Your will is our task.


To follow Your ways is to know peace of heart.


To You we offer our homage.

Guide us on all the paths we travel upon this earth.


Free us from all the evil tendencies which lead our hearts away from Your will.


Never allow us to stray from You.


O God, judge of all humankind, help us to be included among 

Your chosen ones on the last day.


O God, Author of peace and justice, give us true joy and authentic love, 

and a lasting solidarity among peoples.


Give us Your everlasting gifts. Amen! 

-Saint John Paul II

Traveling With Saint John Paul II

On October 22, the feast of Saint John Paul II, we celebrated by opening our new permanent exhibit.

Titled A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II, the exhibit invites pilgrims to explore nine galleries tracing the life, teachings, and legacy of the late Holy Father. The reflective journey consists of unique artifacts, audio-visual components, and engaging interactive displays.

Our interactive displays consist of the World Travels touchscreen seen above and the World Youth Day table seen below.

The World Travels touchscreen highlights the many trips and pilgrimages St. John Paul II made throughout his papacy. Through a six-screen timeline, visitors can learn details about the late Holy Father’s travels. They can see snapshots from his visits and read quotes from speeches he delivered across the globe. Pilgrims can also use a search tool in order to find out whether the great Saint made a trip to their own country.

Living All Saints Day

The Church lives in a great perspective. This perspective accompanies her always, molds her continually, and directs her towards eternity. The liturgy of the day highlights the eschatological reality, a reality which springs from the whole plan of salvation and at the same time from man's history, a reality which gives the very existence of the Church and her mission their ultimate meaning. 

That is why we live so intensely the solemnity of All Saints, as well as, tomorrow, the Commemoration of all the dead. These two days enclose, in a particular way, faith in "eternal life" (the last words of the apostolic "Creed").

And although these two days put before the eyes of our soul the inevitability of death, they give, at the same time, a testimony of life. Man who, according to the laws of nature, is "condemned to death," man who lives in the perspective of the annihilation of his body, exists at the same time in the perspective of future life, and is called to joy. 

-Saint John Paul II, Solemnity of All Saints, 1978

St. John Paul II, who canonized more Saints than all of the popes in the last 500 years combined, please pray for us, that we may one day join you in the communion of Saints.