The Polish visions behind the beatification rites

Seattle Times ^ | May 5, 2011 | TERRY MATTINGLY

[NYer]

To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which 1 million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to understand the visions recorded decades earlier in the diary of Sister Mary Faustina Kowalksa.

Popes come and popes go. But the lives of this Polish nun and this Polish pope may be helping to reshape a crucial piece of the Catholic year — the celebrations that follow Easter, the high point of the Christian year.

It was in 1937 that Kowalksa wrote: "As I was praying for Poland I heard the words: I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness.

"From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming."

After her earlier visions, which church leaders initially discounted, the young nun had written down a cycle of prayers appealing for God's forgiveness and mercy, a set of devotions that became known as the "Divine Mercy Chaplet." In the years after her death in 1938, a seminarian in nearby Krakow named Karol Wojtyla became devoted to these prayers and to the legacy of Kowalksa.

Wojtyla, of course, soon became a priest and a popular professor, before beginning his ascent as a bishop, archbishop and cardinal.

Then, in 1978, he became Pope John Paul II.

No one was surprised when this loyal son of Poland beatified Kowalksa on April 18, 1993, and canonized her on April 30, 2000. "The message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me," noted John Paul II during a 1997 pilgrimage to the nun's tomb. It could be said, he added, that her message "forms the image of this pontificate."

[NYer]

If he is later canonized as a saint — crowds have been chanting the title "John Paul the Great"since the day of his death — it is logical to ask how this could impact the liturgical calendar for the 1.1 billion Catholics living and worshipping around the world.

The week begins with Easter, the highest moment of celebration in the Christian year. Then comes the "octave"of days dedicated to the Divine Mercy prayers, a period in which priests can offer special confession opportunities for those seeking to return to the sacramental life of the church.

At the end of the week, there is Divine Mercy Sunday, which the Catholic Church now teaches is the day when, according to the vision of St. Faustina, forgiveness is uniquely available for all who repent and turn to God. The gates of heaven are wide open.

Could the feast day of St. John Paul the Great — the charismatic pope whose words will live on in every conceivable form of mass media — somehow become linked to this great week of celebration?

Follow the time line. Do the math.

[Tax-chick]

The diocesan newspaper said Pope John Paul’s place in the liturgical calendar will be in October, at the date of his election as Pope.

[NYer]

The diocesan newspaper said Pope John Paul’s place in the liturgical calendar will be in October, at the date of his election as Pope.

He was elected in April, so that does not match. According to an April 11 CNS article,

The feast day of Blessed John Paul II will be marked Oct. 22 each year in Rome and the dioceses of Poland.

In the Diocese of Rome, where Pope John Paul served as bishop, and in all the dioceses of his native Poland, his feast day is to be inserted automatically into the annual calendar, the decree said. Oct. 22 was chosen as the day to remember him because it is the anniversary of the liturgical inauguration of his papacy in 1978.

Outside Rome and Poland, bishops will have to file a formal request with the Vatican to receive permission to mark the feast day, the decree said. The local-only celebration of a blessed's feast is one of the most noticeable differences between being beatified and being canonized, which makes universal public liturgical veneration possible.

Full Text.

[Tax-chick]

Oct. 22 was chosen as the day to remember him because it is the anniversary of the liturgical inauguration of his papacy in 1978.

Now I'm confused. Is the "liturgical inauguration" not on or about the date of his election as Pope?

Anyway, I'd like April 2 better, because it's my second daughter's birthday and I'd easily remember it.

[Desdemona]

The diocesan newspaper said Pope John Paul’s place in the liturgical calendar will be in October, at the date of his election as Pope.

He was elected in April, so that does not match.

I looked it up and JPI was buried in early October of 1978. The election was not even three weeks later. I remember watching all of it happen and due to the classroom I was in, this jives.