Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II. Wojtyla wanted to honor John Paul I who died after only 33 days as pope. What was the Holy Spirit trying to tell us?
Newly elected pope, he pondered this mystery and took the name of John Paul II to honor John Paul I. He also believed that God was speaking to all of us in no uncertain terms that it was a particular time in history, a time of Divine Mercy and hope.
Was it chance that Maria Faustina Kowalska born on August 25, 1905, in Głogowiec and later died on October 5, 1938, in Kraków, Poland (Pope JP II’s favorite city) was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and mystic? Jesus appeared to this meek and humble nun inspiring devotion to the Divine Mercy.
Was it chance that our patron, now Saint John Paul II, became gravely ill on March 31, 2005? Not admitted to the hospital, he received hospice care in his private residence. JP II wished to die in the Vatican. Providing The Anointing of the Sick was his friend and secretary Bishop Stanisław Dziwisz. Our good pope and patron saint was heard to say, “I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you”.
Was it chance that on Saturday, April 2, 2005, John Paul II spoke his final words in Polish? “Pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca” (“Allow me to depart to the house of the Father”). The Celebration of the Vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Easter, “Divine Mercy Sunday” occurred at his bedside. This mass commemorates the canonization of Saint Maria Faustina 5 years earlier. No longer able to take the Eucharist in the form of bread, the precious blood of Jesus touched his lips before his last breath – Divine Mercy.