PART 10: Antichrists revealed by Jesus Christ – John Paul 11 and the Virgin Mary

Pope’s Life Had a Constant Star to Guide Him

According to a popular account, Pope John Paul II was introduced to Our Lady at his birth. The home in which he was born was in sight of the Wojtylas’ church. He was born in May, the month of Mary, while the daily parish devotions to her were resounding throughout the town square. His mother is reputed to have asked an attendant to open the windows fully so that the first sounds her newborn son would hear would be those beautiful hymns to Our Lady.

Such a maternal sentiment would not be unusual in a country like Poland, which venerates Mary, the Matka Boska (Theotokos — the God-bearer) in 430 recognized shrines throughout the country. It would be natural for Karol as he grew to imbibe this love for the Mother of Jesus through this rich religious culture, with its many liturgical and domestic celebrations in her honor. 

Karol Wojtyla’s devotion to Our Lady would notably mature when he accepted an invitation to join a Rosary circle of young men, clandestinely because of the Nazi occupation. This was organized by a tailor, Jan Tarnowski, who introduced the 15 members of the circle to the masters of Catholic spiritual life, such as the Carmelite doctors of the Church: St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila). Included also was St. Louis de Montfort’s classic treatise True Devotion to Mary.

It was in this atmosphere that Karol’s attraction to Carmelite life originated and put him on the road for the appreciation of Our Lady in salvation history, which he would share with the entire Church as Pope. Interestingly, both John Paul II and his first mentor in spirituality, Tarnowski, are now on the road to beatification.

During his pontifical pilgrimage to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a shrine on a Polish mountain covered with more than 50 chapels commemorating the Holy Land, Pope John Paul explained his intimate relationship with Mary. He stated, “Here the Mother of God nurtured my heart.” 

This dominance of Our Lady in his life would be expressed by his episcopal motto Totus Tuus — Totally Yours — taken from Montfort’s writings. His episcopal coat of arms, consisting of a simple cross and an M, expressed that essential union of Jesus and Mary in his ministry. Pertinent to this is the fact that he included her in his formula of acceptance of the papacy. When officially presented with the conclave’s choice for the office of pope, he declared that it was in obedience to the faith and with confidence in Mary that he accepted that universal responsibility.