Totus Tuus - Totus 2us

Blessed John Paul II was a pilgrim to the Philippines in 1981 and 1995, when World Youth Day Manila was celebrated by over 5 million people (which is in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest gathering in the history of the world).

_{Below are responses by Filipino people to Totus2us's podcasts - you can download the free mp3s individually by right clicking where you see this diamond ♦}

Adnelle       ♦

_{"Our Lady is a great intercessor for me. Whatever it is that I ask through Jesus Christ, I always ask the intercession of Our Lady. I always pray the rosary, and I offer the rosary for the intentions of the people that I promise to pray for.  I keep Mary with me every day because I keep the rosary in my pocket every day, wherever I go."}

Celeste       ♦

_{"Mary became our bridge to Jesus and Jesus to us. Our Blessed Virgin Mary prays to Jesus for the needs of all people. And she teaches us to pray, she gave us the Holy Rosary, the Hail Mary, which show us the way who is her son Jesus Christ.
I personally receive a lot of graces from Our God through Our Blessed Mother Mary, by reciting my daily rosary. I can truly feel and experience the power of this prayer: it strengthens my faith to God, to Mary and to the Catholic Church, it sharpens my conscience day by day and, by continuously praying the Holy Rosary, changes my whole life being and leads me to know Jesus more, to love Jesus more and to be with Jesus. My day will not be complete without the rosary. It is the source of my well being, happiness and peace. Even though I am tired the whole day, I make sure that I pray the Holy Rosary every night before I go to sleep. I love and thank Our Blessed Mother Mary for all the blessings and graces I received from heaven through her."}

Cherrie       ♦

_{"I think Mary is the perfect example of obedience and what it means to be totally surrendered to God."}

_{Cherrie Anderson has been chosen from the Madrid Me Encanta competition to play at World Youth Day Madrid: she entered 2 songs, 'Unshakeable' and 'Faith in You', which is featured on Word on the Street. Cherrie is also band member of Ooberfüse, whose song 'Hidden Light' is also on Word on the Street.}

Cristine       ♦

_{"Mary is first and foremost a mother; she is for me a symbol of purity, of hope and of love."}

Elvira       ♦

_{"I think Mama Mary for me is the eternal mother. She teaches us to be first of all a child, then a mother. For me, being a mother, I learned so much from her, because I don't have that relationship with my mum, so she became my role model and she's the one that taught me so much how to become a mother. When I speak about Mama Mary, I always have this big emotion because I learnt so much from her and I was able to become a mother for my mother because of her."}

Ericson       ♦

^{"What Mary is to me basically is very personal. She is a representation of my Mum who I love very much.. She symbolises my devotion to the Lord, I constantly pray to her for guidance or intercession for whatever requests I have. So she is a very big part of my life."}

Fay       ♦

_{"Mary is like my mother. I grew up having great faith in Mary, especially during tough times when I lost my mum. It felt like they were just together in heaven. And especially Our Mother of Perpetual Help, she has been there and she has helped me take my baby steps, just like any mother would do to their daughter. She has never failed me, thank God to have her there, and she is a continuous inspiration for purity and yes, thank God for Mary."}

Florence       ♦

_{"I believe in Jesus Christ and in his mother, Mama Mary; whatever I ask them, if it is really for me, they always answer me. …I think if you pray hard, and it is really deep in your heart, in your mind, they will answer you because we are all loved by Jesus, we are all Mama Mary's children."}

Gina      ♦

_{"I am very devoted to Mother Mary because I believe she is the Immaculate Conception and she is the purest Mother and she is the mother of our Jesus Christ. So I believe that if I pray with her, to her, all my prayers will be answered because she is the closest to Jesus."}

Howard       ♦

_{"Christmas for me is about celebration and the reason why we celebrate is because God became man for all of us .. During Christmas we celebrate love, faith and hope - it's because God is all about faith and hope and love."}

Ivy       ♦

_{"Mary for me is an example of what we would need to be to be a Christian: to offer ourselves up to Christ the whole time with our yes. At the same she is our mother, so I run to her for everything and anything, I run to her for guidance and help, and she is very close to me."}

Jeraldine       ♦

_{"Slowly, as things happened in my life, I began to realise the importance of Our Lady and what a good example she has been to me. The most important thing that really inspires me about her is her assumption and how a human being like her could surrender her will completely to God and be rewarded with such glory through the assumption, and not to die but go directly and be in unity with God."}

Jessamine       ♦

_{"Whenever we approach God we don't have to be afraid because Mary, our good mother, is always with us."}

Jocelyn       ♦

_{"I always love the Mother of Perpetual Help because I humbly ask her a lot of things that she has given me and so I really am a great believer of Our Lady of Perpetual Help."}

Kathy       ♦

_{"I know I can turn to Mama Mary no matter what."}

_{Kathy didn't get to know Blessed John Paul II during his life but, thanks to World Youth Day Sydney in 2008 she got to learn of his teachings on the theology of the body, which have transformed the way she sees things.}

_{Kathy's JP2 quote for 'Blessed John Paul II, We Love You' is: "True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement."       ♦}

Kristina       ♦

_{"Our Lady for me who is the one who should inspire us to move closer to Jesus. It is hard to separate Our Lady from Jesus, because Our Lady doesn't move, like she doesn't appear in Fatima, in Guadalupe, if Jesus did not allow her to. And even in my life I find it hard to separate them because Mary has always been the inspiration to move closer, to walk closer to Jesus."}

Lolita       ♦

_{"Mama Mary is very, very precious to me because Mama Mary, especially Mama Mary of Medjugorje, is the one who helped me to go back to God. She is our mother, she helps us so much. And everything that you need, just go to Mama Mary and she promises something: she will help you - that's the way she did it with me."}

Maria       ♦

_{"I see my dearest Mother Mary as my own mother, my maternal mother, my image of a mother for the whole world. She blesses me with love and all the graces, and how I should be as a woman, and how I should be to my children."}

Maria       ♦

_{"Our Lady is always there for me; she always helps me in all my ways of life. For me, I always say thank you to her, and I always thank Jesus through Mary."}

_{Maria gives her something about Mary in English & Tagalog.}

Sister Maria-Jose       ♦

_{"The Blessed Virgin Mary for me is really the Virgin; a virgin and a mother; my heavenly mother."}

Marie       ♦

_{"Our patron is Our Lady of Lourdes in our parish in Lucena City. This is my first time to come to Lourdes and I've felt Mama Mary is full of graces on us. She's our mother and we love her very much."}

Mariel       ♦

_{"Mama Mary for me is a very special person. If you want to be close to Jesus, you go straight to Mary and you will be closer to Jesus."}

Mark       ♦

_{"It was through the intercession of Our Lady that I came home to the Catholic Church. So for me the Blessed Mother is really my mother, my teacher and my advocate, and all I can say is that I really love her beyond all telling. It is true enough when Pope John Paul II said 'Totus Tuus', totally yours - once and for all when you've consecrated yourself to the Blessed Mother, everything is going to be fine. She is the mother of us all, she is our yes to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."}

_{Mark gives his something about Mary in English & Tagalog.}

Mila       ♦

_{"Every time that I have something, a problem or whatever, Mary is always the first one I think of to help me. I love her so much. She always helps me so much in my every day life.  .. Blessed Virgin Mary because you are our mother you will never abandon us and I know that you are always with us, thank you."}

Mina       ♦

_{"I believe in Our Lady because I consider her as our mother and as our advocate and I trust her in all my life."}

Myra       ♦

_{"Mama Mary is like a mother to me."}

Nelly       ♦

_{"I respect the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God and I believe when she prays for us, God really listens to her. And every time I pray to ask her help to pray for me, I know she listens to me and all that I ask from her, I receive all the gifts from God."}

Oftaciana       ♦

^{"I have a great devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help."}

Pilar       ♦

_{"Mother Mary is our mother and everything I ask, I always feel that Mother Mary is beside me, and helping me to solve my problems, whatever. I always feel that Mother Mary is always listening to our prayers, so I encourage you to be with Mother Mary and to pray the rosary."}

Rhona       ♦

_{"Christmas in the Philippines is the day that everyone is looking forward to .. For me Christmas is just giving yourself time to reflect on what Jesus means to us."}

Ritzel       ♦

_{"With whatever I've gone through, all the trials that I've been through, I have always asked Mother Mary to pray for me to the Lord our God to give me strength and patience and faith, and it's just helped me tremendously. And I am not the person that I am now if it weren't for my faith, for my renewed faith, and I will forever be grateful and devoted to her and to Jesus."}

Sister Stefania       ♦

_{"For me, Mary is my refuge and my protector. She is our heavenly Mother whom we can trust and whom we can count on."}

Tina       ♦

_{"Ever since I was a child I always loved the Blessed Mother; she is always there for all of us, whenever we ask her."}

Wilbert       ♦

_{"I love Mama Mary, I am utterly devoted to Mama Mary. I always pray the Holy Rosary because she is the mother of all."}

Yvette       ♦

_{"Mama Mary is the epitomy of what a woman should be as a mother, a daughter and as a sanctuary."}