Totus Tuus - Totus 2us

Koronka do Milosierdzia Bozego       ♦

Act of Consecration to the Mother of God

John Paul II - Jasna Gora, 4th June 1979
_{- in English, French, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish}

"Great Mother of God made man, Most Holy Virgin,
Our Lady of Jasna Gora..."

_{With these words the Polish Bishops addressed you so many times at Jasna Gora, bearing in their hearts the experiences and the sufferings, the joy and the sorrow, and, above all, the faith, hope and charity of their fellow-countrymen.}

_{May I be permitted today to begin with the same words the new act of consecration to Our Lady of Jasna Gora. This new act springs from that same faith, hope and charity, and from the tradition of our people shared by me for so many years. It springs at the same time from the new duties that, thanks to you, Mary, have been entrusted to me, an unworthy man and also your adoptive son.}

_{How meaningful for me always have been the words that your Son, born from you, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of man, spoke from the height of the Cross, pointing out John, apostle and evangelist: "Woman, behold, your son!" (Jn 19:26). In these words I always found the place for every human being and the place for myself.}

_{By the inscrutable designs of Divine Providence I am today present here at Jasna Gora, in my earthly homeland, Poland, and I wish first of all to confirm the acts of consecration and of trust that at various times—"in many and various ways" were pronounced by the Cardinal Primate and the Polish Episcopate. In a very special way I wish to confirm and renew the act of consecration pronounced at Jasna Gora on 3 May 1966, on the occasion of the Millennium of Poland. With this act the Polish Bishops wished, by giving themselves to you, Mother of God, "in your maternal slavery of love", to serve the great cause of the freedom of the Church not only in their own homeland but in the whole world. Some years later, on 7 June 1976, they consecrated to you all of humanity, all the nations and peoples of the modern world, and their brothers and sisters who are close to them by faith, by language and by the destinies they share in history, extending this consecration to the furthest limits of love as is demanded by your heart, the heart of a Mother who embraces each and every person, always and everywhere.}

_{Today I come to Jasna Gora as its first pilgrim Pope, and I wish to renew the entire heritage of trust, of consecration and of hope that has been accumulated here with such magnanimity by my Brothers in the Episcopate and my fellow-countrymen.}

_{Therefore, I entrust to you, Mother of the Church, all the problems of this Church, the whole of her mission and of her service, while the second millennium of the history of Christianity on earth is about to draw to a close.}

_{Spouse of the Holy Spirit and Seat of Wisdom, it is to your intercession that we owe the magnificent vision and the programme of renewal of the Church in our age that found expression in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Grant that we may make this vision and programme the object of our activity, our service, our teaching, our pastoral care, our apostolate—in the same truth, simplicity and fortitude with which the Holy Spirit has made them known through our humble service. Grant that the whole Church may be reborn by drawing from this new fount of the knowledge of her nature and mission, and not from other foreign or poisoned "cisterns".}

_{Help us in the great endeavour that we are carrying out to meet in a more and more mature way our brothers in faith, with whom so many things unite us, although there is still something dividing us. Through all the means of knowledge, of mutual respect, of love, of shared collaboration in various fields, may we be able to rediscover gradually the divine plan for the unity into which we should enter and bring everybody in, in order that the one fold of Christ may recognize and live its unity on earth. Mother of unity, teach us constantly the ways that lead to unity.}

_{Allow us in the future to go out to meet all human beings and all peoples that are seeking God and wishing to serve him on the way of different religions. Help us all to proclaim Christ and reveal "the power of God and the Wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:24) hidden in his Cross. You were the first to reveal him at Bethlehem, not only to the simple faithful shepherds but also to the wise men from distant lands.}

_{Mother of Good Counsel, show us always how we are to serve the individual and humanity in every nation, how we are to lead them along the ways of salvation. How we are to protect justice and peace in a world continually threatened on various sides. How greatly I desire on the occasion of our meeting today to entrust to you all the difficult problems of the societies, systems and states — problems that cannot be solved with hatred, war and self-destruction but only by peace, justice and respect for the rights of people and of nations.}

_{Mother of the Church, grant that the Church may enjoy freedom and peace in fulfilling her saving mission and that to this end she may become mature with a new maturity of faith and inner unity. Help us to overcome opposition and difficulties. Help us to rediscover all the simplicity and dignity of the Christian vocation. Grant that there may be no lack of "labourers in the Lord's vineyard". Sanctify families. Watch over the souls of the young and the hearts of the children. Help us to overcome the great moral threats against the fundamental spheres of life and love. Obtain for us the grace to be continually renewed through all the beauty of witness given to the Cross and Resurrection of your Son.}

_{How many problems, Mother, should I not present to you by name in this meeting! I entrust them all to you, because you know them best and understand them.}

_{I entrust them to you in the place of the great consecration, from which one has a view not only of Poland but of the whole Church in the dimensions of countries and continents — the whole Church in your maternal heart.}

_{I who am the first servant of the Church offer the whole Church to you and entrust it to you here with immense confidence, Mother. Amen.}

Agnieszka       ♦

_{"For me Christmas is not only buying presents and eating good food but it is simply joy, joy, that Christ has come to earth to set us free and to give us life."}

Aldona       ♦

_{"For me Our Lady is, all my life, my way which I try to follow every day."}

_{Aldona gives her something about Mary in English & Polish.}

Alicja       ♦

_{"Holy Mary, she is my lady, she is my queen and she is the Immaculate Conception. If I stay with her so close, I won't be afraid of anything, anything."}

_{Alicja gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Basia       ♦

_{"I feel that Our Lady is my mother that probably I've never had before. I feel that I'm quite close to her and every day I can see her help, especially when I pray. Even when I don't pray I feel that she lifts me up and she helps me in my every day. And I can see this in my children too, as they are quite devoted to Our Lady."}

Dorota       ♦

_{"Maria for me is very important because she is the mother of Jesus  .. She takes care of all Polish people, of all mothers, of all children and all older people, and everybody who wants to get some help from her."}

_{Dorota gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Elizabeth       ♦

_{"Mary is very close to me because I can think of her, go to her, anytime I want and she is always very warm to me and helpful. She never rejects me. What I like the most is that she is always so good."}

_{Elizabeth gives her coś o Maryi in English and Polish.}

Jakob       ♦

_{"Maria is my mother, my saint mother."}

_{Jakob gives his something about Mary in English & Polish.}

Kamel       ♦

_{"The Virgin Mary is my mum, basically. I converted some time ago and I was always close to that town in Poland which is called Czestochowa, where many miracles have happened through the Virgin Mary and that place has a beautiful church which is known around the world. I went there one day, I just prayed, like I didn't really pray, I didn't really believe, I just asked "God, if you exist, Virgin Mary, if you exist, show me the truth." And there were 3 of us, not one of us believed at that time and in that year all 3 people converted through Mary and her blessed heart. And now every day I am just finding her power, her faith, and her humble and quiet heart, and how much she shows me the way to Christ and how wonderful she is to me. And it is very interesting because I just find out the way to pray through the rosary, which I was like so stubborn not to do for more than a year and a half.."}

_{Kamel gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Kamel       ♦

_{"In my country Maria is a very special person because we have a lot of prayers to her. Maria is very important in my life because she was with me when I was burnt and in hospital in Poland with a picture of Maria. I remember that I have a lot of stories with Maria in my memory. I very usually go to our Church with Maria in Czestochowska and I have a lot of time to spend with pictures of Maria and I usually go to the special celebrations of Maria so I am very close with Maria."}

_{Kamel gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Konrad       ♦

_{"Mary is a mother and she is some kind of road to God."}

_{Konrad gives his something about Mary in English & Polish.}

Magdalna      ♦

^{"The Mother of God is someone who is always waiting for me, who is always there for me, to listen about my worries, about my happiness, about all the moments in my life, she is always there. And I trust her. I trust her that she is listening to me, that she is always there, that whatever I need she will ask her Son to help me with my problems. She is just someone very special; what I feel about her is that I feel her goodness. She is someone special, her heart is so clean that she is just clean goodness."}

Mariola       ♦

_{"Mary is my mother."}

Marta       ♦

_{"Maria is very, very important for me. I pray to her, of course for peace and for love in the world, and for peace in my heart."}

_{Marta gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Natalia       ♦

_{"Mary is for me a very good example for being open to God's Word."}

_{Natalia gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Ola       ♦

_{"It's everything through her, it's a gift from her and I am really so happy about that. And I just want to say, 'Thank you, Mary, thank you, Mum, that you are so close to me and that I can always be your child.'"}

_{Ola gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Patrick       ♦

_{"I pray to Mary by praying the rosary and it has always been with me, as far as I can remember, even before I actually understood it, its importance. .. The rosary is a powerful prayer that has appeared in my life and it's just there. It is there and I'm glad that it is there."}

_{Patrick gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Piotr       ♦

_{"Mary is a perfect woman and Mary is a Queen. She is a queen to all of us, she is a queen to Poland, to Polish people, and she is a queen for me, and I would like to be her knight and to serve her and God."}

_{Piotr gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Przemek       ♦

_{"Maria is for me like a mother. My mum died 8 years ago and I started coming to church and praying to Maria and she helps me. I pray all the time to her, she's very important for me, she listens to me. You know, when I have a problem, she helps me. She is a very important person in my life. I feel inside when I have prayed that she has helped me and she does everything the best for me."}

_{Przemek gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Rafael       ♦

_{"I think Mary is a big mother: mother of Jesus and mother of God."}

Rima       ♦

_{"Mother Mary is the greatest mother for us and I just love her because I know I always can count on her and I always can come to her with all my troubles and my problems and also with all my happiness. So it's very, very important for me to have the conversation with her."}

_{Rima gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Sister Rita      ♦

_{"John Paul II was Totus Tuus for all people and he was Totus Tuus for Maria. The Virgin Mary was everything for him; and for us also, for us sisters, for everybody, the Virgin Mary is our mother. We are always Totus Tuus."}

_{Sister Rita is a Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; she gives her something about Mary in English & Polish.}

Sebastian       ♦

_{"Mary was always important in my faith. In Poland we have got a very important place for Mary, it's called Czestochowa, Jasna Gora and I have been there many times on pilgrimage. What is for me very important is that Mary doesn't want to know every time the answer for every question; sometimes she is just in silence and takes what God gives her."}

_{Sebastian gives his something about Mary in English & Polish.}

Simon       ♦

_{"Saint Mary means for me love - extraordinary love which is going in your body and going through your body. It's love, for me it's pure love."}

_{Simon gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Sylvia       ♦

_{"Mary is for me my mother. She brought me personally, grabbed me by my hand and brought me to her Son, long before I even believed in him, because I met her, my mother, when I was 15 years old and I had a conversion of heart at the age of 27. So she brought me all along and made it happen for me."}

_{Sylvia gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Teresa       ♦

_{"Saint Maria is the best Mum, she loves everyone and you have to trust her with everything."}

_{Teresa gives her coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}

Wadim       ♦

_{"Our Lady - I knew she was like helping me to be closer to Jesus, her Son… and she's important for me because through the Bible I understand she delivered for us the Messiah who saved us, but she is also still helping to bring us to her son."}

_{Wadim gives his coś o Maryi in English & Polish.}