St. John Paul Speeches part 3
TESTAMENT OF THE HOLY FATHER
JOHN PAUL II
Totus Tuus ego sum
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
"Watch, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming" (Mt 24: 42) - these words remind me of the last call that will come at whatever time the Lord desires. I want to follow Him and I want all that is part of my earthly life to prepare me for this moment. I do not know when it will come but I place this moment, like all other things, in the hands of the Mother of my Master: Totus Tuus. In these same motherly hands I leave everything and Everyone with whom my life and my vocation have brought me into contact. In these Hands I above all leave the Church, and also my Nation and all humankind. I thank everyone. I ask forgiveness of everyone. I also ask for prayers, so that God's Mercy may prove greater than my own weakness and unworthiness.
During the spiritual exercises I reread the Testament of the Holy Father Paul VI. It was reading it that gave me the incentive to write this Testament.
I leave no possessions of which it will be necessary to dispose. As for the things I use every day, I ask that they be distributed as seems appropriate. Let my personal notes be burned. I ask that Fr Stanis³aw see to this, and I thank him for his help and collaboration, so understanding for so many years. On the other hand, I leave all my other "thank yous" in my heart before God Himself, because it is difficult to express them.
With regard to my funeral, I repeat the instructions that were given by the Holy Father Paul VI (here a note in the margin says: burial in the ground and not in a sarcophagus, 13 March 1992). Let the College of Cardinals and my Fellow Citizens decide on the place.
"apud Dominum misericordia
et copiosa apud Eum redemptio"
John Paul PP. II
Rome, 6 March 1979
After my death I ask for Holy Masses and prayers
5 February 1990
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Undated page
I express the most profound trust that, in spite of all my weakness, the Lord will grant me every grace necessary to face, in accordance with His will, any task, test or suffering that He sees fit to ask of His servant during his life. I am also confident that He will never let me fail through some attitude I may have: words, deeds or omissions, in my obligations to this holy Petrine See.
***
24 February to 1 March 1980
Also during these spiritual exercises I reflected on the truth of the Priesthood of Christ in the perspective of that Passing which the moment of death is for each one of us. The Resurrection of Christ is an eloquent [above this word was added decisive] sign of the departure from this world for rebirth in the other, future world.
I therefore read the draft of my Testament as it was recorded last year, also written during the spiritual exercises - I compared it with the Testament of my great Predecessor and Father, Paul VI, with his sublime testimony on the death of a Christian and a Pope - and I reminded myself of the matters mentioned in the draft of 6 March 1979, prepared by me (in a somewhat makeshift manner).
Today, I would like to add just this: that everyone keep the prospect of death in mind and be ready to go before the Lord and Judge - and at the same time Redeemer and Father. So I keep this continuously in my mind, entrusting that decisive moment to the Mother of Christ and of the Church - to the Mother of my hope.
The times we are living in are unspeakably difficult and disturbing. The Church's journey has also become difficult and stressful, a characteristic proof of these times - both for the Faithful and for Pastors. In some Countries (as, for example, those I read about during the spiritual exercises), the Church finds herself in a period of persecution no less evil than the persecutions of the early centuries, indeed worse, because of the degree of ruthlessness and hatred. Sanguis martyrum - semen christianorum ["The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians" (Tertullian)]. And in addition to this, so many innocent people disappear, even in this Country in which we live....
I would like once again to entrust myself entirely to the Lord's grace. He Himself will decide when and how I am to end my earthly life and my pastoral ministry. In life and in death [I am] Totus Tuus through Mary Immaculate. I hope, in already accepting my death now, that Christ will give me the grace I need for the final passover, that is, [my] Pasch. I also hope that He will make it benefit the important cause I seek to serve: the salvation of men and women, the preservation of the human family and, within in it, all the nations and peoples (among them, I also specifically address my earthly Homeland), useful for the people that He has specially entrusted to me, for the matter of the Church and for the glory of God Himself.
I do not want to add anything to what I wrote a year ago - except to express this readiness and, at the same time, this trust which these spiritual exercises have once again inspired in me.
John Paul II
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5 March 1982
Totus Tuus ego sum
In the course of the spiritual exercises this year I read (several times) the text of my Testament of 6 March 1979. Although I still consider it as temporary (not definitive) I am leaving it in its present form. I am not (for the moment) changing anything, nor do I add anything to the arrangements it contains.
The attack on my life on 13 May 1981 in some way confirmed the exactness of the words I wrote during the spiritual exercises in 1980 (24 February-1 March).
I feel so much more deeply that I am totally in God's Hands - and I remain continuously available to my Lord, entrusting myself to Him through His Immaculate Mother (Totus Tuus).
John Paul PP. II
Postscript
In connection with the last sentence of my Testament of 6 March 1979 ("Let the College of Cardinals and my Fellow Citizens decide on the place/that is, the place of the funeral") - I explain that I have in mind: the Metropolitan of Krakow or the General Council of the Polish Bishops' Conference - in the meantime, I ask the College of Cardinals to do their best to satisfy the possible requests of those listed above.
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