On April 2, 2019 it was the 14th anniversary of the Holy Father’s John Paul II, the Patron and Founder of our Foundation, return to the Home of the Father. This year’s anniversary celebrations were held under the motto “Renew face!” The motto was taken from the Holy Father’s speech delivered on June 2, 1979 at the Victory Square in Warsaw. “And I cry—I who am a Son of the land of Poland and who am also Pope John Paul II—I cry from all the depths of this Millennium, I cry on the vigil of Pentecost: Let your Spirit descend. Let your Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, the face of this land.”
It is believed that these words of the Saint John Paul II became the beginning of the trigger for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which were under the Soviet Union occupation.
Communism collapsed as John Paul II “unified the consciences of East and West on the universal altar of human rights” – wrote in 2008 former spokesman of the Vatican Joaquin Navarro-Valls in the “La Repubblica” newspaper.
On that day, a Holy Mass was celebrated in the Chapel by Fr. Jan Strzałka, director of the John Paul II Foundation Home in Lublin. During the Eucharist, we gave thanks to God for the gift of life and holiness of John Paul II. We were also praying for the necessary graces for the Foundation’s leaders, benefactors, and scholarship recipients.
After the Mass, we prayed with the Litany to St. John Paul II and there was the opportunity to pay homage to the Relics of the Blood of the Saint by kissing them.
Fr. Jan Strzałka
