THE WORDS OF THE POPE

«O Mother of God,

O Blessed Virgin,

by God have you been glorified!»

«Mother of Jasna Góra and Queen, I come to you today on a pilgrimage of faith to thank you for our ceaseless protection of all the Church and of myself, especially during the 50 years of my priesthood and those of my service in the See of Peter. With great trust I come to this holy place - on the hill of Jasna Góra, so dear to my heart, to cry out once more: Mother of God and our Mother, I thank you for being the guiding Star of the building of a better future for the world, for being the patroness of the attainment of the civilization of love among the members of the human race. Mother, I humbly beseech you, surround with your maternal protection the days and years which still separate us from the Year 2000. I entrust to your intercession the preparation for the Great Jubilee of Christianity. Help all the nations of the world to begin the new millennium in union with Christ, the King of the ages».

(From the prayer of John Paul II, a pilgrim at the Shrine of Jasna Góra, Czestochowa, 4 June, 1997)

«On 16 October 1978, the liturgical memorial of St Hedwig of Silesia, during the Conclave after my election, the Primate of the Millennium said to me: "You must now lead the Church into the new millennium". This is the reason why I have come to Poland. I came for the Eucharistic Congress in Wroclaw. I came to go to Gniezno for the celebration of the Millennium of St Adalbert. I came on these age-old routes to ask for the grace to be able to fulfil the mission which divine Providence perhaps entrusted to me in the words of the great Primate of the Millennium. But, dear friends, the years are passing and you must beg God on your knees that I can succeed».

(From the homily on the esplanade in Gorzów, 2 June 1997)

«Our saint, Queen Hedwig, teach us today, on the threshold of the third millennium, that wisdom and love which you made your path to holiness. Lead all of us, Hedwig, to the Crucified One of Wawel, so that, like you, we may know what it means to love in deed and in truth, what it means to be truly free. Place under your protection your nation and the Church which it serves, and intercede for us with God, that our joy may never end. Rejoice, Mother Poland! Gaude, mater Polonia!»

(From the homily during the Eucharistic celebration in Kraków for the Canonization of the Queen of Poland. 8 June 1997)

«The 46th International Eucharistic Congress now reaches its high point: the Statio Orbis! Spiritually gathered around this altar today is the Church in every continent of the globe... This Congress is part and parcel of the context of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. In the programme of spiritual preparation for the Jubilee, this year is dedicated to special contemplation of the Person of Jesus Christ: "Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, yesterday, today and for ever" (cf. Heb 13,8). So could this year have lacked this Eucharistic profession of faith by the whole Church?».

(From the homily during the Solemn Celebration of the "Statio Orbis" on the esplanade in the centre of Wroclaw. 1 June 1997)

«In his native country he has been proclaimed a saint of the universal Church. His canonization is part of the path by which the Church advances, the path which leads to the goal of the second millennium of Christ's birth. Together with all who guide the Church in Poland during this period, tertio millennio adveniente, together with Saint Adalbert, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Hedwig, Saint John of Dukla is also present. We rejoice that all the holy patrons of Poland are keeping watch with us. We rejoice and we pray for the Polish nation and for the Church in our land, tertio millennio adveniente».

(From the homily during the Eucharistic Celebration for the Canonization of Blessed John of Dukla. 10 June 1997)

«On the threshold of the third millennium the witness of St Adalbert is ever present in the Church and constantly bearing fruit. We need to take up with fresh vigour his work of evangelization. Let us help those who have forgotten Christ and his teaching to discover him anew. This will happen when ranks of faithful witnesses to the Gospel begin once more to traverse our continent; when works of architecture, literature and art show in a convincing way to the people of our time the One who is "the same yesterday and today and for ever"; when in the Church's celebration of the liturgy people see how beautiful it is to give glory to God; when they discern in our lives a witness of Christian mercy, heroic love and holiness. We entrust ourselves to St Adalbert, asking him to intercede for us, as the Church and Europe prepare for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000».

(From the homily during the Eucharistic Celebration in Gniezno. 3 June 1997)

«The Jubilee of the martyrdom of Saint Adalbert, Bishop of Prague and Benedictine monk, exhorts us to reflect on Christ's command: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28,19). It exhorts the Church in Poland to take up again with renewed energy the work of the new evangelization in the years of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

On the threshold of the third millennium of Christianity, we must all join in the fundamental mission of "revealing Christ to the world, helping each person to find himself in Christ, and helping the contemporary generations of our brothers and sisters, the peoples, nations, States, mankind, developing countries and countries of opulence - in short, helping everyone to get to know "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3,8), since these riches are for every individual and are everybody's property" (Redemptor Hominis, n. 11). On the threshold of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, I entrust to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary all the orders, congregations, societies of apostolic life and secular institutes in Poland, both men and women».

(From the message to consecrated persons present in Jasna Góra. 4 June 1997)

Among the People of God, Mary most holy is the first custodian of the memory of Christ and of the hope that flows from him. Making a pilgrimage to the sources of Marian devotion in my country, especially to Jasna Góra, means returning to our roots and receiving new strength from them to respond fully to the Lord's will on our way towards the third millennium».

(From the Angelus. Sunday, 15 June 1997)

«I come here to commend the concerns of the Church, and of humanity to the merciful Christ. On the threshold of the third millennium I come to entrust to him once more my Petrine ministry - "Jesus, I trust in you!". Once more I ask you to pray for the intentions of the Church and to support me in my ministerium Petrinum. I know that such prayer is always offered here: I thank you for this with all my heart. We all need it so such: tertio millennio adveniente».

(During the visit to the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Kraków. 7 June 1997)

«The beginnings of the history of faith in this land were sanctified by the blood of martyrs and the holiness of confessors. Today at the end of the second millennium of Christianity we are walking in their footsteps, that we may draw from their faith new strength. Listening attentively to Christ's command to foster love of God and of neighbour, we entrust to Mary every effort made to bring this about, as we approach the third millennium - tertio millennio adveniente. With all my heart I embrace the faithful from all the Polish Dioceses and the sisters and brothers of the Church in Kraków. While the whole Church is getting ready for the Jubilee of the second millennium of Christianity, the Diocese of Kraków is approaching the end of its own first millennium. I know that by means of parish missions and the new visit of parishes by a copy of the picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa you wish to prepare yourselves for this special event. May this preparation produce abundant fruit».

(From the reflection during the Marian prayer at the end of the Eucharistic Celebration. 8 June 1997)

«Together we wish to appropriate once more the great spiritual patrimony which this university constitutes in the history of our nation and of Europe, in order to transmit this priceless treasure intact to future generations of Poles, to the third millennium».

(From the discourse during the solemn academic function in St Anne's Church. 8 June 1997)