Mother, Tell Your Son What a Difficult Day We Have Had!

In 1983, John Paul II returned to Poland four years after his first journey, when the country was still in a state of siege and the leaders of Solidarity in prison in particularly dramatic circumstances. Then, on June 19, 1983, he prayed once more to the Virgin at Jasna Gora: "O Mother! Speak to your Son! Tell your Son what a difficult day we have had!" "At this difficult moment in our history I place in your hands, O Mother, all the Polish people because on each of them depends the perseverance on the road to renewal, justice and peace. Mother of our heart! May the power of forgiveness arise everywhere from these words, because without forgiveness we cannot escape from the shackles of hatred. Hatred is a destructive force, and we should neither destroy nor let ourselves be destroyed by it. Forgiveness is imbued with the strength of love. Forgiveness does not mean weakness. Forgiving does not mean forfeiting truth or justice but rather leaning towards truth and justice by way of the Gospel." He then concluded with a hopeful prophetic message: "Cardinal August Hlond, who revered you, Mary, so greatly, spoke these words on his deathbed: 'Victory, when it comes, shall come through Mary.' "