Saint John Paul II, a Missionary of Mary

From the Marian devotion of his childhood, the young Karol Wojtyla eventually encountered a true light on the role of Mary in the mystery of salvation, through the reading of the "Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" that led him to offer himself to Christ by the hands of Mary. "Thanks to Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, I realized that authentic Marian devotion is truly Christocentric, and rooted in the mystery of the Trinity. This form of piety has never ceased to mature in me and bear fruit."

When he became Pope John Paul II, he enjoyed praying the Rosary and visiting Marian shrines in Poland and around the world.

The Virgin Mary, so strongly present in his personal life, is also present in the preaching of Saint John Paul II, true to his mission of "strengthening his brothers" (Luke 22:32). The late pope invited Christians to rediscover "the objective truth about the Mother of God" in their personal lives and in the life of the Church: "I would like to summarize in two words the sublime lesson of the Gospel of Mary: The Virgin is our Mother, the Virgin is our Model."

Bishop Guy de Kerimel, Bishop of Grenoble-Vienne (France)

In Jean-Paul II et Marie (John Paul II and Mary), March 23, 2011

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