Group Studies Marian Devotion of John Paul II
ROME, MAY 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Prayer Group of the Spiritual Children of John Paul II held its first meeting to discuss the link between Karol Wojtyla and the Virgin Mary.
The fledgling group's meeting took place Saturday in Rome and was broadcast by Vatican Radio.
The date of the meeting coincided with the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, particularly honored by the Polish Pontiff.
Archbishop Angelo Comastri, Benedict XVI's vicar for Vatican City, took part in the meeting held at Rome's Pontifical Major Seminary, along with Monsignor Giangiulio Radivo, spiritual director of the prayer group.
Communism
Archbishop Comasti told Vatican Radio: "John Paul II had a relationship of devotion and affection with Our Lady which was a great teaching for the entire Church.
"In certain ways, he helped us to rediscover Mary. John Paul II helped us to rediscover Our Lady."
The archbishop said that the Polish Pope's devotion to Mary helped to bring about the fall of communism.
"The entrustment to Mary that John Paul II carried out in an extraordinary way in 1984 was an act that prepared for the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of atheistic regimes in Eastern Europe," he said. "We all know what happened from 1984-1991.
"There was one wall falling after another until, on Dec. 25, 1991, the red flag over the Kremlin was taken down."
A beautiful yes
The 63-year-old archbishop clarified the concept of entrustment to Mary.
"Entrustment to Mary is not asking of her what we need, it does not mean: 'Mary, we entrust you with this problem, you handle it, we will stand back.'
"No, entrusting yourself to Mary means: 'We recognize you as our model of faith, as she who said the most beautiful yes, she who knows the path of faith because she walked it. We entrust ourselves to you.'
"The act of entrustment, therefore, has a dynamic value. It is making oneself available to walk in faith. It is a handing over of oneself in order to grow in faith, so that Mary will help us to become faithful disciples like she was."
Code: ZE07052912
Date: 2007-05-29