Polish visions behind Vatican rites<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Polish visions behind Vatican rites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/\",\"name\":\"Polish visions behind Vatican rites\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Polish visions behind Vatican rites\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes a weekly column for the Universal Syndicate.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/author\/tmatt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Polish visions behind Vatican rites","description":"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Polish visions behind Vatican rites","og_description":"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/","og_site_name":"Terry Mattingly","article_published_time":"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00","author":"tmatt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tmatt","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/","name":"Polish visions behind Vatican rites","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-09T12:39:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1"},"description":"To grasp the full symbolism of the Vatican rites in which a million or more Catholics celebrated the beatification of Pope John Paul II, it helps to","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Polish visions behind Vatican rites"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/","name":"Terry Mattingly","description":"On Religion","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1","name":"tmatt","description":"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes a weekly column for the Universal Syndicate.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/author\/tmatt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":2254,"date":"2011-05-09T08:39:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T12:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=2254"},"modified":"2011-05-09T08:39:04","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T12:39:04","slug":"polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2011\/05\/polish-visions-behind-vatican-rites\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish visions behind Vatican rites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Popes come and popes go. But the lives of this Polish nun and this Polish pope may be helping to reshape a crucial piece of the Catholic year \u2014 the celebrations that follow Easter, the high point of the Christian year.<\/p>\n

It was in 1937 that Sister Faustina wrote: \u201cAs I was praying for Poland I heard the words: I bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

After her earlier visions, which church leaders initially discounted, the young nun had written down a cycle of prayers appealing for God\u2019s forgiveness and mercy, a set of devotions that became known as the \u201cDivine Mercy Chaplet.\u201d<\/a> In the years after her death in 1938, a seminarian in nearby Krakow named Karol Wojtyla became devoted to these prayers and to the legacy of Sister Faustina.<\/p>\n

Wojtyla, of course, soon became a priest and a popular professor, before beginning his ascent as a bishop, archbishop and cardinal. Then, in 1978, he became Pope John Paul II. <\/p>\n

No one was surprised when this loyal son of Poland beatified Sister Faustina on April 18, 1993, and canonized her on April 30, 2000. \u201cThe message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me,\u201d noted John Paul II, during a 1997 pilgrimage to the nun\u2019s tomb. It could be said, he added, that her message \u201cforms the image of this pontificate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next crucial date in this time line came shortly after Sister Faustina became St. Faustina, when Pope John Paul II established that the first Sunday after Easter would also be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The elevation of this humble \u201cdaughter of my land, is not only a gift for Poland but for all humanity,\u201d declared John Paul II, in his 2001 sermon on the first Divine Mercy Sunday. \u201cIndeed the message she brought is the appropriate and incisive answer that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. Jesus said to Sr. Faustina one day: \u2018Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.\u2019 Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only four years later, the timing of the pope\u2019s death added another connection between Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, as well as between his life and that of St. Faustina. John Paul died after sundown on the Saturday after Easter, literally at the end of a Divine Mercy vigil and Mass that was celebrated at his bedside.<\/p>\n

As this rite ended, witnesses said the pope managed one last benediction before he died \u2014 a simple \u201camen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, the beatification rites for John Paul II were held on the anniversary of his death, as it would fall on the liturgical calendar \u2014 Divine Mercy Sunday. <\/p>\n

If he is later canonized as a saint \u2014 crowds have been chanting the title \u201cJohn Paul the Great\u201d since the day of his death \u2014 it is logical to ask how this could impact the liturgical calendar for the 1.1 billion Catholics living and worshiping around the world.<\/p>\n

The week begins with Easter, the highest moment of celebration in the Christian year. Then comes the \u201coctave\u201d of days dedicated to the Divine Mercy prayers, a period in which priests can offer special confession opportunities for those seeking to return to the sacramental life of the church. <\/p>\n

At the end of the week there is Divine Mercy Sunday, which the Catholic Church now teaches is the day when, according to the vision of St. Faustina, forgiveness is uniquely available for all who repent and turn to God. The gates of heaven are wide open.<\/p>\n

Could celebrations of the life of St. John Paul the Great \u2014 the charismatic pope whose words will live on in every conceivable form of mass media \u2014 somehow become linked to this great week of celebration? <\/p>\n

Follow the time line. Do the math.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"