# Day 22 – Mary’s Gift of Mercy and St. John Paul II
*2017-03-30*

> Bill Young reflects on the Marian message of mercy, the apparitions at Fatima, and St. John Paul II’s consecrations, linking them to the ongoing 33‑day retreat toward a deeper marriage to Christ.

## Welcome and Context

Good afternoon, I’m Bill Young. Today we continue our 33‑days‑to‑Morning‑Glory retreat, a do‑it‑yourself preparation for a deeper consecration to Mary. We are on Day 22, “Mary’s Gift of Mercy,” which begins the fourth week of the series. This week we focus on St. John Paul II, often called the most Marian pope, whose teachings deepen our understanding of Marian consecration as an entrustment that leads us into the mystery of Christ’s redeeming love.

## The Fatima Prophecy and Russia

In 1917, during World War I, the Blessed Virgin appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. She warned that the war would end, but if people did not convert, a worse conflict would follow, and that Russia would spread its errors throughout the world, causing further wars and persecution of the Church. Mary asked the Holy Father to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart and for the faithful to observe the five First Saturdays as a communion of reparation, promising that her Immaculate Heart would triumph.

## St. John Paul II and the Assassination Attempt

On May 13, 1981, exactly 64 years after the first Fatima apparition, Pope John Paul II was greeted by pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. While in the Popemobile, a gunman fired two shots; the first struck the Pope’s elbow, the second entered his abdomen, missing vital organs by a hair’s breadth. The Pope later said that one hand fired the bullet and the other guided it—“the hand of Our Lady of Fatima.” After the attempt, he recalled the Fatima secret of the “bishop dressed in white” and felt compelled to consecrate the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

## The Pope’s Entrustments

Less than a month after the shooting, John Paul II publicly renewed his personal consecration to Mary in a recorded address to the pilgrims. On March 25, 1984, in St. Peter’s Square, he made a solemn act of entrustment of the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, concluding with a prayer that asked for the infinite saving power of redemption, the transformation of consciousness, and the illumination of hope. Sister Lucia, the last surviving Fatima visionary, later declared that this fulfilled Our Lady’s original request.

## Legacy of Mercy

The fall of the Soviet regime five years later seemed to confirm the promised triumph. Yet John Paul II did not consider the “century of tears” over. He promoted the message of mercy, establishing the Universal Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000 and a solemn act of entrustment of the world to Divine Mercy in 2002. He died on the first Saturday after Divine Mercy Sunday, a fitting culmination of his Marian and merciful legacy.

## Prayer of the Day

Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen.

*St. John Paul II’s life shows how a deep Marian consecration can bring the world into the mercy of Christ.*