Next Wednesday is the coming memorial of our reverence for St. John Paul the Great on October 22nd.


I quote the collect and the prayer for him as follow.


- Collect / Prayer


O God, who are rich in mercy
and who willed that Saint John Paul the Second
should preside as Pope over your universal Church,
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,
we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ,
the sole Redeemer of mankind.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.


The second reading is really nice.


Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Homily of Saint John Paul II, Pope, for the Inauguration of his Pontificate
(October 22, 1978: AAS 70 [1978], 945-947)


Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.
Peter came to Rome! What else but obedience to the inspiration received from the Lord could
have guided him and brought him to this city, the heart of the Empire? Perhaps the fisherman of
Galilee did not want to come here. Perhaps he would have preferred to stay there, on the shores
of Lake of Genesareth, with his boat and his nets. Yet guided by the Lord, obedient to his
inspiration, he came here!


According to an ancient tradition, Peter tried to leave Rome during Nero’s persecution. However,
the Lord intervened and came to meet him. Peter spoke to him and asked. “Quo vadis, Domine?”
— “Where are you going, Lord?” And the Lord answered him at once: “I am going to Rome to be
crucified again.” Peter went back to Rome and stayed here until his crucifixion.
Our time calls us, urges us, obliges us, to gaze on the Lord and to immerse ourselves in humble
and devout meditation on the mystery of the supreme power of Christ himself.
He who was born of the Virgin Mary, the carpenter’s Son (as he was thought to be), the Son of
the living God (as confessed by Peter), came to make us all “a kingdom of priests."
The Second Vatican Council has reminded us of the mystery of this power and of the fact that
Christ’s mission as Priest, Prophet-Teacher and King continues in the Church. Everyone, the
whole People of God, shares in this threefold mission. Perhaps in the past the tiara, that triple
crown, was placed on the Pope’s head in order to signify by that symbol the Lord’s plan for his
Church, namely that all the hierarchical order of Christ’s Church, all “sacred power” exercised in
the Church, is nothing other than service, service with a single purpose: to ensure that the whole
People of God shares in this threefold mission of Christ and always remains under the power of
the Lord; a power that has its source not in the powers of this world, but instead in the mystery of
the Cross and the Resurrection.


The absolute, and yet sweet and gentle, power of the Lord responds to the whole depths of the
human person, to his loftiest aspirations of intellect, will and heart. It does not speak the
language of force, but expresses itself in charity and truth.
The new Successor of Peter in the See of Rome today makes a fervent, humble and trusting
prayer: Christ, make me become and remain the servant of your unique power, the servant of
your sweet power, the servant of your power that knows no dusk. Make me a servant: indeed,
the servant of your servants.


Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope
and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and
the whole of mankind.
Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states,
economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ
knows “that which is in man”. He alone knows it.
So often today, man does not know that which is in him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So
often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt
which turns into despair. We ask you, therefore, we beg you with humility and with trust, let
Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of life eternal.


Responsory


Do not be afraid. The Redeemer of mankind has revealed the power of the Cross
and has given his life for us.
—Open, open wide the doors for Christ.


In the Church we are called to partake of his power.
—Open, open wide the doors for Christ.


It's nice, isn't it?


I'm excited to celebarate his memorial!