Marian sermons by the Bishop Karol Wojtyła from years 1958-1964

Abstract

In the rich in achievements biography of Karol Wojtyła - John Paul II the years 1958-1964 are the little-known period when he was serving as an auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of Cracow. There are few sermons preserved from that time, as a typescripts in the Archives of Metropolitan Curia in Cracow. Marian issues were incredibly close for Wojtyła. In his Bishop's crest (also kept suring being the Pope) he typed the cross with the letter 'M' - an initial of the name of St. Mary  and as his motto he chose the words from a treatise of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Monfort: Totus Tuus - All Yours. They expressed a special devotion to the care of Our Lady. The Marian issues from the years 1958-1964 are the most visuable in the speeches of Bishop Karol Wojtyła during two pilgrimages of priests of Archdiocese of Cracow to the Jasna Góra Monastery (17 and 23-24 April 1963) and in the speech before the coronation of the Figure of Our LAdy of Ludźmierz, called the Housekeeper of Podhale (15 August 1963). There he shows St. Mary as the Assumpted Queen and the special Mother of Priests.