St. John Paul II’s Miracle

“To succeed in your intentions, entrust yourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary always, but especially in moments of difficulty and darkness.” St. John Paul II, Washington, DC, 1979.

I was only 18 years old when it happened, but I clearly remember the news that Pope John Paul II had been shot. For days, we prayed for him in all the masses. My mom and grandmother were glued to the news. Nobody knew if he would survive. But he did.

It was during my first Marian Consecration two years ago that I learned the full story. Father Michael E. Gaitley in his book “33 Days to Morning Glory” tells us that “On May 13, 1981, at 5 p.m… a gunman fired two shots at the Pope from close range. The first bullet grazed his elbow. The second struck him in the abdomen and ricocheted inside him, shredding intestines and piercing his colon. Miraculously, the bullet missed the main abdominal artery by one tenth of an inch. Had it been struck or even grazed, John Paul would have bled to death on the way to the hospital. Realizing this blessing, the Pope stated that ‘One hand fired, and another guided the bullet.’ John Paul believes it was the hand of Our Lady of Fatima,” who had predicted exactly 64 years earlier, on May 13, 1917, at 5 p.m. that a “bishop dressed in white… would suffer much and then be shot and killed.”

Less than three years later, John Paul consecrated the whole world to Our Lady. In her apparitions at Fatima, she had requested the consecration of Russia, predicting that if she was not obeyed, Russia would fall under the hands of a Communist regime, just like it happened. Five years after John Paul’s consecration of the world, the horrific Soviet communist regime suddenly came to an end.

Gaitley tells us, “That victory won, the Pope didn’t rest. What he once called the ‘century of tears’ was far from over. To confront the ongoing evil and injustice in the world, he forcefully proclaimed, with growing frequency, the saving power of God’s ‘merciful Love.’ His efforts to promote this message culminated in the establishment of the universal Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000 and a solemn Act of Entrustment of the world to Divine Mercy in 2002. Three years after this entrustment, the great Marian Pope, the great Mercy Pope, died on a first Saturday and the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday. Mary had saved his life at the dawn of his pontificate so that, through him, her divine Son could lead the Church to the victory of Mercy and the triumph of her Immaculate Heart.”

St. Pope John Paul II visited our hometown in 1987. What a blessing it was to have seen a future saint at such close range. He was canonized on the Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday on April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis. He’s been called “the most Marian Pope,” and his motto “Totus Tuus,” which means “Totally Yours,” has become the central theme of Marian consecration. If you want to learn how to do a Marian consecration, you can find out at: https://www.consecrati.com/

Copyright © 2025 Christy Romero. All rights reserved. If you thought of someone while reading this, bless them by sharing it with them.