Blessed John Paul II

I saw a recent announcement that October 22 is the Feast Day of Blessed John Paul II. Happy Feast Day of our beloved Holy Father, the pope that many of us grew up with! I have a great devotion to John Paul II! In my private chapel, I have a small shrine with different prayer cards to our Holy Father and a framed relic! A picture that I have in that shrine is a memory that I will have forever. In 1996, a group of us from the seminary were in Rome for our January interterm and we had the great honor and privilege of having a private audience with the pope. We were taken to the Clementine Hall in the Vatican and put in a semi-circle. Directly, the Holy Father came out through the door and greeted each of us individually. He had photographers with him taking pictures. Later that day, the pictures were developed of our encounter with the pope and we were able to purchase the ones we thought were good. It was a beautiful experience and a cherished memory! Just think, we met a "Blessed" of the Church and he is one miracle away from Sainthood. We pray that God will soon raise Blessed John Paul II to the altars of sainthood. We know that as we pray for him, our beloved Holy Father is praying for us! Have a blessed day!!!!!