No sooner had I finished my last post on this subject then another poem arrived in my inbox. Same author, this time concerning the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

John Paul the Second,
The great survivor
Of Nazi invasion and
Communist constriction.
The poet and playwright,
Priest and professor:
Polish Pope.

In theology:
Restressing of tradition,
Regression of liberation,
Redressing of primacy.

In politics:
Solidity of Petrine rock,
Solidarity of Polish stock,
Stumbling of Soviet bloc.

Karol Wojtyla,
More alive than ever,
Witness to the watching world.

You know it's coming. I've written my own poem. A Haiku entitled “Foolishly Misguided Loyalty”.

Your coffin embossed

“totus tuus” was your cry

shame you meant Mary

Am I out of order here? Don't think so…

TOTUS TUUS

 

Here you see a coin commemorating the pontificate of John Paul II. The front of the coin declares him to be the Pontifex Maximus. On the reverse side is his papal heraldic shield. The large letter M on the shield stands for Mary, the mother of God. The words at the bottom “TOTUS TUUS” are transposed and excerpted from a latin prayer composed by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort: tuus totus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt, O Virgo super omnia benedicta, which in English reads “I belong to you entirely, and all that I possess is yours, Virgin blessed above all.”

Quoting Pope John Paul II, he proclaimed on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception in 1978-

“The Pope, at the beginning of his episcopal service in St. Peter's Chair in Rome, wishes to entrust the Church particularly to her in whom there was accomplished the stupendous and complete victory of good over evil, of love over hatred, of grace over sin; to her of whom Paul VI said that she is ' the beginning of the better world;' to the Blessed Virgin. He entrusts to her himself, as the servant of servants, and all those whom he serves, all those who serve with him. He entrusts to her the Roman Church, as token and principle of all the churches in the world, in their universal unity. He entrusts it to her and offers it to her as her property.” — Insegnamenti Giovanni Paolo II (1978), (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 313)

Source: TOTUS TUUS, by Arthur Burton Calkins, pages 21 and 27, Academy of the Immaculate, New Bedford, Massachusetts, ISBN 0-9635345-0-5, bearing the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur of the Catholic Church.

This isn't just “having a go at Roman Catholicism”. The issues behind this are immense. Pope John Paul II advocated to all those under his care a policy of entrusting themselves utterly and totally to Mary. It makes me shudder.

Acts 4:11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.