St John Paul II, We Love You - Totus2us

Simone, who's half Italian, half Polish, was among the millions of young people with JPII at WYDs and at his funeral: "What John Paul did was that he showed that the Christian, apart from the fact that he showed that the Christian is somebody who is happy because he was a happy person, you could see that, but also he showed that the Christian is somebody who is free. That's why it was so difficult for people to define him; people would say that he was like this or, you know, one minute he'd be in an incredibly serious theological conversation and the next minute he'd be laughing or singing, and people concerned in the secular world with him as the statesman, him and the fall of communism and so on. But I think for me, while that is obviously hugely important, I think he was the example of what a Christian should be: somebody who loves God and of whom nothing is outside kind of what affects him, 'Nothing truly human fails to move us' he said. And so that for me really meant a lot. I think he was a sort of modern Saint Paul in the sense that he attempted to be all things for all men and he did this with happiness and freedom." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Br Sean, from N. Ireland and a member of The Spiritual Family the Work, describes having been with JPII in Rome: "I think in total it was about 4 times that I could meet the Holy Father and the impression I got from John Paul II was of somebody who emitted real sanctity. I think when you saw him coming towards you, and when you went to greet him, although he didn't really say anything to us, he had that sense of holiness about him, and I think that was something that all of us had felt. A highpoint of my time in Rome (I'd lived in Rome for 12 years) was when John Paul II was dying and we could go to St Peter's Square and and pray, when we knew he was dying above in the Apostolic Palace. When it was announced in St Peter's Square to the people who were there that he had died, the Cardinal who had announced is said that when the father dies, the children come and pray, and that's what we really felt when we were there. And we wanted to go to the funeral; we went and visited his body when it was lying in state. And I and another brother managed to get to St Peter's for the funeral and there was a very special time and a really historic time, and occasions like that are occasions which imprint onto your memory for the rest of your life, because we were the generation of John Paul II and he was suddenly gone; and he'd formed us so much. Maybe not consciously that we'd known, but he'd formed the Church which we'd known and it was our sign of gratitude to him that we could be there and be present at his funeral." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Matthew, from the USA, describes how Blessed John Paul II had a deep impact on his life: "I know without a doubt now, with hindsight, that John Paul II was there praying for me. Obviously he's a great intercessor for us in heaven and, without me even knowing, he was leading me across the world to find my home in Ireland where I now work with an evangelisation team. He always had a very special place in his heart for all people from all countries: he didn't see the divisions between them, he saw the beauty of each one." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Erin, from the USA, never really knew JPII in his lifetime. It was on pilgrimage to Rome at Easter 2007, when she visited his tomb, that she was first struck by him. "Man's eternity passes through love." - Karol Wojtyla, from his play The Jeweller's Shop. Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Caecilia, from Germany: "I love John Paul II very much because he trusted in us young people. You could feel it when you had a meeting with him at World Youth Day .. He loved us so much and he called us to the mission. He said we had big work in the world to tell the people from the Church and from Jesus, 'Jesus is the joy' and give the hearts the joy." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Br Camillus, from Ireland: "John Paul was such a wonderful person and he had so much suffering in his early life ..He was left all alone in this world aged 20, but he always dedicated and placed himself under the care of Our Blessed Lady, and he renewed his dedication to Mary Immaculate, his Mother.. I am really privileged to have met him and I shall always be keen to pray to him in the few years that I have left. We must thank God for John Paul, the Great John Paul II." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Lawrence, from the UK, speaks about the great qualities of John Paul II and how the message he was giving was so wonderfully clear and beautiful that it made it very much easier to follow the teachings of Our Lord. JPII: "The future starts today, not tomorrow." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Eric, from the USA, has always thought John Paul II was really cool, without hesitation choosing him for a school paper as the person he'd most like to have dinner with! Eric has recently seen the film Karol which does a fantastic job detailing Karol Wojtyla's early life and all the struggles he lived through. Eric is able to visit JPII's tomb in St Peter's, as he is currently at the Emmanuel School of Evangelization in Rome. JPII: "Happiness means to be rooted in love." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Father Peter Nkomazana CMM, a Marianhill Missionary priest from Zimbabwe, was an altar boy at Mass during Pope John Paul II's trip to Zimbabwe in 1988. Fr Peter speaks here of JPII's leadership: as a spiritual father, as a man of prayer who was deep in contemplation. JPII: "If you want peace, work for justice." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Jan, from Italy, talks of how John Paul II's words and love have inspired and helped him, and of how reading St Louis de Montfort's 'Devotion to Mary' made him think of Karol Woytyla reading the same book while he was an 'underground' seminarian. Jan, a film maker, has chosen a quote from JP2's Letter to Artists: "Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God which a lover of beauty like Saint Augustine could express in incomparable terms: Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!" Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.