Spiritual Testament of Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII  -  Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli.
Born 25 November, 1881, at Sotto il Monte, Bergamo, Italy. 
Died  3 June, 1963, in Rome.
                       



                                                        
Acknowledgement:- The following 'Spiritual Testament of Pope John XXIII' is taken from 'Pope John XXIII - Journal of a Soul', translated by Dorothy White, and published by 'The New English Library Limited, in association with Geoffrey Chapman Limited' in 1965

SPIRITUAL TESTAMENT OF  POPE JOHN XXIII

Venice, 29 June, 1954, -  written while Cardinal, Patriarch of Venice.

         ‘On the point of presenting myself before the Lord, One and Three, who created me, redeemed me, chose me to be priest and Bishop and bestowed infinite graces upon me, I entrust my poor soul to His mercy. Humbly I beg his pardon for my sins and failings; I offer him, what little good, even if imperfect and unworthy, I was able with his help to do for his glory and in the service of Holy Church and for the edification of my fellows, and I implore him finally to welcome me, like a kind and tender father, among his saints in the bliss of eternity.
          I wish to profess once more my complete Christian and Catholic faith, belonging and submitting as I do to the holy, apostolic and Roman Church, and my perfect devotion and obedience to its august head the supreme Pontiff, whom it was my great honour to represent for many years in the various regions of East and West, and who finally sent me here as Cardinal and Patriarch, and for whom I have always felt a sincere affection, apart from and above any dignity conferred on me. 
          The sense of my littleness and worthlessness has always kept me good company, making me humble and tranquil, and permitting me the joy of putting my best efforts into a continual exercise of obedience and love for souls and for the interests of the kingdom of Jesus, my Lord and my all.  To him be all the glory: for me and for my own merits, only his mercy.  ‘God’s mercy is my only merit. Lord you know all things: you know that I love you!’ This is enough for me.
           I ask forgiveness from those whom I have unknowingly offended, and those whom I have not influenced for good.  I feel that for my own part I have nothing to forgive anyone, because in all those who knew me and had dealings with me – even if they had offended or despised me, or no doubt justly, had little regard for me, or given me cause to suffer – I recognise only brothers and benefactors, to whom I am grateful and for whom I pray and will pray always.
           Born poor, but of humble and respected folk, I am particularly happy to die poor, having distributed, according to the various needs and circumstances of my simple and modest life in the service of the poor and of the holy Church which has nurtured me, whatever came into my hands, and it was very little, during the years of my priesthood and episcopate.  Appearances of wealth have frequently disguised thorns of frustrating poverty which prevented me from giving to others as generously as I would have wished. I thank God for this grace of poverty to which I vowed fidelity in my youth; poverty of spirit, as a priest of the Sacred Heart, and material poverty, which has strengthened me in my resolve never to ask for anything – positions, money, or favours – never, either for myself or for my relations and friends.
          To my beloved family according to the flesh, from whom moreover I have never received any material wealth, I can leave only a great and special blessing, begging them to preserve that fear of God which made them always so dear and beloved to me, and to be simple and modest without ever being ashamed of it: it is their true title of nobility. I have sometimes come to their aid, as a poor man to the poor, but without lifting them out of their respected and contented poverty. I pray and I will ever pray for their welfare, glad as I am to see in their new and vigorous shoots the constancy and faithfulness to the religious tradition of the parent stock which will always be their happiness.  My most heartfelt wish is that not one of my relations and connections may be missing at the final reunion.
          About to leave, as I hope, on the heavenward path, I greet, thank, and bless the infinite number of souls who made up, successively, my spiritual family in Bergamo, in Rome, in the East, in France, and in Venice, my fellow citizens, benefactors, colleagues, students, collaborators, friends and acquaintances, priests and lay folk, men and women of the Religious Orders, to all of whom, by the decree of Providence, I was the unworthy brother, father, or shepherd.
          The kindness shown my humble person by all those I met with along my way has made my life a peaceful one. Now, in the face of death, I remember all and everyone of those who have gone before me on the last stretch of the road, and those who will survive me and follow me. May they pray for me. I will do the same for them from purgatory or paradise, where I hope to be received, not I repeat, through my own merits, but through the mercy of my Lord.
          I remember them all and will pray for them all. But my Venetian children, the last the Lord has given me, for the final joy and consolation of my priestly life, shall here receive special mention as a sign of my admiration, gratitude and very special love. I embrace them all in the spirit, all, everyone, clergy and lay folk, without distinction, as without distinction I loved them all as belonging to the same family, the object of the same priestly love and care. ‘Holy Father, keep them in thy name, whom thou hast given me, and that they may be one, even as we are one’(John 17:11)
         

                                                                  OBEDIENTIA ET PAX

                                                Coat of Arms for Cardinal Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice

          In the hour of farewell or, better, of leave-taking, I repeat once more that what matters most in this life is: our blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, and in the Gospel above all else the Our Father according to the mind and heart of Jesus, and the truth and goodness of his Gospel, goodness which must be meek and kind, hardworking and patient, unconquerable and victorious.
          My children, my brothers, I take leave of you. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus our love; of Mary, his sweet Mother and ours; of St Joseph, my first and most beloved protector. In the name of St Peter, of St John the Baptist, and of St Mark; of St Lawrence Giustiniani and St Pius X.  Amen.
                                                Card.Ang.Gius.Roncalli  Patriarch

The text contains, in the Pope’s handwriting, the following codicils:
      ‘These pages written by me are valid as proof of my final dispositions in case of my sudden death’.
                                               Ang.Gius.Card.Roncalli
                                               Venice, 17 September, 1957.

‘And they are valid also as my spiritual testament, to be added to the testamentary provisions here enclosed, under the date of 30 April, 1959’.                                                  Joannes XXIII Pp.
                                                  Rome, 4 December, 1959.

Finally at Castel Gandolfo, 12 September, 1961.

 'Under the dear and trustworthy auspices of Mary, my heavenly Mother, to whose name the liturgy of this day is dedicated, and in the eightieth year of my age, I hereby set down and renew my will, annulling every other declaration concerning my wishes, made and written previously, on divers occasions.
          I await the arrival of Sister Death and will welcome her simply and joyfully in whatever circumstances it will please the Lord to send her.
          First of all I beg forgiveness from the Father of mercies for my ‘countless sins, offences, and negligences’, as I have said and repeated so many, many times when offering my daily sacrifice of the Mass.
          For this first grace of forgiveness from Jesus for all my sins, and for his acceptance of my soul in his blessed and eternal paradise, I commend myself to the prayers of all who have known me and followed my whole life as priest, Bishop, and most humble and unworthy servant of the servants of the Lord.
          It is with a joyful heart that I renew wholly and fervently the profession of my Catholic, Apostolic and Roman faith.
         Among the various forms and symbols in which the faith finds its expression I prefer the Creed of the Mass, said by priest and Pontiff, resounding and sublime, in union with the universal Church of every rite, every century, every land: from the ‘Credo in unum Deum, patrem omnipotentem’ to the ‘et vitam venturi saeculi’.   (Italics mine -WSA)
                                                             
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I strongly recommend this excellent book - 'Pope John XXIII, Journal of a Soul', based on the personal diaries and letters of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, and covering the salient events of his life as seminarist, priest, Bishop and Pope, with special reference to his own spiritual pilgrimage.

For more information on the life of this most holy Pope, you may find the following links of interest:-     
   

Father Francesco Pitocchi C.SS.R - 'God is all and I am nothing'

'Father Francesco, in Paradise remember this lamb of yours' 

http://umblepie-northernterritory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/oboedientia-et-pax-blessed-pope-john.html

http://papastronsay.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/for-john-considerations-on.html     -  (this post  recounts the incredible miracle cure of Sister Caterina, considered in the beatification process of Pope John XXIII)                                                                                                            

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Blessed Pope John XXIII, please  pray for our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, and for us all. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The voice of the Psalmist is the voice of Christ

   
                  
I have a paper-back version of 'The Psalms' published in 1963 by Fontana Books, with the imprimatur of Cardinal William Godfrey, Archbishop of Westminster, dated 25th March 1962.
On the flyleaf, are the words - 'The Psalms, a new translation. Translated from the Hebrew and arranged for singing to the psalmody of Joseph Gelineau. This translation is the work of a team of scholars in co-operation with The Grail, who acknowledge their gratitude to the Rev.R.Tourney OP, Raymond Schwab SJ, Rev J Gelineau SJ, and Rev GT Chifflot OP, who were responsible for the translation of the Bible de Jerusalem Psalms from Hebrew into French'

I find this version of 'The Psalms' easy to read,  preferably in short bursts, perhaps two or three psalms in any one reading.

Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents, massacred over two thousand years ago by King Herod, who was intent on killing Jesus, the infant King. The barbarity and horror of this event is forever recorded, yet now in the UK every year we  have some 200,000 unborn babies slaughtered in the womb, a massacre on an infinitely worse scale than that of Herod, a massacre that has become legitimised by the Abortion Act of 1967. 
The evil of legalised abortion is replicated throughout the world, with the backing of powerful political, scientific, medical and commercial interests, with the numbers of world wide abortions increasing each year, and running  into over 40 million this year alone! (Guttmacher Institute)

Not content with  promoting abortion, these same satanic influences are pushing for legalised euthanasia, legalised 'assisted suicide', same-sex marriage, and the destruction of the family. The practice of homosexuality, one of the sins we were taught at school, that 'cried out to heaven for vengeance', has been promoted by many governments worldwide as being on an equal par with heterosexuality, to the extent that it's proponents have become an extremely powerful political lobby wielding exaggerated and disproportionate influence in the corridors of State.
Corruption is rife in the UK in the world of politics, the media, and commerce. The slippery slope of ethical and moral degeneracy over the past fifty years has seen an increasing contempt of religion and of all things God.

The Sabbath Day has become for most people, the same as any other day. In fact it has become the day for the family shop, for after all the big stores are all open for most of the day. All professional sport is now played on Sundays, squeezing God yet further into the cold.

Co-habitation out of wedlock is common, the use of contraception is 'normal', pornography is readily available.

Unsurprisingly, there is an increase in violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, marital breakdown, homelessness, sexually transmitted disease, and unemployment.

Which leads me to Psalm 2 from the Book of Psalms:-
 

The Messianic Kingship: warning to rulers and nations

1 Why this tumult among nations,
      among peoples this useless murmuring?

2 they arise, the kings of the earth,
      princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.

3 “Come, let us break their fetters,
      come, let us cast off their yoke.”


4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
      the Lord is laughing them to scorn.

5 Then he will speak in his anger,
      his rage will strike them with terror.

6 “It is I who have set up my king
      on Sion, my holy mountain.”

7 (I will announce the decree of the Lord:)
            

   The Lord said to me: “You are my Son.
   It is I who have begotten you this day.

8 Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
      put the ends of the earth in your possession.

9 With a rod of iron you will break them,
      shatter them like a potter’s jar.”


10 Now, O kings, understand,
      take warning, rulers of the earth;

11 serve the Lord with awe
      and trembling, pay him your homage

12 lest he be angry and you perish;
      for suddenly his anger will blaze.
     

     Blessed are they who put their trust in God.  


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Now to Psalm 102, an expression of love, hope and gratitude.

                               Praise of God’s love (Psalm 102)

1 My soul, give thanks to the Lord,
   all my being, bless his holy name.

2 My soul, give thanks to the Lord
   and never forget all his blessings.


3 It is he who forgives all your guilt,
   who heals every one of your ills,

4 who redeems your life from the grave,
   who crowns you with love and compassion’

5 who fills your life with good things,
   renewing your youth like an eagle’s. 


6 The Lord does deeds of justice,
   gives judgment for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses
   and his deeds to Israel’s sons.


8 The Lord is compassion and love,
   slow to anger and rich in mercy.

9 His wrath will come to an end;
   he will not be angry for ever.

10 He does not treat us according to our sins
     nor repay us according to our faults.


11 For as the heavens are high above the earth
     so strong is his love for those who fear him.

12 As far as the east is from the west
     so far does he remove our sins.


13 As a father has compassion on his sons,
     the Lord has pity on those who fear him;

14 for he knows of what we are made,
     he remembers that we are dust.


15 As for man, his days are like grass;
      he flowers like the flower of the field;
16  the wind blows and he is gone
      and his place never sees him again.

17 But the love of the Lord is everlasting
      upon those who hold him in fear;
      his justice reaches out to children’s children
18 when they keep his covenant in truth,
      when they keep his will in their mind.

19 The Lord has set his sway in heaven
      and his kingdom is ruling overall.
20 Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels,
      mighty in power, fulfilling his word,
      who heed the voice of his word.

21 Give thanks to the Lord, all his hosts,
      his servants who do his will.
22 Give thanks to the Lord, all his works,
      in every place where he rules.
     
      My soul, give thanks to the Lord!

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Thoughts from St Alphonsus

28th December

'Come, ye monarchs and emperors, come, all ye princes of the world, come and adore your highest King, who for love of you is now born, and born in such poverty in a cave. But who appears?  No one.  The Son of God has indeed come into the world; but the world will not acknowledge him.'

31st December

'God, who is unchangeable, would appear now as a child in a stable, now as a boy in a workshop, now as a criminal on a scaffold, and now as bread upon the altar.  In these various guises Jesus chose to exhibit himself to us;  but whatever character he assumed, it was always the character of a lover.'

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God bless our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and may our Blessed Lady guide and protect him. Amen.

                

Leonard Cheshire & Sue Ryder - wedding-day prayer

    

 

Leonard Cheshire and his wife Sue Ryder at the opening of the

Raphael Hospital at Dehra Dun, India, early summer 1959.

Some  time ago I posted on Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC, OM, and his wife Sue Ryder  CMG, OBE.,  and briefly mentioned that prior to their wedding in April 1959,  they had together composed a special prayer, which for reasons of space and time, I did not publish.

I have recently received a comment from Siobhan, who has asked for details of this particular prayer,  which is reproduced below:- 

  

Thou,O My God,

Who art infinite love,

Yet who hast called us to be perfect

Even as Thou art perfect,

Who so loved the world

That Thou hast given us Thine only begotten Son,

And hast thereby given us Thine all, Thine everything.

Who emptied Thyself of Thy Glory,

And was made obedient unto death,

                         Even the death of the Cross                             

For us.

 

To Thee

We offer our all, our everything

To be consumed in the unquenchable fire of Thy love.

We desire to love Thee even as Thy own Mother loved Thee.

To be generous as Thou Thyself was generous,

To give our all to Thee even as Thou hast given Thine to us.

Thou hast called us, O Lord, and we have found Thee,

In the sick, the unwanted and the dying,

And there we will serve Thee,

Unto death.

 

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It is interesting to record that Sue Ryder subsequently wrote of her initial uncertainty about the step she was taking:-

"My work had meant my life, and nothing I felt should or could change this. How in the future could one combine both marriage and work?..... Moreover even in normal circumstances, marriage inevitably brings great responsibilities - I had always felt that it was a gamble. Furthermore, the implications are so serious that it is wiser to remain single and work than to run the risk of an unhappy marriage. Comparatively few people prepare themselves for or are equal to sharing literally everything"

Happily the marriage went ahead on 5th April 1959 in a private chapel in Bombay's Catholic Cathedral, with Cardinal Valeria Gracias officiating, and just a handful of close friends in attendance.

How successful they were in combining marriage and work, can be gauged by the worldwide expansion of their charitable work to this very day. 'To love God above all things, and thy neighbour as thyself for God's sake' was their inspiration for everything they did.

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Cheshire was no stranger to death, having faced it countless times during the war, and thereafter in his work for the homeless, sick and disabled. When asked for his views on death, he had this to say:-

             "Death is the final and crucial consummation of that lifelong process of self-determination and struggle for perfection.  It is the bringing to maturity of all that a man has made himself during his lifetime, the taking possession without possibility of self-deception or ambiguity of his own personality as it has been developed through the conduct of his life, and most particularly in the domain of his freely expressed moral acts. As such it is an act of the profoundest meaning and consequence, which gives an irrevocable direction to our life for all eternity"

*

"It's no use running the race brilliantly and then stopping one yard short. You have to cross that tape."

*

 

Leonard Cheshire, his wife Sue Ryder, and Fr Ted Burns in
Melbourne, Australia.(1989)

                  
Finally, a comment made shortly before his death on 31 July,1992:-

 

"I find that the beginning of the day as you wake up is important ..... Picture in your mind a whole world waking up to a new day. People are getting organized to go out to their work: some of them are leaders of government, others are going to sweep the streets, others ill or disabled and at home. But there in that moment you have the whole world waking up, we hope to put the day to the best advantage.

       The morning light is brushing aside the night's darkness. That also symbolizes the fact that we are all in a state of becoming and evolving, so God is at work all the time, recreating the present earth and heaven into the new heaven and the new earth. So that process is also going on: identify with it. Don't try to be clever and think it out - just have that thought in your mind. Beauty is springing out of darkness ........Somebody once said: 'the things that we see help us understand the unseen things'. I like the linking of what we do and what we see, with a prayer aimed at the spiritual counterpart:

           'The shining sun looks down on all things

              and the work of the Lord is full of His glory.'

                                                                               Ecclesiasticus, 42:16

   (Acknowledgement:-  'CHESHIRE' - The Biography of Leonard Cheshire, VC,OM' by Richard Morris. Published by Penguin Books 2001)

 

N.B. You may find this post of interest :-Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder - Saints of our time

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              "The maxims of the world are diametrically opposed to the maxims of Jesus Christ. What the world esteems Jesus Christ has called folly.  And what the world regards as folly Jesus Christ has strongly recommended, such as crosses, pains and contempt"

 

Thoughts from St Alphonsus for every day of the year. (28th  November)

 

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God bless our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  

                    Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us all.