sws4420
04-07-2005, 12:15 PM
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The following is an English translation of the official Vatican Italian translation of the text of Pope John Paul II's last will and testament, which was originally written in Polish, dated June 3, 1979, with successive additions:
The testament of 6.3.1979
Totus Tuus ego sum (Latin for ``I am completely in Your hands'')
In the Name of the Holiest Trinity. Amen.
``Keep watch, because you do not know which day when the Lord will come'' (Matthew 4, 42) - These words remind me of the final call, which will come the moment that the Lord will choose. I desire to follow Him and desire that all that is part of my earthly life shall prepare me for this moment. I do not know when it will come, but, like all else, this moment too I place into the hands of the Mother of My Master: Totus Tuus. In the same maternal hands I place All those with whom my life and vocation are bound. Into these Hands I leave above all the Church, and also my Nation and all humanity. I thank everyone. To everyone I ask forgiveness. I also ask prayers, so that the Mercy of God will loom greater than my weakness and unworthiness.
During spiritual exercises I reflected upon the testament of the Holy Father Paul VI. This study has led me to write the present testament.
I leave behind me some property which necessitates disposal. Regarding those items of daily use of which I made use, I ask that they be distributed as may appear opportune. My personal notes are to be burned. I ask that Don Stanislaw (his personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz) oversees this and thank him for the collaboration and help so prolonged over the years and so comprehensive. All other thanks, instead, I leave in my heart before God Himself, because it is difficult to express them.
Regarding the funeral, I repeat the same disposition given by the Holy Father Paul VI. (Notes in margin): Burial in the bare earth, not in a tomb, 13.3.92 (March 13, 1992).
The testament of 6.3.1979
Totus Tuus ego sum (Latin for ``I am completely in Your hands'')
In the Name of the Holiest Trinity. Amen.
``Keep watch, because you do not know which day when the Lord will come'' (Matthew 4, 42) - These words remind me of the final call, which will come the moment that the Lord will choose. I desire to follow Him and desire that all that is part of my earthly life shall prepare me for this moment. I do not know when it will come, but, like all else, this moment too I place into the hands of the Mother of My Master: Totus Tuus. In the same maternal hands I place All those with whom my life and vocation are bound. Into these Hands I leave above all the Church, and also my Nation and all humanity. I thank everyone. To everyone I ask forgiveness. I also ask prayers, so that the Mercy of God will loom greater than my weakness and unworthiness.
During spiritual exercises I reflected upon the testament of the Holy Father Paul VI. This study has led me to write the present testament.
I leave behind me some property which necessitates disposal. Regarding those items of daily use of which I made use, I ask that they be distributed as may appear opportune. My personal notes are to be burned. I ask that Don Stanislaw (his personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz) oversees this and thank him for the collaboration and help so prolonged over the years and so comprehensive. All other thanks, instead, I leave in my heart before God Himself, because it is difficult to express them.
Regarding the funeral, I repeat the same disposition given by the Holy Father Paul VI. (Notes in margin): Burial in the bare earth, not in a tomb, 13.3.92 (March 13, 1992).