Pillars of Fire In My Soul

beginning of the fulfillment of the second part of her prophecy. For, only six months after that event, a jubilant Church applauded Cardinal Wojtyla as the new Pope — John Paul II; and within two years from that same event the Church received from this Pope and extraordinary encyclical enti- tled, Rich in Mercy . In it he set forth doctrinal and practical guidelines for a renewed understanding of, and recourse to, the God of Mercy in the Church. Quite significant in this regard, also, was the visit this Pope made on the Feast of Christ the King, November 22, 1981, to the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza near Todi, Italy. There, within a few days, an international congress was to be held to reflect on the Encyclical Dives in Misericordia one year after its publication. It was the first time the Holy Father had traveled outside the City of Rome since his convalescence after the attempt on his life. There, after he had celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist, during his customary “Angelus Message”, he made this public declaration: A year ago I published the encyclical Dives in Misericordia . This circumstance made me come to the Sanctuary of Merciful Love today. By my presence I wish to reconfirm, in a way, the message of that encyclical. I wish to read it again and deliver it again. Right from the beginning of my ministry in St. Peter’s See in Rome, I considered this message my special task. Providence has assigned it to me in the present situation of man, the Church and the world. It could also be said that precisely this situation assigned that message to me as my task before God... An official Decree was issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints on June 19, 1981, which declared that, with the required investigation of all the available writings of the Servant of God Sister Faustina Kowalska having been duly 18 Pillars of Fire in My Soul