Pilgrims at Jasna Gora this year also marked the 30th anniversary of World Youth Day in Czestochowa during which St. John Paul II entrusted all young people around the world to the Virgin Mary on Aug. 15, 1991.
John Paul II himself had a strong devotion to Our Lady of Czestochowa.
During his first visit to Jasna Gora after becoming pope, he said: “The call of a son of Poland to the cathedral of St. Peter contains an evident and strong link with this holy place, with this shrine of great hope: Totus tuus (‘I am all yours’), I had whispered in prayer so many times before this Image.”
At World Youth Day thirteen years later, the pope addressed Our Lady of Czestochowa in prayer.
“We come to you as to our Mother and, through your intercession, we ask Christ for true freedom, true faith, reasons for life and hope. You, Mother, know our limits, but also all our dreams, plans for the future, and our possibilities. Grant that we know how to make the hope that is in us fruitful,” John Paul II said.
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