This Prayer for the Intercession of St. John Paul II was issued by the Diocese of Rome in 2005 and is still prayed today in the form used since his canonization in 2014. His feast is October 22.
O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Saint John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love to shine through him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd. He has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pope St. John Paul II, 1991 (White House photograph). Public domain.
Pray it on October 22, his feast, or whenever you ask for courage in suffering, fidelity in marriage and family life, or light in discerning a vocation. Name your intention where the prayer asks for “the graces we implore,” and end with an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. The text follows the prayer published by the Diocese of Rome; after 2014 its closing line asking for his canonization was dropped.
Karol Wojtyła (1920–2005) was pope from 1978 to 2005. He called the whole world to Christ, defended the dignity of every human life, established Divine Mercy Sunday and gathered young people at World Youth Day. He was canonized on April 27, 2014.
October 22, the anniversary of his papal inauguration in 1978. It was added to the General Roman Calendar by Vatican decree in 2014.
No. Catholics worship God alone. Asking St. John Paul II to pray for us is asking a member of Christ’s Body, now with God, to join our prayer, as we ask friends on earth to pray for us (CCC 956, 2683).
