Saint John Paul the Great Quotes

“The more ready you are to give yourselves to God and to others, the more you will discover the authentic meaning of life.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“The essential reason for choosing a person must be personal, not merely sexual. Life will determine the value of a choice and the value and true magnitude of love. It is put to the test most severely when the sensual and emotional reactions themselves grow weaker, and sexual values as such lose their effect. Nothing then remains except the value of the person, and the inner truth about the love of those connected comes to light. If their love is a true gift of self, so that they belong to the other, it will not only survive but grow stronger, and sink deeper roots. Whereas if it was never more than a sort of synchronization of sensual and emotional experiences it will lose its raison d’être [reason for existence] and the persons involved in it will suddenly find themselves in a vacuum. We must never forget that only when love between human beings is put to the test can its true value be seen.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“As a biblical foundation, the scriptures state that the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful (Jas 5:16), that everyone in heaven is righteous (Rev 21:27), that people in heaven pray for those on earth (Rev 5:8), that the mother of Jesus could be seen in heaven (Rev 12:1–5), and that her offspring were “those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus” (Rev 12:17). Furthermore, if Saint Paul could claim to be a spiritual father and declare that he was in labor pains for others until Christ be formed in them, how much more would this be true of Mary! None suffered with Christ more intimately than Mary, who was, in the words of John Paul, “crucified spiritually with her crucified son.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“observations. Therefore, the entire archbishop’s residence, from the bedroom to the dining room, was bugged with listening devices. The communists were rather clumsy about it, pretending to show up as random technicians who needed to work on the phone lines or electrical system.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“The body itself is pure. It is very good, but often a person's intentions are not. Therefore, the problem with immodesty is not that it reveals too much, but that it obscures the value of the person. Modesty, then, is not about hiding one's body but about revealing one's worth. It is an invitation to contemplation. It conceals certain parts of the body not because they are bad, but in order to invite others to discover one's full value as a person, thus opening a way toward love.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“Prayer was the rhythm of the Holy Father’s life. He made time to pray before and after his meals, and interspersed his Breviary prayers (the Liturgy of the Hours) throughout the day and night, calling it: “very important, very important.” At six in the morning, at noon, and again at six in the evening, he would stop whatever he was doing to pray the Angelus, just as he had done while working in the chemical plant in Poland. He prayed several Rosaries each day, went to confession every week, and did not let a day pass without receiving Holy Communion. Each Friday (and every day in Lent), he prayed the Stations of the Cross, and preferred to do this in the garden on the roof of the Papal Apartments. During Lent, he would eat one complete meal a day, and always fasted on the eve of our Lady’s feast days. He remarked, “If the bishop doesn’t set an example by fasting, then who will?” The Holy Father knew that his first duty to the Church was his interior life. He declared, “the shepherd should walk at the head and lay down his life for his sheep. He should be the first when it comes to sacrifice and devotion.” Each night, he looked out his window to Saint Peter’s Square and to the whole world, and made the sign of the cross over it, blessing the world goodnight.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“G. K. Chesterton once said that the family is a cell of resistance to oppression. Unfortunately, this was one point of Catholic theology that the communists agreed with. To undermine Polish culture, communists struck at its heart—the family. Work and school schedules were organized so that parents had minimal contact with each other and with their children. Birth control and abortion were encouraged, state-sponsored sex education was implemented in schools, and apartments were built to accommodate only small families.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“When human suffering is understood in its deepest meaning, it ceases to be something negative that is experienced in a passive manner. Rather, one becomes free to meet suffering with courage, seeing it as an opportunity for active and positive collaboration in the work of human redemption. Through God’s grace, it can be transformed into an irreplaceable service for souls, and is no longer wasted.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“every form of suffering, given fresh life by the power of this Cross, should become no longer the weakness of man but the power of God.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“Holy Spirit, I ask you for the gift of Wisdom to better know You and Your divine perfections, for the gift of Understanding to clearly discern the spirit of the mysteries of the holy faith, for the gift of Counsel that I may live according to the principles of this faith, for the gift of Knowledge that I may look for counsel in You and that I may always find it in You, for the gift of Fortitude that no fear or earthly preoccupations would ever separate me from You, for the gift of Piety that I may always serve Your Majesty with a filial love, for the gift of the Fear of the Lord that I may dread sin, which offends You, O my God.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“It is necessary to understand the soul of the woman. All these things, which are meant to liberate the woman: premarital sex, contraception and abortion, have they liberated her or have they enslaved her?”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“...the person who is working is always more important than the work the person is doing.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“It could be said that he didn’t make time to enter prayer. Rather, he made time for the sake of others to come out of it.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves

“You could see that he physically was there, but one could sense that he was immersed in the love of the Lord. They were united in talking to each other.”
― Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves