Pope John XXIII

 Prayer to Pope John XXIII 

We give you thanks and praise, dear God, for blessing us with Blessed John, peasant by birth and by choice, servant of your servants, worker for peace on earth, brother to all people of good will. 

In baptism, he put on Christ: to love the world, to be of good cheer, to undo the arrogant and lift up the helpless, to speak new words to the weary. 

How he lived that Gospel word- “Be cunning as serpents, simple as doves.” How he preached that Gospel word-- not announcing doom but in love rushing to the world’s side. 

Raise up in us, your Church, the Spirit that filled Blessed John: modest for ourselves but bold for you, setting off unafraid for places we have not gone before, and ever seeking our peace in your will. 

This we ask in Jesus’ name, our good shepherd who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen. 

Good Pope John, pray for us!

 Significant Events in the Life of Pope John XXIII 

• Nov. 25, 1881--born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Sotto il Monte, Bergamo, Italy, the third of thirteen children of share-cropper parents, Giovanni Battista and Marianna Giulia (Mazzola) Roncalli 
• Aug. 10, 1904--ordained a priest in the Church of Santa Maria in Monte Santo; served as a seminary professor and an army chaplain in World War I 
• March 19, 1925--ordained an archbishop and appointed to the papal diplomatic corps as Apostolic Visitator to Bulgaria 
• Nov. 24, 1934--appointed Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece 
• Nov. 22, 1944--appointed papal Nuncio to France 
• Jan. 12, 1953--created a Cardinal and appointed Patriarch of Venice 
• Oct. 28, 1958--elected Pope, choosing the name John XXIII major encyclicals: Mater et Magistra (1961) Pacem in Terris (1963) 
• Jan. 25, 1959--called for an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church 
• Oct. 11 to Dec. 8, 1962--first session of Vatican II meets 
• June 3, 1963--died from gastric cancer buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican 
• Sept. 3, 2000--beatified and declared a “Blessed” of the Church in a ceremony in Rome by Pope John Paul II (feast day is Oct. 11) 
• June 3, 2001--his body is moved to the main church in St. Peter’s and is visible beneath the altar of St. Jerome