Many are familiar with the last words of St. John Paul II, which he mumbled in Polish, "Let me go to the house of the Father."
Catholic News Agency explains that, "These were Pope John Paul II's last words, mumbled in Polish with a weak voice, six hours before reaching the house of the father."
Personal secretary to St. John Paul II, Stanislaw Dziwisz, has stated that a nun who was near the pontiff heard those words.
According to various reports, he died at 9:37 p.m on April 2, 2005, on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday.
Final public prayer
However, he also penned a final prayer that would have been recited at the Regina Caeli address on Sunday, April 3, 2005.
His address was directed to Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast that he dearly loved and instituted based on the private revelations of St. Faustina.
According to the Vatican, St. John Paul II's words were "read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, at the end of the Holy Mass celebrated that day in St Peter's Square for the deceased Pope. 'I have been charged', Archbishop Sandri said, 'to read you the text that was prepared in accordance with his explicit instructions by the Holy Father John Paul II. I am deeply honored to do so, but also filled with nostalgia.'"
St. John Paul II included a short prayer in his brief address, which was likely the last prayer that he ever wrote:
Lord, who reveal the Father's love by your death and Resurrection, we believe in you and confidently repeat to you today: Jesus, I trust in you, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world.
He also ended his address with an Easter exclamation, "Alleluia!"
It is fitting that he ended his pontificate praying "Jesus, I trust in you," reciting the prayer that was revealed to St. Faustina.
She explains what happened on that fateful Sunday night in her Diary.
In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the chest. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the chest, there were emanating two large rays, one red and the other pale. (…) After a while Jesus said to me, "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You." (Diary, 47)
St. John Paul II firmly trusted in God and strove to highlight God's mercy and love to the whole world.
We can learn from his example and pray the same words every day, saying, "Jesus, I trust in you!"
