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This book is unique not only in the history of the Church, but in the history of literature, too. For the first time a Pope has written his autobiography. The man to make this unprecedented step was John Paul II, the Man from Poland who has never stopped surprising the world
„All that I have said here doesn't just concern the external events, but reaches down to the roots of my deepest and most personal experiences. I recall them here, but above all I give thanks for them to God: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo -«1 shall sing a song forever unto the Lord, begging Him for mercy« - I offer this record to the priests and People of God, as a testimony of love," John Paul II wrote in the introduction to his autobiographical book entitled The Gift and the Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Ordination.
Originally written in Polish [Dar i Tajemica ), this book was composed during the Pope's summer vacations in 1996 (July -September) spent in the Italian Dolomites. It appeared for the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, which fell on 1st November, 1996.
„If you ask about the story of my vocation to the priesthood, it is a story known above all to God Himself. Every calling to the priesthood is, at its deepest level, a great mystery, a gift that infinitely transcends man. Each of us priests experiences this very distinctly throughout his entire life. In the face of this great gift we always feel just how much we fall short of the mark,"writes the Pope at the beginning of his book. It is divided into two parts. In the first, strictly autobiographical, part, John Paul II describes his youth and explains why it was that he became a priest. In the book's second part he shares his observations on the sense and meaning of being a priest. Originally this book was to be entitled Sacerdos in aeternum {A Priest Forever).
„We have the right, and the world has the right to ask, «Where did that man named Karol come from, who on the night of 16th October 1978 assumed the name of John Paul the Second?»," writes Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, Metropoli tan Archbi shop of Cracow, in the introduction to this Album.
Thanks to the courtesy of the Vatican and the Metropolitan Curia of Cracow, exclusive holder of the copyright to the Polish edition of the Pope's autobiography, a collection of 40 extracts has been made for this Album from The Gift and the Mystery.
John Paul 11's autobiography has been illustrated by the distinguished photographer, Adam Bujak, who has an immense store of photographs of the Pope. His oldest picture of the Pope goes back 33 years. Bujak has photographed Karol Wojtyl-a thousands of times - as Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal - without realising that he was documenting the life of a future Pontiff. „I am extremely happy to have been able to do this, and to carry on doing this," says Adam Bujak.
With such a cornucopia at hand, the Publishers could hardly have allowed themselves to commit a sin of omission. That's how this Album came into being. The first illustrated autobiography in the history of the Papacy.
The Album Boundless Gift begins with the Signs of the Earth, the places in Poland nearest and dearest to the Pope's heart: the mountains he is so fond of - the Beskidy begirding his hometown of Wadowice, Babia Góra a favourite with mountain-trekkers, and his beloved Tatras; the Lakes of Mazuria he has visited so often; and the hilly, forest-covered wilderness of the Bieszczady he has hiked through so many times with friends. The Album closes with panorama views of the Holy Land and the Sea of Galilee.
„This book [The Gift and the Mystery] is extremely interesting, because although the Holy Father's biography is well-known already, this book nevertheless brings new, hitherto unknown details concerning his life."
Cardinal Józef Clemp, Primate of Poland
„I feel sure that through this special testimony by the Pope, many people will be able to discover God's calling and follow Christ, in order to continue His mission of salvation."
Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, Secretary of the Congregation for the Priesthood
„The Gift and the Mystery is the Holy Father's personal endeavour to arrive at a synthesis of his pontificate. In it he talks about the things that have been important in his life. He shares his vision and his observation of Man, events, and the world This is what's striking in the Pope - that special view of things."
Father Uieslaw Niew^glowski, National Chaplain to the People of the Arts, Poland
„There aren't many books I've read from cover to cover in one go without putting them aside on the shelf for a while This account describes the wonderful presence of God in the life of the man named Karol Wojtyl'a from the aspect of the history of salvation. What you get is a picture as clear as day of how God can prepare a person and lead him in a given direction. This is a book which will strengthen the faith, since it well-nigh tangibly touches on the presence of God in a human life,"
Archbishop Henryk Maszynski, Metropolitan Archbishop of Gniezno
„The astonishing and characteristic feature of these first-ever autobiographical reminiscences and reflections by a Pope in the history of the church is the extraordinary simplicity and modesty of the style in which the greatest Polishman of contemporary times talks about his life."
The „Rzeczpospolita" newspaper
„This is a book for everyone. It can be read just as easily by a university professor as by a housewife. It's not a book of memoirs, it's not a diary. It's a bool< that sets out to explain the gift and the mystery of priesthood."
Tomasz Uolek,
Chief Editor of the newspaper „Zycie"
„This is a fundamental work, which will continue to be an extremely important document for all times."
Father Mieczystaw Malihski, John Paul II's biographer
„In our times there'll never be anyone quite like him again."
Tod Szulc,
Author of the book John Paul II: A Biography
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