John Paul II: A Life of Grace

'Every person's life is guided and has a unique design. . .facts and events
are meant to help us know where our true path lies.' - from Chapter Eight The
facts of Pope John Paul II's life are well known, but the mystery of his unique
journey has not always been as clear. The pope himself once said, 'In God's
plan, nothing happens by chance' and his life bears that out. His narrow escapes
from deatih, starting in boyhood, seem miraculous. The premature death of his
mother, father, and beloved older brother, his life under the Nazis in occupied
Poland, and his years in an underground seminary all helped shape his life
choices. Later, the Cardinal of Cracow refused to give him permission to join a
contemplative religious order, a decision that now seems providential. (In the
future,' the Cardinal said, 'he will be needed by the whole Church.') John Paul
II is a pope of milestones, a poet, a mystic, philosopher, and theoretician.
JOHN PAUL II: A LIFE OF GRACE brings these elements of his personality and many
events of his life into focus as part of the mysterious action of God in helping
this great man discover and accept his destiny.