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ZIMBABWE

Pope Saint John Paul II was a pilgrim in Zimbabwe in 1988, visiting Harare and Bulawayo, during his 39th apostolic journey.

Here below are responses to Totus2us podcasts given by Zimbabweans
- many thanks to you all  ♥

To download the free mp3 Totus2us audio recordings individually, right/double click on the play buttons.

John Bradburne, the son of an Anglican clergyman, was born in England in 1921 and joined the army in 1939. He served in Malaya and Burma during the Second World War and something in Malaya (a conversion experience thought to have involved an apparition of Our Lady) turned him from adventurer to pilgrim. Invalided home, he became a Catholic in 1947 and then wandered between England, Italy & the Middle East until he came to Zimbabwe in 1962, having written to his army friend, now Jesuit priest, Father John Dove asking "Is there a cave in Africa where I can pray?" There he soon confided to a Franciscan priest that he had three wishes: to serve leprosy patients, to die a martyr and to be buried in the habit of St Francis. In 1969 he was appointed warden of Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement where he remained up until his abduction and death on 5 September 1979.

On 40th anniversary of John’s assassination, there was a special ceremony at Mutemwa, held by Archbishop Ndlovu, where the cause was officially launched. 15,000 people turned out with 400 clergymen. To learn more about John's remarkable life, his beautiful poetry and support for his beatification, visit the John Bradburne Memorial Society's website.

Pope St John Paul II's Act of Entrustment of
Zimbabwe to Mary
Harare, Sunday 11th September 1988 - also in Italian & Spanish

"At the conclusion of this Sacred Liturgy, let us turn with filial love to Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Eucharistic Christ.

In the Liturgy of the Word in today’s Mass, we recalled Peter’s response to Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. Peter was the first to make such a public profession of faith. But, long before Peter’s profession, Mary already believed.

You, Blessed Virgin of Nazareth, You, O woman of faith,
You listened to the message of the Angel Gabriel.
You put your trust in God’s word.
You accepted in faith that the Son whom you would conceive and bear would be called “Son of the Most High” (Lk 1, 32).

On this day, Mary, Help of Christians, I entrust to you in love all the people of Zimbabwe. See the faith of those gathered here in prayer. We too have received the wonderful grace of knowing and believing in Jesus, your only Son, and the Son of God.

But Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, see how our faith is tested and how at times we waver. Plead with the Father on our behalf. Ask him to overshadow us with his Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit strengthen our fearful hearts and enlighten our doubting minds so that we may firmly believe, as you did, that “nothing is impossible to God” (Lk 1, 37).

O Mary, the Immaculate Conception,
You yourself never sinned, and from the beginning you were preserved from sin’s harmful effects on your soul. Yet you knew the depths of human suffering and the terrible extent of evil in the world, for you stood at the foot of the Cross and shared with a Mother’s pierced heart in the Passion and Death of your Son.

You know, most gentle Mother, how this nation has suffered, suffered during the War for Independence and from acts of violence in various places in the years that have followed. You are Our Lady of Peace, and this day we gladly turn to you under this title.

Look upon these sons and daughters of yours, whom I confidently entrust to you today. They have known the horrors of hatred and violence. They hunger for justice and peace. They desire reconciliation and harmony among the tribes and races of Zimbabwe, among all the peoples of the earth.

Your beloved Son died on the Cross “to gather together in unity the scattered children of God” (Jn 11, 52). We are a people who believe that Jesus died for us all. We believe that Jesus lives for us all. We believe that he is the Prince of Peace. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. Obtain for us the favour of believing ever more firmly in the Victory of the Cross, and of living in loving communion with Jesus and with all our brothers and sisters."

Amanda      

"Mary is our Blessed Mother in heaven. We come to her in times of need so she can take our worries and our concerns to our Father in heaven."

Andrew      

"To me Mary is the living person, is the one to depend on."

Sister Annamisse Mary      

"Mary has got a special place in my heart."

Father Antonio       

"I cannot separate Our Lady from Jesus."

Father Antonio Santos Marizane reflects on his vocation and the influences on his path to the priesthood, in particular his Catholic family and his parish priest, Fr Anthony Huber    

"This path I now understand to be one of service, service based on my personal relationship with God."

Constance      

"Mary from the perspective of my congregation is a model of obedience. She did the will of God, she listened to God and she paved the way of salvation for the human race."

Constance is a Franciscan missionary of the Divine Motherhood.

Janine       

"Mary has played a very special part in our lives .. We were always brought up with the rosary and how important it was for our daily existence."

Joyce      

"Mother Mary means so much to me because every morning, when I wake up, I pray to Mother Mary for protection, for guiding me, for loving others. .. I truly, truly love Mother Mary."

Kudzai      

"For me the Blessed Mother is just the greatest gift to us .. She holds a very special place in my heart and in my family’s heart."

Nyasha      

"To me Our Lady is like a mother. She is a perfect role model, someone I would love to grow and be like. I admire her obedience because it brought us, it brought the world, salvation. I admire her submission to the Lord's will and I am always praying to be more and more like her."

Father Peter CMM       

"Talking about my own story of my faith and the story of my vocation, I was inspired mostly by my father, who was a catechist.. In the family he has been my source of inspiration; seeing him dedicated and committed in evangelisation and working with different priests as well; being active as a youth, as I was growing up, through his influence and encouragement. He was not forcing us in any way to go to church but it became part of our life as a family. We would not sleep without praying together as a family, this was mostly his encouragement. The prayer in the evening was so important. And getting involved with the youth, that was so interesting and motivating for me.. From an early age I was very clear what I wanted to do; I thought of myself as a priest.. this was deep in my heart, this was what I wanted."

Father Peter speaks of JPII's leadership: as a spiritual father, as a man of prayer who was deep in contemplation.      

"If you want peace, work for justice." - Blessed John Paul II

Father Peter Nkomazana CMM is a Marianhill Missionary priest. He was an altar boy at Mass during Pope John Paul II's trip to Zimbabwe in 1988.

Rufaro      

"Our Lady for me is very much my mother and has helped me grow in my prayer life. There is no better guide, I think, to help you to grow in your prayer life, to grow to love Jesus and to know him, because she knew him better than any other human being did on this earth. And she is a very good role model because she is the one who said yes to God and the one who pondered everything in her heart, incarnated the word, she did everything she was told to. So you can have no better guide than that, especially when it comes to helping you to love him. There is no other better person for me to learn how to love Jesus than Mary, my mother."

Sheena      

"I love my very special Mama. My earthly mother taught me about my heavenly mother and I love her to bits. I cannot go without a day saying the rosary because she's my helper, she's my carer, she's my guardian and she brings me to her son Jesus. With St Joseph, together I walk between them and they take me to Jesus in the Eucharist."

Tapiwa       

"Our Lady is like a mother to me. I pray to Our Lady for strength in family life, to be the friend, to be the brother and to be the husband I would like to be. Our Lady for me is a source of compassion, a source of kindness, very much like my own mother who isn't with me at the moment. Praying to Our Lady gives me a sense of protection and gives me a sense of refuge and safety and asking her to intercede for me and my prayers gives me a sense that there is a mother in heaven who is guiding and protecting me."

Tsitsi     

"Hail Mary, I came to you this morning asking, ‘Can you hear me?’ You are a mother. You look after your children as you looked after your own son so, Mother, I am coming to you to answer my plaint."

If you'd like to give your something about Mary,
please do get in touch with the Totus2us team

- as well as hopefully bringing you joy,
you'd be really helping Totus2us   ♥

"Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt.
Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria."
- St Louis de Montfort

Saint John Paul II took his motto Totus Tuus from this quote.

"I am totally yours and all that I have is yours.
I accept you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart.”