The Poetry of John Paul II

Pre-Sacrament

Who is He? The Ineffable. Self-existent being.
One. Creator of all things.
And yet, a Communion of Persons.
In this Communion, a mutual self-giving of all the fullness of truth,
goodness and beauty.
But above all — Ineffable.
Yet, He spoke to us of himself.
He spoke, by creating man in his image and likeness.
In the Sistine painting the Creator has human features.
The Almighty, the Ancient — a Man, like Adam
whom he creates.
And they?
“Male and female he created them.”
God bestowed upon them a gift and a task.
They accepted —I n a human way — the mutual self-giving
which is in Him.
Both naked. . .
They felt no shame, as long as the gift lasted —
Shame will come with sin,
yet the thrill remains. They live conscious of the gift,
without being able to call it by name.
But they live it, they are pure.
Casta placent superis; pura cum veste venite,
et monibus puris sumite fontis acquam
For eight years I read these words every day
As I entered the gate of the gymnasium in Wadowice.

Pre-sacrament — existence itself as the outward sign of eternal Love.And when they become “one flesh”

— that wondrous union —
on the horizon there appears the mystery of fatherhood and motherhood.
—They return to the source of life within them.
— They return to the Beginning.
— Adam knew his wife
and she conceived and gave birth.
They know they have crossed the threshold of the greatest responsibility!