St Bernards High School - Bernardian Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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Proclaiming to the nations the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ. (Eph3:9) On June 22, 1963, white smoke plumed through the roof of the Sistine Chapel announcing to the 100,000 people crammed in St. Peter's Square that the College of Cardinals had elected the new Vicar of Christ on earth. On the sixth ballot, Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini, known thereafter as Paul VI, re- ceived the necessary plurality to ascend to the papacy. Chosen as the 262nd successor of Peter, in ceremonial splendor, he received the triple crown, symbolizing the unbroken two-thousand year lineage. Upon receiving the fisherman’s ring, Pope Paul VI watched a strand of flax consumed by flames as a reminder that the glories of this world are flecting. Behind the name Paul was Saul of Tarsus who exemplified the importance of charity and Christian unity. Giovanni Montini was born in 1897 and became a priest in 1920. Since his ordination, he served as secretary to the Papal Nunciature and for thirty years worked in the Vatican Secretar- iat of State. In 1954, he was appointed to the communist-riddled archdiocese of Milan where he became known as the archbishop of the working man. As a cardinal, he became a close friend of Pope John, and has dedicated his pontificate to the progressive changes as initiated by Pope John. Like his predecessor, Pope Paul has opened a new era in Catholic and non-Catholic harmony— “We open our arms to all who glory in the name of Christ. We call them with the sweet name of brother.” John the beloved disciple of the Lord loved his Master with a quiet, gentle love, and tradi- tion tells us that as he grew old, his simple answer to every problem put to him about the meaning of Christianity was: ‘‘Little children, love one another.” The love with which Paul loved Christ was no less than John’s but it was more intense and complex. The words of Pau! which Cardinal Montini read from the Mass of the Sacred Heart the morning before he took this great apostle’s name for his own ate appropriate: “To me, though I am the very least of God’s People, he has granted of his grace the privilege of proclaim- ing to the nations the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, that now, through the Church, the wisdom of God in all its varied forms might be made known.” (Eph, 3:9-10)

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Grief and a heartfelt sense of loss welled up around the world as death ended the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on June 3, 1963. His was a comparatively brief reign. Yet history must count it as one of the most colorful and significant in a succession reaching back to St. Peter, the first of Christ's Vicars on earth. In his brief span as Supreme Pontiff, Pope John succeeded as none before him in capturing the mind, heart, imagination and loyalty of the entire human family. His daring courage, bound- less optimism, serene faith, gentle courtesy, unflagging humor, perfect poise and flawless nat- ural dignity won him, and the office he graced, far more than the popularity that a fickle public may accord any idol of the moment. All who knew him harbored the conviction that here, at least, was one who understood and had compassion for them. Men of every faith and no faith at all found in him one who never took them for strangers or foes, but God’s sons, entitled to respect for their inherent dignity. Living up to the name—un Papa simpatico—given him by Romans, Pope John put genial warmth into his greetings. His sense of fraternity transcended Vatican formalities. John XXIII was a great man, and a great Pope. His life was patterned on that of the Christ whose vicar he was. He walked for too short a time, scattering the seeds of truth and charity on good ground and stony soil, and then endured the painful crucifixion of illness and frustration. How often he startled and heartened the world by a simple act of warm humanity or a bold exercise of his pastoral office. His pontificate embraced historic events such as the writing of monumental encyclicals like Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris; the preparing for and con- vening of the Second Vatican Council; the creation of the precedent-shattering Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. It also witnessed the thoughtful touch of a visit to the aged, the sick, those in prison, and countless other gifts of himself to others. What Pope John began will have very big consequences, and the history of our world will be different because he lived. He was truly ‘‘a man sent from God.” Like St. John the Baptist, to whom the quoted scriptural words refer, Pope John likewise stood at the crossroads of history, ushering in a new era within the life of the Church and turning the eyes of men toward the face of their Savior.

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MM saat ee POPE PAUL VI HIS HOLINESS,