As a Catholic, I was deeply and spiritually saddened by the death of Pope John Paul II, one of the greatest men of faith of our times, perhaps of all times. After watching the funeral services for the Holy Father this morning, I recalled a special memory.
Before the Holy Father made his visit to Baltimore in 1995, I was asked by Monsignor John Brady, then pastor of Holy Angels Church in Avenue, to accompany him to St. Clement’s Island. Our mission was to retrieve water from the well on the island where Maryland’s first settlers arrived on March 25, 1634. Upon arrival, Father Andrew White, ordered a mass to be held and a large cross to be erected to celebrate the safe passage of the colonists from England to what was to become Maryland.
The water from that well from St. Clement’s Island was used for mass at Camden Yards by the Holy Father. The fact that water from the Mother County of Maryland was blessed as holy water by Pope John Paul II gives me inspiration to this day.
The Holy Father was a man of great morals, conviction and faith. There will never be another like him and I will miss him greatly. He left behind countless memories. My trip to St. Clement’s Island with Monsignor Brady was a small link to John Paul II that I will cherish forever.
As a Catholic, I was deeply and spiritually saddened by the death of Pope John Paul II, one of the greatest men of faith of our times, perhaps of all times. After watching the funeral services for the Holy Father this morning, I recalled a special memory.