"Published in 2003 ,Roman Triptych" is the only poetic work written by Karol Wojtyła from the moment He became the Pope in 1978." "After more than twenty years of poetic silence," "John Paul ll formulated His spiritual testament." "It is a personal conversation with God, which transfers the reader up the stream, into the world of mystery, where nature, culture and God's will merge into one." "Allow the mystery to work in me," "Teach me to act within my body" "Suffused with weakness like a herald prophesying death," "Like a cock crowing" "Allow the mystery to work in me, teach me to act in my soul which intercepts the body's fear and fears for the body - the soul still has its fear for maturity, for acts - shadows the human spirit carries forever" "and of the depth in which it was submerged;" "finally of the divine, that fear which is not against hope." "JOHN PAUL ll" "ROMAN TRlPTYCH" "Meditations" "Stream" "Ruah" "The Spirit of God hovered above the waters." "Wonderment" "The undulating wood slopes down to the rhythm of mountain streams." "To me this rhythm is revealing You, the Eternal Word." "How amazing is Your silence in everything, in all that on every side speaks the world of creation around us... all that, like the undulating wood, runs down every slope ... all that is carried along by the stream's silvery cascade," "rhythmically falling from the mountain, carried by its own current - carried where?" "What do you say to me, mountain stream?" "Where, do you encounter me?" "as I wend my own way - just like you." "But really like you?" "Here let me pause;" "let me half before a threshold," "the threshold of pure wonder" "The rushing stream cannot wonder, and it descends, and the woods silently slope, following its rhythm - but man can wonder!" "The threshold which the world crosses in him is the threshold of wonder." "Once, this very wonder was given a name: "Adam"." "He was alone in his wonderment, among creatures incapable of wonder" " for them it was enough to exist and go their way." "Man went his way with them, yet carried along by wonder!" "ln his wonderment, he always emerged from the tide that bore him on, as if to say to everything around him:" ""Stop!" " in me you find your haven"," ""in me you find the place of your encounter with the Eternal Word" " ""stop, all this passing has sense"" "has sense... has sense... has sense!"" "The Source" "The undulating wood slopes down to the rhythm of mountain streams.... lf you want to find the source, you have to go up, against the current," "Break through, search, don't yield, you know it must be here somewhere." "Where are you?" "Source, where are you?" "!" "Silence...." "Stream, woodland stream," "tell me the secret of your origin!" "Silence..." "Why are you silent?" "With what care you have hidden the mystery of your origin!" "Let me wet my lips in spring water, to feel its freshness," "its life-giving freshness." "Meditations on the Book of Genesis at the Threshold of the Sistine Chapel" "The first to see" ""ln Him we live and move and have our being"" "says Paul at the Areopagus in Athens." "Who is He?" "He is like an ineffable space which embracing all things." "He is the Creator:" "He embraces all, summoning to existence from nothing, not only in the beginning, but continually." "Everything endures, is constantly becoming " ""ln the beginning was the Word, and through Him all things were made"." "The mystery of the beginning is born with the Word, is revealed by the Word." "The Word - eternal vision and eternal utterance." "He who created, saw He saw "that it was good"," "He saw with a vision unlike our own." "He - the First to see - saw," "and found in everything a trace of his Being, of his own fullness." "He saw:" "Omnia nuda et aperta sunt ante oculos Eius " "All is laid bare and revealed before His eyes" "laid bare and transparent, true and good and beautiful " "He saw with a vision quite different from our own." "Eternal vision and eternal utterance:" ""ln the beginning was the Word, and through Him all things were made", everything in which we live and move and have our being " "The Word, the wondrous, eternal Word as an invisible threshold of all that has come into being, is or will be." "As if the Word were the threshold." "The threshold of the Word, in whom all things invisibly existed, eternal and divine" " beyond this threshold everything begins to happen!" "I stand at the entrance to the Sistine Chapel " "Perhaps all this might have been said more simply in the language of the Book of Genesis." "But the Book awaits its illustration." "And rightly." "It awaited its Michelangelo." "The One who created "saw" He saw that "it was good"." ""He saw", yet the Book continued to await the fruition of His "Vision"." "You, O man, you who also see, come" "I am calling you, all "who see" down the ages." "I am calling you, Michelangelo!" "ln the Vatican a chapel awaits the fruition of your vision!" "The vision was awaiting an image." "From the time that the Word became flesh, the vision continued to wait." "We are standing at the threshold of a Book." "It is the Book of Beginnings" " Genesis." "Here, in this chapel, Michelangelo penned it, not with words, but with the richness of a riot of colours." "We enter in order to read it, passing from wonder to wonder." "Here, then" " we look and we see the Beginning, which came forth from nothingness in obedience to the creative Word." "It speaks from these walls." "Yes it is the End that speaks even more powerfully." "Yes, the Judgement is even more powerful:" "the Judgement, the Last Judgement." "This is the road that all of us walk - each one of us." "lmage and likeness" ""God created man in his image," "male and female he created them" "and God saw that it was very good." "They were naked, yet they did not feel shame"." "Could it be?" "Do not ask the people of our day, but ask Michelangelo and perhaps the people of our day as well!" "?" "Ask the Sistine Chapel." "How much is spoken here, on these walls!" "The Beginning is invisible." "Everything here points to it." "All this exuberance of vision, unleashed by human genius." "The End too is invisible," "Even if here, passer-by, your eyes are drawn by the vision of the Last Judgement." "How can it be made visible, how can we break beyond the bounds of good and evil?" "The Beginning and the End, invisible, break upon us from these walls." "Him" ""ln Him we live and move and have our being."" "ls He merely a space for the existence of all that exists?" "He is the Creator." "He embraces all things, creating them and sustaining them in being." "He brings about likeness." "When the Apostle Paul preached on the Areopagus, his words reflected the full tradition of the Covenant," "where each day concluded with the words:" ""And God saw that it was good."" "He saw, and He found a trace of His Being " "He found a reflection of Himself in all things visible." "The Eternal Word is, as it were, the threshold" "Beyond which we live and move and have our being." "Man (Me)" "Why was it said about that one day alone:" ""God saw all that he had made and found it very good"?" "ls this not denied by history?" "Even our own twentieth century!" "And not only the twentieth!" "Yet no century can obscure this truth of the image and likeness." "Michelangelo" "With this truth he once cloistered himself in the Vatican, and when he emerged, he left behind the Sistine Chapel." ""God created man in His image;" "in the divine image He created him;" "male and female He created them." "And though they both were naked they felt no shame in the presence of each other"!" "The Creator saw that it was very good." "Does He not see everything in its full truth?" "Omnia nuda et aperta ante oculos Eius." "Them" "They too, at the threshold of history, see themselves in their full truth:" "both were naked..." "They too came to share in seeing, and this was the Creator's gift to them." "Do they not wish to persevere in this gift?" "Do they not wish to regain this ability to see?" "Do they not wish to be true and transparent to each other - even as they are to Him?" "When they are, they raise a hymn of thanks, a Magnificat from deep within their humanity, and it is then that they realize, in the depths of their being, that "in Him we live and move and have our being" " "yes, in Him!" "It is He who allows them to share in the beauty which He himself had breathed into them!" "It is He who opens their eyes." "When Michelangelo left the Vatican, he left behind a polychromy, the key to which is "image and likeness"." "Read in this key, the invisible becomes visible." "Pre-sacrament" "Who is He?" "The lneffable." "Self-existent Being." "One." "Creator of all things." "And yet, a Communion of Persons." "ln this Communion, a mutual self-giving of 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." "ln 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 on them a gift and a task." "They accepted - in a human way - the mutual self-giving which is in Him." "Both naked... theyfeltnoshame, as long as the gift lasted " "Shame will come with sin," "yet the thrill remains." "They live conscious of the gift, without, perhaps, being able to call it by name." "But they live it, they are pure " "Casta placent superis;" "pura cum veste venite, et minibus puris sumite fontis aquam " "Heaven is pleased with what is pure;" "come with pure robes, and with unsullied hands drink water from the source." "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 that they have crossed the threshold of the greatest responsibility!" "Fulfilment" " Apocalypsis" "The End is as invisible as the Beginning." "The universe came forth from the Word, and returns to the Word." "ln the very centre of the Sistine Chapel, the artist depicts this invisible End in the visible drama of the Judgement " "This invisible End has become visible as the height of transparency:" "omnia nuda et aperta ante oculos Eius!" "Matthew's words are here transfigured in the painter's vision:" ""Come, you blessed..." "depart from me, you accursed"..." "And so the generations pass - naked they come into the world and naked they return to the earth from which they were formed." ""From dust you came, and to dust you shall return";" "What had shape is now shapeless." "What was alive is now dead." "What was beautiful is now the ugliness of decay." "And yet I do not altogether die," "what is indestructible in me remains!" "Judgment ln the Sistine Chapel the artist depicted the Last Judgement." "The Judgement completely dominates the interior." "Here, the invisible End becomes tremendously visible." "This End is also the height of transparency - such is the path that all generations must tread." "Non omnis moriar." "I shall not altogether die" "What is imperishable in me now stands face to face before Him Who ls!" "This is what fills the main wall of the Sistine polychromy." "Adam, do you remember?" "ln the beginning He asked, "Where are you?"." "And you answered: "l hid myself from You because I was naked"." ""Who told you that you were naked?"" ""The woman whom you put here with me, she gave me the fruit..."" "All those who fill the main wall of the Sistine painting bear in themselves the legacy of that reply of yours!" "The question asked of you and your response!" "Such is the End of the path you trod." "Epilogue" "It is here, beneath this wondrous Sistine profusion of colour that the Cardinals assemble - the community responsible for the legacy of the keys of the Kingdom." "They come here, to this very place." "And once more Michelangelo wraps them in his vision." ""ln Him we live and move and have our being."" "Who is He?" "Behold, the creating hand of the Almighty, the Ancient One, reaching towards Adam... ln the beginning God created...." "He, who sees all things...." "The colours of the Sistine will then speak the word of the Lord:" "Tu es Petrus You are Peter..." " once heard by Simon, son of John." ""To you I will give the keys of the Kingdom"." "Those entrusted with the legacy of the keys gather here, letting themselves be enfolded by the Sistine's colours, by the vision left to us by Michelangelo " "So it was in August, and again in October, in the memorable year of the two Conclaves, and so it will be once more, when the times comes," "after my death." "Michelangelo's vision must then speak to them." ""Con-clave": a shared concern for the legacy of the keys, the keys of the Kingdom." "Lo, they see themselves in the midst of the Beginning and the End, between the Day of Creation and the Day of Judgement ... lt is granted man once to die, and thereafter, the Judgement!" "Final transparency and light." "The clarity of the events, the clarity of consciences " "During the Conclave Michelangelo must teach them " "Do not forget:" "Omnia nuda et aperta sunt ante oculos Eius." "All is laid bare and revealed before His eyes" "You who see all - point to him!" "He will point him out...." "A hill in the land of Moriah" "Ur in the land of the Chaldeans" "There was a time when people continually wandered." "Surrounded by herds, they went where abundance beckoned:" "where the earth, like a fertile mother, could feed the flocks, where people pitched their tents and began to dwell." "Today, why do we seek out this place in the land of the Chaldeans, which Abram, the son of Terach, left behind with other nomads like himself?" "Perhaps he asked:" "Why must I leave this place?" "Why do I have to abandon Ur of the Chaldees?" "ls this what he was thinking?" "Did he feel the sadness of the break?" "Did he look back?" "We do not know." "All that we know is that he heard a Voice, which told him:" "Go!" "Abram chose to follow the Voice." "The Voice said:" "You will be the father of many nations." "Your offspring will be numerous as the sand on the seashore." "How can this promise be fulfilled, thought Abram, since nature has denied me the gift of fatherhood?" "My wife, whom I have loved from the days of my youth, gave me no son. lt pains us both." "But the Voice kept saying:" "You will become a father," "You will become the father of many nations." "Your offspring will be numerous as the sand on the seashore." "Tres vidit et unum adoravit." "He saw three, yet worshipped one." "Who could thus divine the future, both near and far?" "Who is that Nameless One, who revealed himself in the Voice?" "Who spoke thus to Abram as one man speaks to another?" "He was Other." "Unlike anything that a man could conceive of Him." "He spoke - so He expected an answer..." "Once he came to Abram as a guest." "There were three travellers whom he received with great respect." "Yet Abram knew that it was He," "the One." "He recognized the Voice." "He recognized the promise." "A year later, with Sara, they both rejoiced at the birth of a son," "though they were both advanced in years." "A son - which means:" "fatherhood and motherhood." "You will become a father, Abram, the father of many peoples." "Henceforth your name will be "Abraham"." "ln this name I will bless you." "ln this name I will multiply your descendants to the farthest ends of the earth." "This name will mean:" ""he who believed against all hope"." "All around people and nations made gods for themselves as Egypt did, and Greece and Rome." "He, Abraham, put his faith in the One Who ls, with Whom he spoke, when he followed the Voice, to Whom he opened the entrance to his tent," "Whom he invited as a guest, with Whom he dwelt." "Today, then, we go back to these places, because God passed by here, when he came to Abraham." "God came to Abraham, who believed." "When people and nations were making gods for themselves," "He Who ls came." "He entered the history of humanity and revealed the mystery, hidden from the foundation of the world." "A conversation between a father and son in the land of Moriah" "And so, on the third day, as they walked, they spoke to one another:" "Here is the hill, where l shall offer a sacrifice to God - said the father." "The son remained silent," "he dared not ask:" "Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" "We have the fire, the wood, the knife for the sacrifice, but where is the lamb?" "God alone will provide it " "So much he said, yet he dared not say aloud the words:" "You, my son, will be the lamb and so he remained silent." "With this silence he sank once more into a hollow abyss." "He had heard the Voice which was leading him." "Now the Voice was silent." "He was left with nothing but his name" "Abraham: he who believed against all hope." "ln a moment he will build a sacrificial pile, light the fire, bind the hands of Isaac and then - what?" "the pyre will burst into flame...." "Does he already see himself as the father of a dead son, the son which the Voice gave him, and is now taking away?" "Abraham, you who climb this hill in the land of Moriah, there exists a limit to fatherhood," "a threshold you will never cross." "Here another Father will accept the sacrifice of his Son." "Do not be afraid, Abraham, go ahead, do what you have to do." "You will be the father of many nations." "Do what you have to do, to the end." "He himself will hold back your hand, at it is ready to strike that sacrificial blow...." "He himself will not permit your hand to carry out what has already been carried out in your heart." "Yes - your hand will halt in mid-air." "He himself will stay it." "Henceforth the hill in the land of Moriah will be expectation - for on its heights the mystery will find fulfilment." "The God of the Covenant" "Abraham, the One who entered the history of man wants, through you, only to unveil this mystery hidden from the foundation of the world, a mystery older than the world!" "If today we go to these places whence, long ago, Abraham set out, where he heard the Voice, where the promise was fulfilled, we do so in order to stand at the threshold - to go back to the beginning of the Covenant." "For God revealed to Abraham what it means for a father, to sacrifice his own son" " a sacrificial death." "Abraham" " God so loved the world that he gave his only Son," "that all who believe in Him should have eternal life." "Stop here!" "I carry your name within me," "this name is the sign of the Covenant which the Eternal Word made with you" "even before the world was created." "Remember this place once you go forth from here, this place will await its day..." "Translated by Jerzy Peterkiewicz"