OUR LADY TEACHES THE SECRET OF THE MIRACULOUS CATCH OF FISH

VATICAN CITY, FEB 13, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father paid his traditional annual visit this afternoon to the Major Seminary of Rome for the feast of its patroness, Our Lady of Trust.

Having listened to music dedicated to Peter the Apostle, the Pope said that this oratorio had "made us meditate on the vocation to the priesthood as a call to become 'fishers of men'."

"In the seminary, thanks to the diligent and discreet work of your teachers, under the action of the Holy Spirit, the secret of the miraculous catch of fish is learned. Most Holy Mary is the expert guide in this. She is the Mother of Trust for all Christians, and especially for the apostles."

John Paul II said that "in this Major Seminary of Rome which I value so much, you learn from Mary how to cast out your nets, she Our Lady of Trust, who teaches every seminarian the secret of the miraculous catch of fish. Mary is also a teacher for you young people of this seminary who find here a precious place for your apostolic training."

Later, in off-the-cuff remarks, the Pope spoke of the conclave in which he was elected: "What the Pope wants to say is linked with the seminary, with vocations, with my last seminary, which lasted a few days, the conclave. At the end, when everything was clear, Cardinal Wyszynski said to me: 'It would be good if you took the name John Paul'. I told him: 'I was thinking of doing precisely that'. That was the last vocation for me. From the Roman seminary or from the clandestine seminary, as I did, right up to the 'seminary' of the conclave. My vocation: 'you must call yourself Peter'. My vocation: 'you must call yourself John Paul'."

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