四十七年前的昨天，亦即一九六二年十月十一日，真福教宗若望廿三世召開梵蒂岡第二次大公會議The Second Vatican Council，所以聖教會以十月十一日為這位教宗的紀念日。

教宗年僅十四，已開始寫他個人的神修日記，後來他准許他的私人秘書，發行這些日記。他道：「這些日記寫下我靈魂的最深處… 在我死後，你可把它發行，希望能幫助那些有志作司鐸，及願意與天主更密切結合的人靈。」這就是教宗若望廿三世的「一個靈魂的日記」Journal of a Soul。藉着這書，我們可以看到，教宗若望廿三世是一個極其純潔和淳樸的人。

純潔的心

教宗若望廿三世（原名安哲盧.朗嘉肋Angelo Roncalli）出生於一八八一年，十四歲進入修院；他把特利騰大公會議Council of Trent給司鐸們的訓詞「連最小的過錯也要避免，在司鐸中小過錯也很嚴重」作為他生命的座右銘。安哲盧答應天主，連最微小的小罪也絕不會故意去犯！

安哲盧鍾愛聖善的純潔。為了保護潔德，他十六歲那年，把他為守潔德定的志向，託三位年青的聖人：聖類斯.公撒格St. Aloysius Gonzaga、聖達尼魯St. Stanislaus Kostka和聖若望.伯爾各滿St. John Berchmans轉禱，奉獻給至聖童貞瑪利亞。他所定的志向包括:每天為自己的潔德祈禱、克制偏情、緊守眼目，不看猥褻的海報或圖片，避免與異性較親切的接觸，節制食慾免陷貪饕。這些志向，提醒了我潔德的三大真素：第一，潔德是天主的禮物，我們要用祈禱去祈求和守護。第二，聖寵建於本性。因為我們本性的軟弱，所以一定要避開犯罪的機會。第三，純潔的身軀來自純潔的心。與別人交往時，內心要有純潔的情感和意願。

淳樸的心

安哲盧. 朗嘉肋敬重聖方濟各.撒肋爵St. Francis de Sales。聖人的芳表，幫助安哲盧常保持謙遜、溫良、鎮靜。他感到天主要他完全效法聖方濟各。晉鐸前一年，一九零三年，聖方濟各瞻禮，安哲盧在他的神修日記預言似的寫下：「今天，我與最溫良的聖人，聖方濟各.撒肋爵一起，他是一位何等偉大的人物、神父和主教！如果我能像他，我不介意被選為教宗。」

安哲盧以絕對服從聖教會作為承行天主的旨意。一九二五年晉牧時，他的格言是「聽命與平安」。一九二五年至一九四五年，安哲盧被委為近東的宗座代表，一九四五年至一九五二年，他任教廷駐法國大使。當別人在玩弄政治手腕之時，安哲盧選擇以真誠、真樸去對待所有人。他堅強而深遂的信仰主導他的操守，而非個人的野心。

在一九五二年的退省中，他寫道：「淳樸的心！淳樸的言語！我對樸實的思言行為益處的體認與日俱增。我盼望簡化複雜的事, 並以簡單、自然的思言去對待每樣的事物，絕不假裝、不修飾、不隱藏。」

很多人閱歷越深，神修生活的表達就深簡樸。「時辰頌禱禮（日課經）」和「玫瑰經」是很多司鐸靈修的兩大支源。教宗若望廿三世十分喜愛這兩大靈修支源。作為教宗，他敦請司鐸們忠於「時辰頌禱禮」：「司鐸們要以自己的生活照亮自己所傳授的道理；因為空談的道理使司鐸變得傲慢，而生活中缺乏道理使司鐸變得一無所用。」

自一九五三年起，安哲盧每天誦唸十五端「玫瑰經」。即使在梵蒂岡第二次大公會議期間，作為教宗，他仍在百忙中抽空，每天唸完十五端「玫瑰經」。

願真福教宗若望廿三世為我們祈求，使我們擁有一顆純潔和淳樸的心，使我們得賞天主完滿的愛。

Forty-seven years ago on October 11, 1962, Pope Blessed John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council. This is the reason why the Church commemorates Blessed John XXIII on October 11.

John XXIII began to write his spiritual diary around the age of fourteen. He gave permission to his personal secretary to publish his diary. John XXIII told him, “They are a more intimate part of me than anything else I have written; my soul is in these pages…you may publish them after my death. They will do some good to souls who feel drawn toward the priesthood and the more intimate union with God.” The book of John XXIIII is called Journal of a Soul. In this book, you can see that John XXIII was a man of great purity and simplicity.

A Man of Purity

Born as Angelo Roncalli in 1881, John XXIII entered seminary at the age of fourteen and he made the words of the Council of Trent addressed to priests as a rule of his life: “Let them also avoid minor faults, which in them would be very great.” Angelo made a solemn promise to God to keep himself free from voluntarily committing the slightest venial sin.

Angelo had a great love for holy purity. In order to protect this virtue, Angelo made resolutions at the age of sixteen and offered them to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the intercessions of three angelic saintly youths, Saints Aloysius Gonzaga, Stanislaus Kostka and John Berchmans.

Some of his resolutions included: to pray everyday for the virtue of holy purity, to mortify his own feelings, to guard his eyes, never look at posters or illustrations or visit shops that might contain indecent objects, avoid familiarity with women, and never be greedy or immoderate at the table.

These resolutions of Angelo Roncalli remind me of three important truths regarding the virtue of purity. First, chastity is a gift from God, and we should obtain and preserve this gift through prayers. Second, grace builds on nature. Because of the weakness of human nature, we should keep a distance from occasions of sin. Third, purity of body comes from purity of heart. We keep our hearts pure by being watchful in regard to affections and intentions when dealing with others.

A Man of Simplicity

Angelo Roncalli had a great love for St. Francis de Sales. The example of this saint helped Angelo to be more inclined towards humility, gentleness, and calmness. He felt that God would want his life to be a perfect copy of St. Francis de Sales. On the feast of the saint in 1903, a year before his priestly ordination, Angelo Roncalli made this prophetic entry in his diary: “I spent today in the company of St. Francis de Sales, my gentlest of saints. What a magnificent figure of a man, priest and bishop. If I were like him, I would not mind even if they made me pope.”

Angelo Roncalli resolved to follow the Will of God through obedience to the Church. When he was ordained Bishop in 1925, he chose the motto Oboedientia et pax (Obedience and Peace).

Angelo Roncalli was assigned as Visitor and Apostolic Delegate in the Near East from 1925 to 1945. Then from 1945 to 1952 he was assigned as Nuncio in France. While some of his colleagues would “play politics,” Angelo Roncalli chose to deal with all people with sincerity and simplicity. His actions were motivated by deep faith rather than by personal ambition.

During a retreat in 1952, Angelo wrote, “Simplicity of heart and speech! The older I grow the more clearly I perceive the dignity and the winning beauty of simplicity in thought, conduct, and speech: a desire to simplify all that is complicated and to treat everything with the greatest naturalness and clarity, without wrapping things up in trimmings and artificial turns of thought and phrase.”

Many people found that as they advance in years, their spiritual life become more simple. Two simple forms of prayer have been the constant sources of daily spiritual nourishments for many priests: the Divine Office and the Rosary.

John XXIII had great love for these two forms of prayer. As Pope, he urged priests to be faithful in praying the Divine Office. He wrote, “The priest must shine as much in his doctrine as in his life; for doctrine without life makes a man arrogant, but life without doctrine make him useless.”

Since the beginning of 1953, Angelo pleaded to pray all 15 decades of the rosary everyday. Even as Pope, amidst the busy schedule for the works of the Second Vatican Council, he continued to pray the entire rosary daily. May Blessed John XXIII intercede for us, so that we may obtain that purity and simplicity of heart which leads to the perfect love of God.