Spiritual Adoption {Cardinal X}

 
As the Cardinals' Conclave draws near, we are all called to be especially prayerful, and Catholics around the globe are united in fervent daily prayers and sacrifices for the Cardinals and for our Church in this time of transition.  A clever new approach to aid in this universal call to prayer involves adopting a Cardinal with a click at adoptacardinal.org.

Our family gathered 'round the laptop before our evening prayers last night to join the over 300,000 faithful (and counting) who are linking up to pray for a specific, randomly generated Cardinal.  As we awaited the name announcement, we mused about the possibility of being given the Cardinal who will be named the next successor to Saint Peter at the conclave's conclusion.

Of all the Cardinals to be assigned, to our astonishment we were granted the Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, the 'boss' of our dear friend Father Michael Pio.  We received this announcement and photo in our inbox to confirm our adoption:

Congratulations!
You have adopted this Cardinal:
Stanislaw Dziwisz, from Poland, born 1939-4-27.
He's been a Cardinal since 2006-3-24 and his function is: Archbishop of Kraków, Poland

 
Tim's paternal family ancestry is saturated with Poles, so our spiritual connections to this newly adopted Cardinal Dziwisz are also in the blood.  In fact, during at least one of my pregnancies, Tim lobbied for the name Stanislaw in the event of the birth of a boy, to carry on a family name.  I vehemently declined, but now that we've adopted Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, I guess Tim's wish has finally been granted.

In another randomly generated adopt a Cardinal experience this morning, our friends from France were given a Cardinal from France!  Which Cardinal will you adopt?

Please pray with us!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send down your Spirit over the conclave. Let the Holy Spirit inspire the hearts of the cardinals, that they may choose the man most pleasing to You, as Successor of Peter and Your Vicar on Earth. May Mary, Your Mother and Mother of the Church, be our Advocate. Amen.