The Jeweler's Shop: A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony Passing on Occasion Into a Drama

This is a play written by Pope John Paul II himself! Karol Wojtyla- Pope John Paul ll-was involved in theatre. As a student of literature, then priest, bishop and archbishop, he acted, directed, wrote dramatic criticism, made a Polish translation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and authored six plays. Pope John Paul ll preserved the Polish culture underground during communism as they tried to erase it.

Here is the only English translation authorized by the Vatican where Pope John Paul explores relationships between men and women, the joys and pain of love and marriage.

The action unfolds in two settings at once: a street in a small town, outside the local jeweler's shop (people go to buy their wedding rings there), and the mysterious inner landscape of personal hopes and fears, loves and longings. Each act focuses on a different couple: the first happily planning their wedding, the second long-married and unhappy, the third about to marry but full of doubts. Writing with power and understanding about a love that survives the grave, a love that has withered and died, and a love budding out of complexes and insecurities. The Pope addresses such fundamental human concerns as: What does it mean to fall in love? When do we know that a love is real--and can it last? If it dies, how do we go on living--and loving again? 

This is a play full of wisdom on a subject of great relevance to all, and it provides a special insight into the thoughts of the man who, like no other,  captured the imagination of people of all faiths throughout the world and was canonized saint. The Jeweler's Shop has also been made into a full-length movie available on video.

Author: Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II

Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 10/01/1992
Pages: 91
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.58lbs
Size: 8.29h x 5.51w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780898704266