. – It’s Friday…
– The Holy Father gets up before 6 o’clock. He is exhausted. At night there was a crisis. The heart refused to obey. All by fever and infection. But, in the morning it is a little better. The Holy Father attends the Mass we celebrate at his bedside. Then, he asks to read him fourteen Stations of the Cross. Nuns are reading it. The Holy Father listens and prays. Doctors say his condition deteriorates from hour to hour.
– In addition, the guests are constantly coming?
– There are quite a few guests: cardinals, bishops, some nuns, but also lay people. Cardinal Jaworski came, Father Styczeń. It seemed to me that Cardinal Ratzinger was also on Friday, but someone told me that he was on Saturday.
– It is 7 p.m., there are crows on the St. Peter’s Square… You tell that the Holy Father?…
– Father Stanisław says that there are crowds, that there are young people. And, the Holy Father suddenly begins to show something. “I couldn’t… that they came here… Thank you.” Father Stanisław asks. The Holy Father explains it with a gesture, nods, and confirms. “I was looking for you, and now you have come to me and thank you for that.”
– That’s right.
– So, it was not a note?
– No. These were the gestures of the Holy Father, which we understood. And, he confirmed.
– Cardinal Ratzinger said then that he found the Pope fully aware that he was going to God… Was that visible?
– It is difficult to say. He had such a serene face. On Saturday morning, the Holy Father was completely aware. And, when the guests came, he looked at them, greeted them, blessed.
– Smiled?
– He was smiling. Thus, I am saying that on the Holy Father’s face it was not visible that he was saying goodbye to this world. It was all very natural.
– Did he say anything?
– He did not speak, only in a whisper. We were trying not to make him tired. These were just gestures of welcome, greetings.
– Did he have any wishes? Wanted to see someone?
– No, he did not express such a wish.
With the permission of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki –“He liked Tuesdays the most”
M Publishing House, Krakow 2008
