I confess in secret that I had with the Pope a “visual thread of understanding” that only he and I knew about. It lasted for years and gave me a real boost of energy. Every morning just after six o’clock, even when I had time off and did not have to get to work, I would enter the kitchen in my apartment and before I even set up coffee in the brewer, I would approach the window. It started so that from my kitchen on the top floor of a tall building I could see exactly the windows of the Papal bedroom, the bathroom and the entire private part of his apartment. In a straight line, it was maybe a hundred meters. One day, I casually turned my gaze in that direction and noticed that the Pope at this time appeared in the window, he looked through the window, glimpsed over Rome, checked what the weather is like, prayed … The next day the same thing. So, I started leaning out of my kitchen window and waving at him. At first he did not see it, but over time I was able to get his attention with my eyes – we were really close to each other – and he began to react. From then on, he knew that every morning I was waiting for him in the window. It was my greeting with him at a distance. It was only after that first moment, when he stood in the window and prayed, looking at Rome he was proceeding to his daily duties. Prayer was his strength, and I also understood with him that it brings a comfort when difficult moments come.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
pages: 88 – 89
