Every year I also put a Christmas tree on the roof of the printing house. I decorated it, decorated it with lights and put it on the terrace on the roof of the building. One year I went to Venezuela just for Christmas and only after the New Year I returned to the Vatican. Meanwhile, my deputy dismantled the Christmas tree just after Epiphany. And in Poland, they are usually kept until February 2. After my return, Father Dziwisz called me. When we met in the apartment he said: ‘The Holy Father is disappointed that you dismantled the Christmas tree so early. How come? What happened…?”
He cared about it very much, for every morning just after six o’clock, as soon as he got up; he pulled back the curtains and looked out of his bedroom window. And, even before he even looked at Rome, he directed his eyes to the roof of the printing house and to our Christmas tree. It was beautiful, seven, maybe even eight meters tall. Under it we placed the statue of the Mother of God. Looking aat it, the Pope prayed his first Hail Mary. Then he turned his head toward Rome, blessed the city, and went back to his morning activities.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Pages: 80 – 81
