Christmas Eve began at 5 p.m. Earlier, John Paul II was resting. Then, he prayed in the chapel. Guests were waiting in a room next to the refectory. We met there. The Holy Father greeted everyone. He exchanged a few words with everyone – says the Archbishop. “And then we’d invite you to the table. In the beginning there were prayer and reading passages of Holy Scripture. As the Archbishop says, the prayer was led by John Paul II, and fragments of the Holy Scripture were sometimes read by the first secretary Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, sometimes by one of the guests: priest professor Tadeusz Styczeń or Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko. It happened that I read it – recalls the Archbishop. – Then, the Holy Father wished us well and we broke the Christmas wafer. Everyone with everyone. The wishes were rather short. I remember that the Holy Father liked to joke even when breaking the wafer. For example, he would tell me: “I wish you, Mieciu, that you would still be with me.” I most often wished him health. And, strength. And, for him to stick with us – he laughs. When John Paul II wished everyone at the table, he most often wished joy. This joy was for him a strong attribute of faith, its inseparable element – says the Archbishop. “Always rejoice in the Lord!” he repeated. “The Lord is near.” On Christmas Eve I felt this joy in the Holy Father more than ever. He was happy: He was smiling. He blessed us and our loved ones. He was saying that they are among friends. And, that it was like home. (…) In the Vatican, there was quite a lot of hay under the tablecloth; enough to smell it. Besides, the table was not big. Neither was the room. It smelled with hay and spruce that stood in the corner of the dining room. You could notice the smells from the kitchen. But above all, the joy of the common supper, of the meeting, of the memories of Poland. There was a lot of talk about Poland. We recalled Polish Christmas – says the Archbishop. – How we did spend Christmas Eve at home. With his friends from the ‘Środowiska’, the Holy Father recalled trips to the mountains and kayaks. It was nice to listen to. There was a lot of laughter. Time was running out quickly.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
