It is no secret that the sisters of the Sacred Heart are great cooks. For many years they cooked for Karol Wojtyla in Krakow, then for twenty-seven years in Rome. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart always cooked with their hearts – laughs the Archbishop. – They were very excited about Christmas Eve. There was such a motherly concern in it. So that everything will go well, like at home. And, it was. They are wonderful women, full of dedication and sensitivity that only a woman has. This is the “genius of woman” about which the Holy Father wrote. Sensitivity to every person in need. John Paul II had great gratitude for them. They had known each other for decades. They’ve been through so much together. They were really like a family – says the Archbishop. – And, certainly also because in the papal house one could feel this family warmth. You could also feel it on Christmas Eve. The refectory is not large. Twenty-something, maybe thirty square meters. On a daily basis the table was folded. On Christmas Eve, they were disassembling it, so that all guests have a place. There would not be enough chairs for everyone either. Therefore, as the Archbishop recalls, the sisters added kitchen stools to the table. Just like home. When the family arrived, chairs from every room were carried to the table – he says with a smile. – It was also so in the papal apartment. And, it might seem that Christmas Eve takes place there in real salons, with a richly set table, an angelic choir and a mountain of gifts under the Christmas tree. The former papal secretary says: Nothing could be further from the truth. It was modest, simple, without twelve courses and without gifts. The guests sometimes brought their own book, calendar, something small, symbolic. Not a trace of glamour – he laughs. – Although the pastries were really delicious. No more than twenty-one people sat at the table. The archbishop jokes that more would not fit in anyway. There were five of our Sacred Heart Sisters – she enumerates. – Two of us, secretaries: Father Stanisław and me. There was always Cardinal Deskur and three of his sisters. They always brought delicious shortbread cookies. Professor Tadeusz Styczeń, sometimes Cardinal Ryłko. The Holy Father’s friends from Poland, from Krakow and the ‘Środowisko’ always came. Usually it was two families. And, they stayed with us from Christmas Eve until the New Year. Between Christmas and New Year they were with us in Castel Gandolfo. On Christmas Eve the papal butler also came.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
