He fed himself the word of God every day. He liked when the sisters read him the Scriptures. Sometimes professor Fr. Styczeń was reading. Sometimes, the secretaries were reading. In the same meditations, he asked Our Lady to help us all to prepare for the Holy Week. “I hope that many young people will take part in the solemn liturgy of Palm Sunday on the St. Peter’s Square” – he wrote- “which symbolically leads us to the World Youth Days which will take place in Cologne, Germany.” He did not make it into the World Youth Days in Cologne. The date of March 13th exists on the Letter to Priests for the Holy Thursday 2005. The last such letter. He wrote it earlier. As usual, he dictated to Prelate Ptasznik.
That same evening, he left the hospital. Earlier, he blessed doctors, nurses, support workers. It was after 6 p.m., when we left the clinic – recalls the Archbishop. The Holy Father was transported in a special minibus. He sat in front, the light was on in the car, so the pilgrims who greeted him in front of the clinic and then on the streets of the Vatican could see well that he was smiling at them and greeting them with a broad gesture. You could see that he was very happy. He really cared about it because he did not want to be in the hospital any more. After eighteen days, he was finally able to return home. We were also very happy.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
