In 1991 he arrived with Archbishop Jaworski for a papal morning Mass. It was probably then, when he saw John Paul II praying for the first time. He saw it so close. He saw in John Paul the depth of union with Christ. When the Holy Father raised the Host, he looked at her with the sincerest adoration. Only Christ and him. They were one. Young priest Mieczysław Mokrzycki did not even thought that five years later he would live above the papal apartment and would serve the Pope until his death. Today he says that for nine years he learned from John Paul this prayer – simple and pure as a child’s prayer.
John Paul prayed for the gifts of the Holy Spirit every day. The prayer his father taught him. It was a long time ago. He was still as an altar boy. He did not forget about that prayer, even when he being as the successor of Saint Peter. The Holy Father asked for gifts of the Holy Spirit every day. Our Father and Hail Mary prayed for each gift. That was his prayer. For the gift of wisdom: Our Father and Hail Mary, for the gift of skill: Our Father and Hail Mary, and so on. It was such a typical personal prayer of the Holy Father.
John Paul II also said a litany every day. As Archbishop Mokrzycki says, he liked them very much. All litanies to the Saints, the Loreto litany, to the Heart of Jesus. These were all traditional prayers given by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Someone once said that he did not pray as he breathed, but he breathed as he prayed. Prayer eventually became his breath, his heartbeat.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “He liked Tuesdays best”
Publisher M, Krakow 2008
