Someone once said that Karol Wojtyła’s entire life was Lent. His last years – were Good Friday and the Stations of the Cross. Easter was a special time for him; a time for which he waited the entire year. The Eucharist, the death of Christ and the Resurrection; the basic truth of Christianity. The Holy Father experienced it a lot and was preparing for it in a great manner. In Lent, he kept a strict fasting. He did not eat cold cuts for breakfast. It was just dairy. It was his external renunciation that we could see. We also saw the great extent of his meditations and prayers at that time. He has always said that Lent is a time of prayer and repentance. Every Friday – the Stations of the Cross in a private chapel or on the terrace. Every Sunday we sang Bitter Sorrows. We did not invite any guests. This decision of the Holy Father has always been a signal to us that in these moments he needs peace, silence. He loved people and for every morning mass, for different holidays we invited a few or a dozen people. But, for this he did not want any guests. Only him and us. As during the Mass at 5 p.m. on each anniversary of the assassination or for the New Year’s Eve. Lent was such a time for him. There were, of course, meditations on the Lenten liturgy. I saw that the Holy Father also experienced a lot the priest day. In the morning the Chrism Mass, in the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. He also had such a habit that on Holy Thursday he always invited priests for a supper from the Diocese of Kraków, mostly those who studied in Rome; such a unity with his former diocese. It was very important to him.
During Lent, on each Frida, he held ascetic conferences. They were led by the preacher of the Pontifical House, Capuchin, Father Raniero Cantalamessa. Every Friday, the Papal curia also had a joint Stations of the Cross, a day of meditations to better prepare ourselves for Easter. On Good Friday, there were the Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum which was broadcast all over the world. The Holy Father has always carried this wooden cross with such love… And, this symbolic Good Friday confession. John Paul II went down to St. Peter’s Basilica and confessed a dozen people. On Saturday, the blessing of food and the baptismal liturgy and the baptism of adults. Then, there was the Resurrection Sunday.
With the permission of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki –“He liked Tuesdays the most”
M Publishing House, Krakow 2008
