The fact that he would remain in place until the very end was already inscribed in his DNA, in his sense of total realization in God, which marked him from the very beginning of his human and spiritual adventure.
These last months, the last days, were terrible for us, living by his side, but not for him. He serenely was accepting all suffering and his illness. We understood – what’s more – we saw that there was no fear of death in him. He was not afraid because he was convinced that life was a gift to live in depth, accepting all that God had foreseen for each of us. Until this great gift is returned to Him who has given it to you.
His end was an extraordinary example of a Christian approach to death. John Paul II restored the dignity in death. Just as he lived, as he taught, so that he died. For him death was a transition to another life. To the fullness of life in God.
And now, without the anguish of that time, we can enter into the “mystery” of what took place in those days.
In the last hours of his life, reading the Gospel of St. John was a touching preparation for death. And, for us, standing around the dying Pope, it was the deepest experience of God’s word.
The saint was dying, and we were accompanying him on the final stage of his earthly journey. He was also accompanied by a huge crowd, gathered on the St. Peter’s Square. The Pope did not die alone. The entire Church was accompanying him. This was his last catechesis. The last message. A message without words.
Then, in those hours, the entire truth about Karol Wojtyła, about man, about the Pope began to emerge. The truth about his holiness.
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
