And, immediately the famous Masses in the private chapel began at seven in the morning. The world behind the Bronze Gate was waking up to life very early. And, for this reason, we also started work around six o’clock. When I worked at the palace elevator, I put on a special service outfit every morning, and then I prepared everything for the arrival of the guests, whom we led just before seven o’clock to the papal apartment for Mass. There were many pilgrims among them, first of all a lot of Poles, but also such personalities as, for example, the Belgian Queen Fabiola. She appeared in the Courtyard of St. Damasus already half an hour ahead of time and waited with us in a small lounge by the elevator, until Father Stanisław Dziwisz informed us that it was possible to go upstairs. Similarly, the then President of Italy, Sandro Pertini, quite privately, came often incognito to pray with the Pope. Many important figures ardently wanted to be at this Mass, because it was special. Intimate. Deeply spiritual. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was also a regular guest at the Holy Mass and at the meetings in the papal apartment. She and John Paul II had an unusual thread of understanding with each other. She did not have to report to the Prefect of the Papal Household, to inform in advance that she would come. She felt at home and was welcomed in this way. Extremely humble. Saint…
From the first moments of the pontificate of John Paul II, the old, quite rigid elements of the ceremonial began to disappear, many things were greatly simplified, a breath of lightness felt, we intuitively sensed that something was changing. There was more and more simplicity. And, above all – openness. Yes! For me, it is the symbol of that pontificate. The door to the palace was still wide open.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Pages: 35 – 36
