Similarly, this Christmas caroling with friends from the ‘Środowisko’ began on January 6, 1952. As Jacek Fedorowicz wrote: on the floor of a small room, by candles. There were about ten people. Uncle Karol and the “family” of Krakow students used to sing carols in their homes, once even in the laundry room of the Sisters of Nazareth. And, then there were Christmas wafers on Franciszkańska Street – says the Archbishop. Those which the Holy Father later took with him to Rome. On Franciszkańska Street, he supposedly was inviting them to a table on which there was bigos or tripe soup. And, he said that if the company was full, it would be better to sing. As Dr. Ewa Wisłocka from the ‘Środowisko’ recalled in one of the interviews, at the beginning of such a meeting there was always a Holy Mass. Then, the sisters served bigos or tripe soup, and then caroling began. During joint meetings we sang up to sixty carols, each with a few verses. We did competitions for adults and children. It was a lot of fun. At the end, the ‘Uncle’ himself sang his favorite carol “Oj, maluśki, maluśki” and each time he created new verses – she said. Irena Matowska-Krobicka explained that these stanzas created by ‘Uncle’ on the spot were always about those who sat at the table. Accurate and witty. You can find one such recording on the Internet. John Paul II sings in a strong voice, he has a little of the highlander’s accent. (…)
On the website of the Centre for the Thought of John Paul II one can hear that Karol Wojtyla – as an ordinary priest, then a bishop, and then a cardinal – never refused an invitation to home caroling with young friends from the ‘Środowisko’. And, when the invitation did not come for too long, he demanded it himself. He liked these meetings so much. And, they unanimously admit that they were afraid of one thing. When ‘Uncle’ goes to the Vatican for good, the meetings will end. They were wrong – says the Archbishop with a smile. Because the Holy Father also moved these meetings to Vatican as far as it was possible.
With the consent of Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki – “Place for everyone”
Znak Publishing House, Kraków 2013.
