He is one of the modern authorities who the more moves away the brighter he shines rather than getting paler. He does not become darker, smaller in the light of new information and sensationalism; he remains John Paul the Great in front of unworthy defamation attempts. Is that the most important thing? Of course, not. But, very important. Through the years of my youth and more mature age, he was my support, guide, ideal. I would love my children to experience such total trust to somebody in their lives and not to fail. That’s why I took my son Antoś to Rome for a solemn Mass. on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Pontificate. In October 2003, Antoś was 15 months old. We took off from Balice on a plane full of VIPs, all joyful and united. Oh, who wasn’t there on board, one next to the other, not one against the other! We were given a picture of this ceremony: Antoś in a stroller on the St. Peter’s Square, around the crowd of the faithful, and in the background the Basilica.
Perhaps, the most important thing is that John Paul II was Love, Faith, Hope and Wisdom, all these virtues were united in his deeds and words into one thing, and yet one would have to mention Humility and Obedience and Devotion to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Mary. He beautifully showed the way to holiness. When he left for the House of the Father, we all felt what the faithful and unbelievers who gathered in Rome were chanting: Santo subito!
Being embroiled in everyday life, we often make mistakes. How joyful it is to find the way of truth with the feeling that someone is watching over us, waiting patiently and guiding.
A man who became a Saint. And, yet you could say that he was just himself. How simple it is! Let’s remember this.
We have many commemorative photos of meetings with Saint John Paul II during his pilgrimages to Poland and our pilgrimages to Rome. And, this is what happened to me. It is the story that I am documenting below.
In the summer of 1989, I went to Rome with the pilgrimage from the parish in Łagiewniki. Everything was organized by my late mother, who was a determined person, and as she decided that after high school graduation I should go to the Vatican to thank for the successfully passed high school exams and entry exams for legal studies, so this must have happened. It certainly cost a lot; trips to Italy in a memorable year 1989 were not a daily occurrence. Someone said that we would be in a private audience with the Holy Father and it started! For such an opportunity you go with a worthy gift, but what could it be?! My mother stood up to the task and provided me with a tiny roadside chapel made of wood, bark and moss, all enclosed in a glass casing; little beauty, handmade, most likely acquired in the Cepelia store located at the Market Square, which the locals remember well.
We are going from Rome to the audience in Castel Gandolfo. We set ourselves in the meeting room; I was given a seat in the first row. The Holy Father comes and we all cling to Him. I remember how he is talking to me (though I don’t remember what he was saying) as he blesses me, and I probably gave him this small chapel saying that it is from Myślenice. Later, in the photos of this meeting, I see behind the Holy Father a person that is accompanying him, perhaps it is his personal security man. I meet him many years later in 2016 in the fields near Krakow during World Youth Day. I gather my courage to talk, and he – already an old man – tells me why he came here. Great emotions!
In October 2018, the entire family goes to Rome: my dad Jan, brother Radosław with his wife Kasia and daughters Zuzia and Zosia, my sons Antoś and Jaś. We want to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the election of the Metropolitan of Kraków Cardinal Karol Wojtyła at the Capital of Peter. We are very fortunate and honored to attend the morning Mass on October 16th celebrated at the tomb of St. John Paul II in the St. Sebastian Chapel. We are filled with joy and pride that this service takes place with the participation of President Andrzej Duda and his Wife. There are people from Kraków, there are Highlanders, we all pray to our former and for our present Shepherd.
In these days, thanks to the courtesy of Father Krzysztof from the St. John Paul II Foundation, we also go to Castel Gandolfo, and returning we stop at the Polish Home at Via Cassia 1200. We are meeting sister Remigia from the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, as it turns out she is from Osieczany. Sister Remigia guides us through the museum, shows exhibits of items donated by people, people who were kept alive only by faith and hope, and she tells stories that brings reflections, sometimes brings tears in eyes. It is good that Antoś is here. There is also Jaś, to whom I have the opportunity to bring closer the figure of our Pope, so that he may always remember him. There are my beloved nieces Zuzia and Zosia, usually very energetic, and here listening and quiet.
Sister Remigia invites you to an evening meal, we drink coffee; sister disappears for a while. After a long time, he comes and asks that since we are from Myślenice, we may know Małgorzata Chorabik, who almost 30 years ago gave the Holy Father such a small chapel. A few months earlier, a pilgrimage from Myślenice was here in the Polish Home, but no one knew this person, some said that probably a lawyer, others that maybe an artist. I am looking at this chapel, everyone is out of words; I don’t know if it is really happening. And, then we talk for a long time and take commemorative photos.
It is May 2020, we are bound by the social distance, and we cannot gather nor travel due to the coronavirus. May 13th is coming, followed by May 18th and the 100th anniversary of the Birth of St. John Paul II. We are at home; there is more time for reflection and storytelling. I take Jaś on my lap, we are watching the report from October 16, 1978, and then from May 13, 1981, and snapshots of subsequent pilgrimages to Poland. I answer countless simple questions of the child and already know that he too will love St. John. John Paul the Great!
Małgorzata Podrecka
Myślenice, June 6, 2020
