John Paul II repeatedly emphasized that he read Fr. Jan Twardowski’s poems. Both priests and poets not only knew each other well and treated each other with kindness, but they also met on various occasions and exchanged letters. Fr. Twardowski also devoted several poems to John Paul II. They met for the first time in 1946, in Warsaw, thanks to their mutual friend Wojciech Żukrowski, who had arrived with Fr. Karol Wojtyla from Krakow to Warsaw to visit his high school friend in the seminary. Fr. Twardowski remembered that he had attended a Mass celebrated by the future pope in the seminary chapel.
Later, although not very often, they themselves met: in Częstochowa, at the convention of writers associated with the Church, which took place after the release of Fr. Primate from jail, they made a joint car trip from Warsaw to the Jasna Góra Monastery; and, at the meetings of professor priests teaching in Polish seminaries. At one time, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła blessed a marriage in the Visitandines’ church, and the father Rector assisted him. The event was immortalized in a beautiful photograph.
All this changed after the election of the Archbishop of Krakow as the Pope of the Catholic Church. The poet, who in one of his early poems prayed “not to be such a venerable person / whom they an umbrella give / whom they send to Rome …”, never was in the Eternal City. Nothing remained for them but short and hearty meetings during the papal visits in Poland, poems of Fr. Twardowski, some very personal letters and a “smiling” colored photograph of Fr. Twardowski in conversation with the Holy Father by Arturo Mari.
Already in 1979, on the occasion of the first pilgrimage of the Holy Father to the homeland, the poet wrote the text of greeting that was recited by children:
Every boy is really amazed
every girl – surprised wholly
that the Lord Jesus to Warsaw
with you comes to us slowly
[…]in a huge crowd, where millions of hearts
to the right and to the left you can see
Polish Zacchaeus to behold you
begins to climb to a tree
[…]
After some time, a poem was created – no longer commemorative, but lyrical – devoted to the Holy Father. From the time of his election to the chair of Saint Peter, many poems expressing the immense love of his countrymen to John Paul II were published. There were so many poems that an anthology of them was compiled. Unfortunately, their fervor rarely went hand in hand with an artistic level. Therefore, this short lyric, simply entitled Jan Paweł II (John Paul II), had to move everyone:
There is so much in you
our Polish eyes
mother’s faith smile of aches
and a usual not too modern bell
deafened because conscience wakes
It is hard to say more in so few words…
After 1989, when the poems of Fr. Twardowski could be published without obstacles, the pope received some of them. The eminent recipient always responded with a cordial letter. After receiving a book of poetry, he wrote:
Dear Father Jan, I would like to thank you sincerely for the volume of poetry Rwane prosto z krzaka (Picked Straight from a Bush). I read 10 pages a day. Starting with the title, everything in this volume is homogeneous. It is easy to recognize that the poems are written by Father Twardowski. Only he writes this way and through his poetry leads people to God. Please accept my heartfelt Easter greetings: may you, Father, for a long time, be able to proclaim to people the truth about Christ crucified and risen. Pope John Paul II
We can only regret that the poet, as if intimidated by the Holy Father’s kindness, never revealed more from this unique exchange of thoughts. For example, we know from the TV coverage that, during a meeting with people of culture at the Grand Theater, John Paul II, passing through the audience, stopped at Fr. Twardowski and talked with him for a few moments.
As it happened, I had an opportunity to learn about the history of the priest-poet’s most extraordinary poem and the Holy Father’s reaction to it. The 20th anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II was approaching. Once, when I was visiting Fr. Twardowski, I heard from him: “Look at what I have written …”. And he handed me the manuscript. The poem was based on a surprising idea – starting from the title, the author wrote, not about the anniversary of the pontificate, but … about a birthday. The airy lyric was far away from occasional pathos:
Happy Birthday Day
Only an angel could guess
The snow, clean, with a smile,
the Polish Tatras dressed
The century runs like the wind
still in the hands the Godly World
and he is so young
he is just twenty years old.
The pope received the text and, clearly moved, responded in a very personal letter, not hiding how important the poet’s words were for him:
Dear Father,
I sincerely thank you for your kind thoughts for the “twentieth birthday” and for “Kubek z jednym uchem” (A Mug with One Ear). Indeed, this century runs like the wind, but not only in the sense that it ends abruptly. The years when our generation came to live were especially stormy. However, God’s providence has allowed us to experience that the sun breaks even through the darkest clouds, and at the end of the storm, the beauty of the sky is better visible. Perhaps, here there is a mystery of this youth, which, though leaned on a cane, is in the shape of its twenty years, or of this boy with an open mouth who knows that “even if the whole Church collapsed, one would say ‘yes’ to God.
I thank God for the grace of these years and youth. May it not leave us. May the Holy Spirit bring you many inspirations to proclaim the Gospel with a burning heart and a poetic word. I heartily bless you
John Paul II
The successor of St. Peter answered almost every single verse of the poem dedicated to him in a very direct way, full of personal reflection. In particular, it could be best seen in the repeated reference to the expression “so young”: “Perhaps, here there is a mystery of this youth, which, though leaned on a cane, is in the shape of its twenty years…”, “I thank God for the grace of these years…”, “May it not leave us…”. [W.S., emphasis added].
I also have heard from Marek Skwarnicki that, during his stay in the Vatican, prior to the publication of Roman Triptych, then private secretary of the pope, Bishop Stanisław Dziwisz, asked him about the possible arrival of Fr. Twardowski to Rome, mentioning that John Paul II wanted to host him.
It is regrettable that the meetings of these two extraordinary figures of the Polish Church and culture, priests and poets, so generously gifted by the Creator with so many talents and unique charisma, have not been, until now, described in any form.
Waldemar Smaszcz