resolutions, prayers, meditations and remarks on spiritual progress. They express, above all, their author’s relationship to God, who was the centre of his inner life.
1. Two notebooks
The spiritual notes were recorded in two notebooks: in the diaries ‘Agenda 1962’ and ‘1985’. Both diaries were printed in Italy by the Archdiocese of Milan.
In the first notebook, the author introduced his own page numbering, from 1 to 220. However, the notes are not ordered chronologically: the first entry is devoted to the retreat that Archbishop Karol Wojtyła attended with the Polish Bishops’ Conference at Jasna Góra from 1 to 4 September 1971. In the following pages we find notes from earlier years – beginning with 1962 – which are interwoven with later retreats. The author recorded entries according to his own system and put together personal and spiritual experiences from various years.
The notes in this notebook cover the years when Karol Wojtyła was Auxiliary Bishop and Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków, and include meditations from days of reflection and private retreats at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska; at the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec; in Zakopane, at Jaszczurówka, at the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus; at the Bachledówka Pauline Monastery; in Kraków, in the district of Prądnik, at the Albertine Sisters’, in the so-called ‘cottage’ (the house situated in the garden of the motherhouse of the Albertine Sisters’ Convent at 10 Woronicza Street); at the Albertine Sisters’ in Rząska; and the annual retreats of the Polish Bishops’ Conference at Jasna Góra and in Gniezno. The first notebook also contains the notes from the first six years of John Paul II’s pontificate. The notes end with the reflections on the retreat led by Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento on 11–17 March 1984 in the Vatican.
The second notebook originally belonged to the Pope’s Secretary, Monsignor Emery Kabongo, as witness the erased signature on the first page and the embossed paper seal. The centre of the seal contains the abbreviation ‘EK’ and the edge reads ‘Library of Emery Kabongo’. These notes cover the years 1985–2003. They begin on the page dated 5 January and continue over the next 315 pages, not all of which have been written over.
Thus, the notes taken by Cardinal Wojtyła–Pope John Paul II can be organised in the following way:
The first notebook contains notes covering the years 1962–1984 and focuses on the following events:
– the retreat (Dies recollectionis) after the arrival in Rome for the first session of the Second Vatican Council (9 and 14 October 1962) [p. 2]
– the retreat on the anniversary of priestly ordination at the Felician Sisters’ Convent in Rome (31 October– 4 November 1962) [p. 5]
– the retreat at Kalwaria – The Shrine of Our Lady (6–7 July 1963?) [p. 12]
– the retreat in Tyniec (19–23 August 1963) [p. 13]
– the retreat before the installation ceremony in Wawel Cathedral (5–8 March 1964) [p. 20]
– the retreat at Jasna Góra led by Bishop Kazimierz Józef Kowalski (31 August–3 September 1964) [p. 23]
– the retreat in Tyniec (17–20 August 1965) [p. 30]
– the retreat at [?unknown] (7 November–2 December 1964?/1965?) [p. 36]
– the retreat at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (31 October– 1 November 1966) [p. 37]
– the retreat at the Albertine Sisters’ Convent (19–21 December 1966) [p. 38]
– the retreat at [?unknown] (29 February 1968) [p. 44]
– the retreat in Tyniec (11–14 September 1968) [p. 45]
– the retreat at Bachledówka (9–13 August 1969) [p. 51]
– the retreat in Tyniec (4–7 November and 19 December 1970) [p. 60]
– the retreat at Jasna Góra led by Bishop Lech Kaczmarek (1–5 September 1971) [p. 67]
– the retreat at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (5–6 July 1973) [p. 75]
– the retreat at Bachledówka (9–12 August 1973) [p. 76]
– the retreat at [?unknown] 4 July–24 August 1974 [p. 86]
– the retreat in Gniezno led by Bishop Jerzy Ablewicz (3–7 September 1974) [p. 87]
– the retreat at Bachledówka (4–8 July 1975) [p. 99]
– the retreat in Jaszczurówka (21–26 September 1976) [p. 107]
– the retreat at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (5–9 July 1977) [p. 117]
– the retreat at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (26–29 June 1978) [p. 126]
– election to papacy (October 1978) [p. 136]
– the Vatican retreats led by:
– Father Faustino Ossanna OFM (4–10 March 1979) [p. 137]
– Archbishop Lucas Moreira Neves OP (24 February– 1 March 1980) [p. 149]
– Bishop Jerzy Ablewicz (8–14 March 1981) [p. 168]
– Father Stanislas Lyonnet SJ (28 February–6 March 1982) [p. 189]
– Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (20–26 February 1983) [p. 205]
– Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento (11–17 March 1984) [p. 221].
The second notebook covers the years 1985–2003 and the retreats led by:
– Archbishop Achille Glorieux (24 February–2 March 1985) [p. 235]
– Father Egidio Viganò SDB (16–22 February 1986) [p. 247]
– Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ (8–14 March 1987) [p. 265]
– Archbishop James Aloysius Hickey (21–27 February 1988) [p. 283]
– Cardinal Giacomo Biffi (12–18 February 1989) [p. 299]
– Father Georges Cottier OP (4–10 March 1990) [p. 316]
– Archbishop Ersilio Tonini (17–23 February 1991) [p. 333]
– Cardinal Ugo Poletti (8–14 March 1992) [p. 346]
– Bishop Jorge Arturo Agustín Medina Estévez (28 February–6 March 1993) [p. 363]
– Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini (20–26 February 1994) [p. 379]
– Father Tomáš Špidlík SJ (5–11 March 1995) [p. 395]
– Archbishop Christoph Schönborn (25 February–2 March 1996) [p. 400]
– Cardinal Roger Etchegaray (16–22 February 1997) [p. 419]
– Cardinal Ján Chryzostom Korec SJ (1–7 March 1998) [p. 433]
