by Wojciech Prus OP

Basia was 31 years old. She passed away on 29^th June 2007 in the morning, on the Feast of St. Peter and Paul the Apostles. A day before, I visited her together with her husband. She was then unconscious. For a month, with a short break, a respirator has been needed to help her breathe. She couldn't talk. Michał showed me a sheet of paper, which they used to communicate with each other. The short sentences were a sign of her struggle with suffering, effort to write straight when letters kept slipping down. Sometimes she lacked the strength to write, so Michał invented a keyboard for her and drew it on a sheet of paper, so that she could tell what she needed striking letters.

They have been married since 2000. We met in 2002 during the Advent Retreat for graduates of Soli Deo association from Warsaw School of Economic. Later, we met at the next retreat and conversations. One of the painful threads of their story was the lack of offspring. They were ready to decide on adoption. In autumn 2004, they enrolled for a nine-month adoption course. Before the beginning of the course, however, they went to a pilgrimage to Rome. What was the joy of her friends when they learned in December that Basia was in a delicate condition!

And later, something even more unexpected came. In my notes I wrote: "21^st January 2005 - Basia and Michał Paradowscy are discovering that Basia has a cancer. Today we are meeting and praying. Extreme unction and prayer to the Holy Mother of Gidle." And right after a second record, with the repetition of this dramatic news, as if I could not believe what happened: "23^rd January 2005 at 4 p.m. - a mass for married couples expecting children. Blessing of couples at the end of the mass. Meeting with Soli Deo graduates. Basia and Michał Paradowscy - it turned out that she had a cancer. Now, when she is pregnant. A lot of prayer."

The doctor who brought the news about the cancer suggested abortion in order to ensure treatment efficiency. They have been confronted with an incredible choice. The struggle began. They were surrounded by love and prayer of friends. The praying circle was still growing. They found a doctor who accepted to treat Basia in her pregnancy. The chemotherapy started. Mateusz was born healthy. On the eve of Basia's death, he was two.

Soon before Basia's death, going by train from Warsaw to Poznań, I called her to ask how she was feeling. She said about their joint fight against next recurrences, she mentioned cheerful anecdotes about Mateusz. I asked if she would be able to write something about her struggle. On 11^th May, I received this email: "Recently when we talked, Father said about writing something to the magazine W drodze. I wrote something in the form of Sorrowful Mysteries combined with our daily life. I don't know whether it will be good. Father will judge and decide. It is personal, but I cannot write impersonally. I am sending warm regards from the front of further fight. Basia."

Right after her birthday, on the 22^nd of May, Basia landed in hospital with a heavy respiratory insufficiency. This was the next battlefront. She was surrounded with tender care of her closest relatives, doctors, and medical staff. For a moment she could even breathe on her own, and then Michał visited her with Mateusz, who was delighted to sit with his mum on the bed. Soon after, Michał informed me that Basia's organism didn't react to any medicines anymore.

On Służew cemetary, by Saint Catherine's church, we were actually reciting the rosary incessantly: waiting for everyone to arrive, setting off with the funeral procession to the grave, covering Basia's coffin. Regular and full of power Hail Mary could be heard under the cloudy sky of Warsaw. It was her prayer - Basia's rosary.

WOJCIECH PRUS OP
"The Basia's Rosary"