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Excerpt from a letter sent by Zofia Rydet to Krystyna Łyczywek, Rabka, July 18, 1983

And now I’m in Rabka. The weather is very beautiful and I set off into the field every day. And these meetings of mine with simple people and nature and the countryside continue to fascinate me. I walk alone, but after the Holy Father’s visit complete strangers are so kind to me. I have never made contact with people so quickly before. I use my camera to take what I see as valuable from them, what is astonishing and beautiful, and I have the profound hope that I will be able to create stories full of optimism and beauty, and human truth, that will speak to others in this way, communicating what I have experienced.

Now, however, I’m mainly doing it for the Holy Father—that’s my task. I want to give these hundreds of people to him, so he could see how this nation loves him. And now there’s an altar in almost every home. If only I had the strength to develop it all later. The darkroom is very hard work right now, but taking these pictures is a miraculous gift. We are very rich, being able to hold onto everything that moves our hearts.

(...) After August 21, I’m to go with Jurek [Lewczyński] to the Rzeszów, Lublin, and Zamość voivodeships. Or I’ll go for ten days to Orawa or Biały Dunajec.