When Marjorie Carmody heard the news that Pope John Paul II was in the hospital, she changed her prayer plans for Tuesday night.
Carmody recited a rosary to the pope, who she said has done so much for the Roman Catholic Church.
She clung to the white-bound biography of the pope– “Witness to Hope,” by George Weigel–as she prepared to enter the grotto at the west end of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 4641 N. Ashland Ave.
“I am hoping what we are hearing is a false alarm,” said Carmody, 61. “What do we do without a man like this?”
Carmody said she had not planned to read about the pope at the chapel, but his health scare prompted her to bring the book with her.
Lauren and Lydia Schreiber of Chicago were leaving the chapel after spending an hour there when they offered prayers for the pope. His hospitalization did not prompt their visit, they said, but it was definitely on their minds.
“This is a man who has survived so much,” Lauren Schreiber said. “He is a tough guy. He will hang right in there.”
