The Vatican/Eyewitness: Curiously, for long periods yesterday St Peter's Square had all the appearance of a normal, sunny holiday Friday in Rome.
Tourists and pilgrims mingled easily in the warm April sunshine, enjoying the almost unprecedented tranquillity of the most famous square in Christendom, for once mercifully closed off to traffic.
Although media reports were suggesting that "thousands of Catholics" were pouring into the square "to pray for the Pope", for most of the day there was little sign of any such activity.
Instead, there were cries of "On y va" and "Jetzt, gehen wir in Vatikan" as hundreds of tourists mingled easily, in shirt sleeves and straw hats and with their Rome guidebooks clutched tight.
By evening, however, as news of the Pope's ever-worsening condition filtered through, the atmosphere became more sombre. Romans joined the tourists and pilgrims as the square settled into a quieter vigil.
The tour groups led by enthusiastic leaders waving umbrellas or rolled-up copies of Il Messaggero were replaced by quiet, Roman family groups. Every now and then, catching sight of the Vatican press accreditation badge, people would stop me, asking: "Ma, come sta il Papa? Ha sentito qualcosa?" (How's the Pope? Have you heard anything?)
Based on the same foolish principle that journalists "must know something", the largest crowd of the evening was gathered in that corner of the square set aside for the live broadcasts of Italian state TV RAI.
By the way, RAI certainly made the most of the "home ground advantage" since they were the only broadcaster with a permanent site in the square while all the rest of the world's media had to make do either with a mini-global village down at the end of Via della Conciliazione or the overcrowded rooftop of a building housing the European Broadcasting Union.
Earlier in the day it had been obvious that many of those present were ordinary tourists who just happened to be in Rome on this very special Friday.
Delia Patterson was with a group of New Orleanspeople, some Catholic, some Episcopalean and some Jewish, who had visited the square.
"We booked our holiday a long time ago and we came down to St Peter's today as part of our long-term plans and not because we heard the Pope is ill. Of course, we all feel bad for the Pope, he is such a wonderful pastor and when we were up in the Sistine Chapel, we did stop to say a prayer for him", she said.
While the square bore an appearance of normality, inside the Basilica of St Peter's itself the mood was different, with many people knelt in prayer in the various side chapels.
Father Al Baca from California told me he had come across from the other side of town just to be able to say a prayer for the Pope.
"There were lots of people in there praying for him," he said. "I just met a Dutch couple who told me that even though they're not Catholics they prayed hard for him.
"That is the great thing about this Pope, he has reached out to so many, far beyond the bounds of the Catholic family.
"When you come back out into the sunshine and find people mingling around and the world going on as usual, I think that's good. too. That's part of the message, the Pope would like that."
Also in the square was Father Albert MacDonnell, vice-rector of the Irish Pontifical College. He echoed the thoughts of many: "Rome won't be the same without him. He seems like someone we've all known for so long".
Across the city from the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano to the Italian parliament at Palazzo Montecitorio, prayers were said for the ailing Pope. During a moving Mass of Prayers for John Paul II, the Cardinal Vicariate of Rome, Camillo Ruini, told the faithful: "The Pope is already seeing and touching the Lord".
The Vatican vigil had begun late on Thursday night as news of the Pope's worsening condition hit the airwaves. By three o'clock yesterday morning, there were still more than a thousand people in the square.
Among the faithful, the curious and the insomniacs were Romans and foreigners alike.