Max Pearson

He had to walk past us and we got the cue, right, he's coming.

So there were two dancers.

We did a very popular Polish dance called the Krakowiak and the other one was a Polonaise dance to Chopin music.

And they said, well, when you run out, just do them again.

And we just did them all to him.

We did the Polonaise, Krakowiak, Polonaise, Krakowiak and just kept doing it.

So he came along, and it was really great.

He walked along with his entourage, with the bishops and cardinals and priests and that, and he was going over to the Mass, and he just stopped to watch for probably about a minute or so, if that.

That famous smile he was renowned for, he just broke into this huge smile, and he spoke, and he just said, beautiful, lovely.

So it reminded him of home.

Michael's father is involved in the actual service, which means Michael has a prime vantage point for the Mass.

We had an excellent view, thanks to Dad.

We were about probably 50 metres at the most, maybe 20 metres from where the altar was.

We had a terrific view.

We didn't even need binoculars.

I remember Dad saying when they had the planning meetings, they had all the maps laid out on the table of where everything was going to be.

And the Māori people, they had the area almost right in front of the altar and everything, and we were immediately to the left of them.

And of course, being so good with languages, he did it all in English, which was fabulous.

So that made it really easy to follow, easy to understand and that.

His outer vestment was white, and he wore his mitre and everything like that, but I mean, he didn't celebrate Mass with that on.