Poles grieved and prayed today for their countryman Pope John Paul, who inspired them to throw off communism and guided them spiritually for a quarter of a century.
In Warsaw more than 100,000 worshippers packed the capital's central square where in 1979 Karol Wojtyla celebrated a mass during his first trip to Poland after he became pope.
"The birth of such a Pope among Poles was the fruit of God's love for us," Bishop Piotr Jarecki told the crowd. "Only one thing remains - for us to be as loyal and true to his legacy as we can."
In Krakow, where Wojtyla was archbishop from 1964 until he became Pope in 1978, a sombre crowd of 60,000 gathered in bright sun. The Pope's one-time mentor, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, read the John Paul's last message to his homeland, which he wrote shortly before his death.
A rarely used 11-tonne bell in the city's medieval cathedral, which tolled to celebrate the Pope's election in 1978, rang for ten minutes in the morning to usher in the first day of a week of national mourning.
TV channels aired footage of the Pope's pilgrimages, commercial radio stations replaced pop with classical music and music channels MTV Poland and Viva Poland suspended broadcasts. "It is as if Poland has lost its mother," said Lech Walesa, who was a close friend of the Pope and led the peaceful revolution that brought down communism in 1989. "When a mother passes away, the family often breaks down - may this not happen this time."
The national red and white flag and the Vatican's yellow and white one flew at half-mast in Polish cities, draped with black crepe paper. Mourners left yellow and white daffodils, roses and lillies in town squares and in front of churches throughout the country.
"Without John Paul II Poland is an orphan. He was our father," said 50-year-old Zofia Tumulska at the mass in Warsaw. "There will never be another pope like John Paul II."
In the southern town of Wadowice, where the Pope was born in 1920, grief was palpable at a crowded basilica as thousands of residents and visitors gathered to light candles and pray.
The Pope has iconic status in Poland and other central European nations for helping them shake off communism and rejoin the rest of Europe after half a century of Moscow's domination. He boosted Poland's confidence and international recognition after decades of communism and centuries of subjugation by neighbouring powers.
A moral and intellectual authority for many Poles, the Pope conquered their hearts with his warmth, accessibility and humour during visits to his homeland.
John Paul's first visit as Pope to then communist Poland in 1979 drew millions on to the streets and inspired Poles to challenge their communist rulers. He was widely seen as a major force behind the rise a year later of Solidarity, which won power in 1989, and helped bring down the entire Soviet bloc.