A glance at the agenda of any given day in the life of Pope John Paul II belies the intense activity that fills every one of his 17-plus waking hours.

For what the media report on and what the public reads about are the events on the Holy Father's daily calendar between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. when he ends the public part of his day, usually to lunch with several invited guests to pick their brains and expertise on a myriad of topics.

The Pope's day has started with an early morning Mass in his private chapel, breakfast, often with guests, and a thorough reading of press clippings put together by the Vatican's secretariat of state. He is also briefed on documents that need his immediate attention and on the groups or single individuals he will meet in audience during the public part of his morning.

A papal calendar is planned well in advance and, unlike the agenda of the average mortal, surprise events do not often figure in the equation. John Paul's calendar for March 2003 is filled with traditional, perennial, papal events.

Rome's seminary. On March 5 the Pope will welcome the seminarians and staff of the Major Roman Seminary, Our Lady of Trust, founded in 1565. The current chapel bears the name of Our Lady of Trust, which, it appears, became the seminary's patroness at about 1837, on the occasion of a vow taken during a severe cholera epidemic.

Roman pastors. Another March event is the Pope's annual encounter with the pastors of Roman parishes. What is noteworthy about this encounter is that the Holy Father has already met most of the pastors — and even outlived a goodly number! In the nearly 25 years of his papacy, as bishop of Rome, John Paul has visited all but a handful of the parishes in his diocese.

Also on his March agenda is the annual audience with members of the Apostolic Penitentiary. This is not, as many people have thought, a prison in the Vatican, but rather it is the tribunal of the Church that has supreme authority over the sacrament of penance.

Ash Wednesday falls on March 5, and there is the traditional procession on Rome's Aventine Hill from the Benedictine-run church of St. Anselm to the Dominican-run stational church of St. Sabina where the Pope will receive, as well as distribute, ashes.

The Pope's six-day Lenten retreat starts four days later, on March 9. The Holy Father and ranking prelates of the Roman Curia will hold their retreat in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. Archbishop Angelo Comastri, prelate of the Shrine of Loreto, will be the retreat master this year. The retreat concludes the morning of March 15, and that evening the Pope will pray the rosary with Rome's university students. Every Friday during Lent, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, delivers a Lenten sermon to the papal household.

The feast of St. Joseph is March 19 and a holiday in the Vatican. It falls on a Wednesday this year so John Paul will preside at the usual weekly general audience. In the past he has marked this feast by visiting Italian dioceses, ordaining new bishops and granting audiences to groups of workers.

On March 23, the third Sunday of Lent, the Pope will preside at a eucharistic celebration in St. Peter's Basilica for the beatification of Servants of God Pierre Bonhomme, Maria Dolores Rodriguez Sopena, Maria Caridad Brader, Juana Maria Condesa Lluch and Lazlo Batthyany-Strattman. On March 27 the Holy Father will welcome Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and on March 29 he will receive President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal of the Philippines.

Former Register Rome bureau chief Joan Lewis is now with the Vatican