South Africa waits, prays and prepares for the biggest outpouring of grief in its young history as a democratic nation.
Over the past few days, the eyes of this nation have increasingly begun to turn to a hospital bed in Pretoria where a frail global icon is fighting what could be the last struggle of his life.
There has long been reluctance here to talk about the possibility of the passing away of Nelson Mandela - it was seen as insensitive. But now, the difficult words have begun to appear on everyone's lips. "Go in peace, Tata", "We will always miss you" are just some of the posters that have been seen.
Praying with the Mandela family on Tuesday, Archbishop Thabo Magkoba summed it up well. "Fill them with your holy courage and the gift of trusting faith, and take away their fears so that they may dare to face their grief and bring it to your presence... May your blessing rest upon Madiba now and always. Grant him, we pray, a quiet night and a peaceful, perfect, end."
It is impossible to overstate what Nelson Mandela has meant for South Africans. He was, of course, the man who led the country out of the shadows of apartheid. He spent years in prison in the most awful of conditions and his name became synonymous with the fight to end apartheid and racism.
But others have fought for freedom too. What takes Mandela to a different level are his actions after he won liberty for his people. There was no revenge, no calls for retribution. Instead, he reached out a hand of reconciliation to the white community - making it clear that they would always have a key role to play in his Rainbow Nation.
By the sheer force of his presence and his will, he was able to oversee a peaceful transition to democracy that saw blacks getting their rights but without the anti-white actions and steps that have been seen elsewhere in Africa. It was for that reason that the South African economy has remained one of the strongest in the continent, and a reason why Mandela soon became a cherished icon for the whites as much as for the blacks in this country.
There are fears now as to whether the Rainbow Nation will hold together without the moral force that Mandela has exerted. Critics of his conciliation policy will point out that even today there are vast economic disparities between the different communities - and there have long been calls for more radical steps to bring about greater equality. Will those calls lead to more social unrest or upheaval in the future? The consensus seems to be that Mandela's policies are too firmly entrenched by now to be overturned; but I have already met many people who are nervous about what the future could bring.
So as South Africa waits and prays, it is now also fully preparing for life without the man who has been a colossus in every sense of the word. He may not have been seen in public since 2010, but when he goes, as one day he must, South Africans will feel they have lost their father.
And not just South Africans. Across the word, there are millions who believe that Nelson Mandela has been the greatest living human of our times. We also pray, and prepare to mourn.
I can only give my own personal example.
As a child, the anti-apartheid movement was something that captured my imagination. "Free Nelson Mandela" was a slogan that I grew up with. As a young man in Oxford, I became closely involved in the anti-apartheid movement - and with many of my friends and associates I wept as Mandela walked free in 1990 from the Victor Verster prison.
I met him once, literally bumping into him as I turned the corner at the World Economic Forum in Davos. I am rarely speechless, but I couldn't find a word to say as he steadied my arm, and flashed a smile before walking away.
For the better part of my life, Madiba has been a personal hero and an icon, in an era that needs heroes and icons.
When he passes away, as one day he must, the world will seem a much poorer place.