Pope Francis "had a tranquil night and woke shortly after 8 a.m.," the Vatican said, coming a day after he made his first public comments since being hospitalized.

The Vatican press office on Saturday described “a good response to therapy” and a “gradual, slight improvement” since the pope’s episodes of acute respiratory failure on Monday.

On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of his election to the papacy, Pope Francis received hundreds of drawings, messages, and letters from children and well-wishers.