Pope Francis Tomb: Works in Santa María la Mayor Basilica begin in Rome

The works to receive the coffin of Pope Francis have already begun in the Santa María la Mayor Basilica, following the pontiff’s desire to be buried in this church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In the book Esperanza, His autobiography published in mid -January, Pope Francis made it clear that when the place of his burial died, he should be the Santa María la Mayor Basilica.

“The Vatican is the house of my last service, not that of eternity. I will be in the room in which the candlesticks now guard, near that queen of peace that I have asked always help and for which I have made myself hug during my pontificate more than a hundred times,” he said.

The grave, which will be installed very close to the chapel of the Safety of the Roman peoplethe Marian devotion to which the Pontiff regularly went to pray.

In fact, on the left side of the temple you can see the wooden planks where the tomb will be located. “I thought they were going to bury him inside the crypt of the basilica, but it is here,” says Valentina, one of the faithful visited by the Church.

He is Roman and points out that, with this gesture, Pope Francis wanted to seal his relationship with the eternal city of what was his bishop.

Next to her, her husband Francesco states that during the mass in which they participated a few minutes ago they heard “the noises of the workers who are working.”

“The Pope wanted them to be buried at ground level and without ornamentation, it is another example of the humility that he has demonstrated throughout the 12 years of pontificate,” he says.

Ana is Spanish, had come with her daughters to participate this weekend in the jubilee of adolescents.

“The main reason was to go to the young man’s canonization (Blessed Carlo Acutis) we were very excited and we will continue to live, but we have encountered a funeral,” he says with his eyes fogged with emotion.

She and her family are going to participate in the Rosario who, as every night, will pray for Pope Francis at 9:00 p.m. (local time) on the outskirts of the basilica. Prayer will be recited until the day of the pontiff funeral.

In fact, a copy of the icon of the Safety of the Roman peoplepatron saint of the eternal city, it is exhibited these days outside the basilica to allow the devotion of the faithful.

Antonieta, who claims to be the same age of Pope Francis, 88, also wants to pray for the Pontiff before the image of his predilect Marian devotion.

In fact, the Holy Father entrusted all his apostolic trips to this invocation every time he entered or left the Vatican.

She was confident of her concerns, but also her physical pain. The four times he has been admitted to the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome wanted to offer his suffering to the Virgin. Also in other delicate moments, such as Pandemia.

“I had a great devotion to this Church and it has not been uncommon to see him pray before his icon. I have let myself spread and now, although I live near the Vatican and before I went to San Pedro I usually come to Mass here,” says Antonieta.

For this octogenarian, the three kilometers that separate the Vatican Basilica of Santa María la Mayor are not a problem. That same path will travel the courtship that will accompany the Pontiff’s coffin, after the funeral of Saturday, April 26.

But in addition to hosting the Byzantine icon Safety of the Roman peoplefew know, for example, that the Spanish San Ignacio de Loyola chose Santa María la Mayor to celebrate his first Mass as a priest. Then he founded the company of Jesus, for which this basilica was very important. During the Protestant reform the Marian picture became an identity symbol that made clear the adhesion to the Pope.

Another interesting fact is that Cardinal Francisco de Toledo, the first Jesuit to be elevated to this dignity, left in his will all his inheritance to the Basilica.

In the Santa María la Mayor Basilica, the remains of the architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of the greatest representatives of Baroque art, and the sister of the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, Paulina, who from Saturday will share place of eternal rest with Pope Francis.