The Cardinal Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins presided over the prayer for Pope Francis this evening on the parvis of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, just a few hours before the Pontiff’s funeral, which will be celebrated tomorrow at 10 am at St. Peter’s. “We ask the Salus Popoli Romani to uplift our hearts.”
By: Roberto Paglialonga – Vatican News
Published Date:
With eyes turned towards the Salus Popoli Romani, hearts filled with memories of Pope Francis. The faithful from all parts of the world gathered to bid the Pontiff a final farewell, whose funeral will take place on Saturday at 10 am in St. Peter’s, fill the square in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Holding rosary beads in their hands, they pray in unison, guided by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, who has just arrived in Rome to participate in the upcoming Conclave.
The “symbol” icon of the pontificate
It is the fourth consecutive evening that the people of God gather here to commemorate the Pope, who returned to the Father’s House on April 21, Easter Monday. The Byzantine icon of the Madonna, traditionally attributed to St. Luke, and now the symbolic guardian of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s pontificate, watches over the worshippers while awaiting to receive and accompany the Pope’s body to his eternal rest, a wish he expressed to be buried in the Liberian basilica. He had spent time in this church, so dear to the Romans, just days before his death.
Pizzaballa: “Let us trust in the Lord and His word”
Faced with the mystery of transitioning from earthly pilgrimage to eternal life, the confusion and despair may threaten to overwhelm us, just as it did to the disciples who tried to close themselves off from thinking about the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. In vain. For they were compelled to acknowledge the events that had been foretold and were unfolding before their eyes. Today, Cardinal Pizzaballa states in his message introducing the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, that we may be tempted to be overwhelmed by despair, but we are called to rise up, to “trust in the Lord and His word,” for this is what it means to follow Him. With the passing of our beloved Holy Father Francis, we too experience the struggle of belief, and we tend to overlook the promise that Christ has made to us. To overcome fear and the danger of emptiness, we desire to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani, to help uplift our hearts and transform this hour of sorrow into a dawn of hope. A hope that Pope Francis had dedicated the current Holy Year to. Therefore, “Comforter of the afflicted, intercede for us,” concludes Cardinal Pizzaballa before the recitation of the Rosary.
Youth on pilgrimage from Latin America
The renewed sense of trust invoked by the patriarch, along with the spring breeze that fills the streets and alleys of the Eternal City these days, warms the hearts of a square filled with emotion and nearly to its capacity. A colorful group of young girls and boys from Latin America, hailing from Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, and other countries, fills the air with songs and dances, while sirens, the bustling of passersby, and the metropolitan traffic continue unabated. Carrying the green sack of the Jubilee, they wave a large flag bearing the face of Carlo Acutis, whose canonization, scheduled for April 27, has been postponed. “We came for him,” they say, “then we decided to stay anyway, with our thoughts on the Holy Father.”
United in prayer for Pope Francis
Others engage in personal prayer: some for a sick relative, some for their families, some for peace, some for suffering children, some for their countries, some for guidance in life. All united in memory of “their” Pope, who had met them for 12 years in every corner of the earth, and who has now gathered them in Rome, before the image of “his” Virgin, to whom he was deeply devoted, for a final embrace. Before letting them go and sending them back into the world to bear witness to the “new reality” celebrated with Easter. The recitation of the Rosary concludes with a chant.
