Salvatore Cernuzio
Before heading to Castel Gandolfo for his customary weekly day of rest, Pope Leo XIV stopped at around 8.05pm this evening at the Basilica of St Mary Major to pray before the tomb of Pope Francis.
On the marble slab—where a white rose is always placed in memory of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, a constant spiritual presence in the life of the Argentine pontiff—Pope Leo laid a bouquet of white roses. It was a gesture of homage to his predecessor, buried between the Sforza Chapel and the Pauline Chapel. The latter is home to the icon of Salus Populi Romani, so often visited by Pope Francis before and after each international journey or hospital stay.
According to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo also paused in prayer in front of the Marian image before leaving the basilica around 8.15pm and continuing his journey to Castel Gandolfo.
Mass in suffrage for Pope Francis
Earlier in the day, Pope Leo had celebrated a Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St Peter’s Basilica in suffrage for Pope Francis and the cardinals and bishops who had passed away over the past year.
With “great affection,” the Holy Father offered the Mass for his predecessor, who, he recalled in his homily, “died after opening the Holy Door and imparting the Easter Blessing to Rome and the whole world. Thanks to the Jubilee, this celebration—my first—takes on a special meaning: it carries the flavor of Christian hope.”
This hope, Pope Leo added later in his reflection, was one that Pope Francis and the other prelates who have died in recent months “lived, witnessed, and taught.”
Previous visits to the tomb at the Basilica of St Mary Major
On May 10, just two days after his election to the See of Peter, Pope Leo visited the Argentine pontiff’s tomb, which is visited daily by numerous faithful and pilgrims. That afternoon, the newly elected Pope laid flowers on the tomb and paused for a few moments in prayer. He did the same again on Jun 22, following the procession for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, from St John Lateran to the Basilica of St Mary Major. – Vatican News
