Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. local Rome time (4:00 a.m. ET) and more than 200,000 people are expected to attend the deceased Vicar of Christ’s services.
Thousands of mourners have taken to the Vatican this week to pay their final respects to Pope Francis following his death on Monday.
The funeral Mass will be held on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica, and His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the Catholic rites and blessings.
Mass will begin with an Entrance Antiphon, typically sung or recited by clergy and mourners.
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Then, the congregation will acknowledge their sins with the Penitential Act followed by the Collect, or opening prayer.
Cardinal Battista will then extend the First Reading, a reading from the Acts of the Apostles, to the congregation of worshipers.
The Responsorial Psalm “The Lord is my Shepherd,” or “Psalm 23,” is to be sung. The Second Reading, a reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, typically recited by an instituted lector at a pope’s funeral, will be heard among parishioners.
The Acclamation and the Gospel will follow.
Cardinal Battista will give the Homily, a reflection, which includes prayer for Pope Francis, the faithful departed and the congregation. The dean of the Roman Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals will consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ and invite the faithful to receive Holy Communion following the Communion Rite, or the Our Father prayer.
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Requiem Aeternam, a chant often heard among funeral-goers, is to be recited during Communion, followed by a prayer.
Cardinal Battista will offer a final Commendation and Farewell including the Prayer of the Church in Rome and the Prayer of Eastern Churches.
The funeral liturgy “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” will be sung or chanted by the congregation, and Mass will conclude with the Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Francis will be buried in a wooden casket at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a place he often visited with flowers during his 12-year papacy.
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The Novendiali, an ancient and customary nine-day period of prayer, remembrance and mourning, will begin on the day of Pope Francis’ funeral on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis’ Holy Mass led by His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will commence the nine Masses in memory of the deceased pontiff.
While the Masses are open to public audiences, they are specifically held for employees and faithful of Vatican City.
The schedule is as follows, according to the Vatican:
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