Pope Benedict XVI was a humble man of God who served faithfully throughout his life. We mourn his death, but we rejoice now that he is with the Lord.
From The Wall Street Journal. The body of Pope Benedict XVI lay before the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, his head resting on a pair of velvet cushions, his face waxy and ashen, with rosary beads entwined through his folded hands. The twisting baroque columns of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s altar canopy towered behind.
The late pope, who retired in 2013, wore a bishop’s miter but, unlike his predecessor, St. John Paul II, when he lay in state, not the woolen cloak around his neck signifying papal office.
A handful of mourners with special permission from the Vatican sat or knelt in prayer on either side of the body. Those walking past moved at a brisk pace as ushers repeatedly urged them on. Some visitors prayed while others consulted travel guides. Many took photos or videos with their phones. …
The Catholic Church is observing a period of muted mourning for Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday after a decade in retirement.
Thousands have filed past his body lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. …
The Vatican on Monday said that 65,000 people had viewed the late pope’s body over 10 hours.
“I came to thank God for the gift of Benedict,” said the Rev. Carlos Augusto da Silva of Rio de Janeiro, a doctoral student in Rome who paid his respects to the late pope at St. Peter’s on Monday.
“He made his life a gift to others, like a candle that has burned out,” Father da Silva said. “It’s like saying farewell to a grandfather.”
Benedict will be buried in the Vatican Grottoes under the basilica, alongside dozens of other popes and in the same tomb where John Paul’s remains lay, before being moved to the main church in 2011.
The spot was requested by Benedict, whose first public words as pontiff were a reference to his more charismatic predecessor: “After the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard.”
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(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: Getty Images)