According to his will, Pope Francis after the funeral to be held on Saturday 26 April will be buried in the Papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore In Rome, and not in the Basilica of San Pietro in the Vatican like many of its most recent predecessors. That of Santa Maria Maggiore, placed on the top of the Esquiline hill, is One of the four papal basilicas of Romeboasts sixteen centuries of history and has a very long tradition linked to the cult of Mary (according to legend, the foundation of the Church itself would have been desired by Mary) to which Bergoglio was very devoted. Furthermore, right here in the sixteenth century he celebrated his first mass Sant’Ignazio di Loyolathe founder of the Jesuit order to which Pope Francis belonged.
The body of Bergoglio is currently exhibited at Casa Santa Marta, and will be transferred to San Pietro tomorrow. Various foreign heads of state will participate in the funeral of Pope Francis, including Trump, Macron and Zelensky, but Putin will be absent. In the meantime, in Italy they have been proclaimed Five days of national mourning And the first meetings of the cardinals are taking action for the conclavethat is, the election of the successor of Pope Francis.
Because Pope Francis has chosen to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is historically a place of great devotion to the Madonna, and therefore it is known how “The Marian Temple par excellence”. This great basilica has a very particular history, linked both to its legendary foundation and the importance of the works and relics that it hosts within it.
Tradition has it that Mary has indicated the exact point for the construction by appearing in a dream to Patrizio Giovanni and Pope Liberio around 300 AD on their awakening, the Pope and the patrician would have found the Esquiline covered with snow in the middle of August: this is known as the “Miracle of the snowfall“, Which is recalled with a celebration on August 5 of each year with a waterfall of white petals falling from the ceiling during mass.
The Basilica boasts two very important chapels: the Sistine Chapel and the Paolina chapelbuilt on the north side of the complex in the sixteenth century. La Paolina (which determines the external aspect of Santa Maria Maggiore, protruding with the back to the historic center) hosts the Salus Populi Romanithe most important icon of the Madonna, even attributed to San Luca, evangelist and patron of the painters. According to a tradition reported by Cesare Baronio, the Salus It would have been brought for three days in procession through the streets of the city with a particular prayer of the Pope Gregory I to ask for the cessation of the plague.
Pope Francis It was notoriously very devoted to Maria and this particular image, so much so that he dedicates his first visit to Pope, in March 2013and many other visits in the following years (for the immaculate conception of 2023 he had brought her a golden rose, historically symbolic gift of the papal blessing).
The pope’s bond with this place is also due to the fact that he had celebrated here in 1538 His first mass Sant’Ignazio di Loyolafounder ofOrder of Jesuits To which the Pope belonged: it is in fact tradition of the Jesuits to promote the cult of this image, and distribute copies of the icon all over the world.
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore: the characteristics
The Basilica is a compact architectural complex: on the main facade, made on the occasion of the Holy Year 1750 by the Florentine architect Ferdinando escapewe find the loggia of blessings, which frames the mosaics of Filippo Russi who show Christ on the throne flanked by Saints, as well as the same miracle of the snow. With its height of 75 metersthe brick bell tower is the highest in Rome.
Always in the Basilica, the remains of great Baroque artists such as Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzofamous sculptor and architect, but also of San Mattia (the apostle that replaced Judas) and San Girolamo (first Latin translator of the Bible). The basilica also houses the sepulchres of seven popes, the most recent of which is Clemente IX, who died in the mid -seventeenth century.
Because Santa Maria Maggiore is considered the “Christmas” basilica of Rome
Also known as Christmas basilicaand sometimes called the “Bethlehem of the West”the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the place where it was celebrated the first time The papal mass of Christmas nightwhich would then become a secular tradition. But this is not only the reason why it is linked to a “Christmas” tradition: here the Sacred Criba relic that consists of 5 components of Sicomoro wood that would have been part of the manger that welcomed the Child Jesus (whose dating seems to have confirmed the historical period). These axes are kept in a Rocca crystal relic, designed cot -shaped by Giuseppe Valadier in the nineteenth century.
