 |
| Pope Benedict lying-in-state in Saint Peter's. Image : The Associated Press. |
On Monday morning, Rome time, ten gentleman of the Papal Court carried into Saint Peter's a timber bier upon which the mortal remains of Benedict XVI rest. It is a scene of simple solemnity and poignancy.
After his death on Saturday morning, Pope Benedict was vested in Mass vestments and in these he will be buried. These were worn by him at the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Australia 2008. They differ in hardly respect from his predecessors, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. All were vested in an amice and albe over their white papal cassocks, a stole and chasuble of deep red, ornamented with gold and upon their heads, the simple Papal mitre, being a mixture of silk and spun-gold thread, with an outlining galloon. And all with a Rosary clasped in their stilled hands.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lorde, with your saints forever, for you are merciful.
