Rome: Pope offers Mass on All Souls' Day at Laurentino Cemetery

Garden of Angels - Image Vatican Media

Source: Vatican Media

On All Souls Day, Pope Francied visits the Roman Laurentino Cemetery the third largest cemetery in Rome, where he concelebrated Mass and prayed for the deceased in an area reserved for deceased children and unborn babies.

The Pope arrived shortly before 10am and was welcomed by the Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and a group of about 100 faithful. Among them Stefano, a young father who lost his daughter Sara in 2021 after three months of pregnancy who cosigned a letter to him.

Before the liturgy, the Pope briefly stopped in front of the graves and laid a bunch of white roses on the stone with the inscription 'Garden of Angels' indicating a special section where parents who have experienced a miscarriage can opt to have their children buried rather than having a hospital dispose of the remains.

During the Mass Pope Francis didn't deliver a homily, but prayed silently for a few intense moments.

Before the final blessing , he prayed these words:

Blessed are you, O God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who in Your great mercy have given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (cf. 1 Pt 1:3-4). Listen to the the prayer we offer to You for all our loved ones who have left this world. Open the arms of Your mercy and receive them into the glorious assembly of the Holy Jerusalem.

Comfort those who mourn in sorrow, with the assurance that the dead live in You and that even bodies entrusted to the earth will one day share in the Easter victory of your Son. You, who placed on the Church's path the Blessed Virgin Mary as a radiant sign, sustain our faith through her intercession, so that no obstacle may lead us astray from the path that leads to You, who are the endless glory. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

During the visit Pope Francis was also greeted by a group of mothers who have lost a son or a daughter at a young age and are reunited in an association called 'Sparks of Hope' ('Scintille di Speranza') . Each one them gave the Pope a white scarf: "It's our warm embrace for him, a symbolic hug also from our children," they explained, expressing gratitude for his "respectful" silence during the Mass and for his presence at the Laurentino Cemetery: "Its a testament of affection, a powerful way to be close to our children," they said.

Pope Francis' prayer intention for the month of November is for parents who have lost a child. In his video message asking people to join him in the prayer, he said: "What can we say to parents who have lost a child? How can we console them? There are no words."

This is the second time Pope Francis offered Mass for the deceased in the Laurentino Cemetery on All Souls' Day, the first being in 2018.

Last year he went to the small Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War Reflecting on those fallen soldiers whose lives were "cut short" by war, he said he could "not help but think of today's wars and reiterated his constant refrain over the past years that "Wars are always a defeat.."

The Pope made a similar plea against the "self-destruction" of war on All Souls' Day in 2017 at the Anzio War Cemetery, near Rome, where 7,861 Allied soldiers who fought the deadly Battle of Anzio in January 1944 against the Germans are buried. Again, he warned that: With war we lose everything..." and that war only brings "death" and "destruction", killing innocent people.

In 2020, the Pope opted to stay in the Vatican because of COVID-19 pandemic and celebrate Mass for the deceased in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, in the Teutonic Cemetery - the burial place of people of German, Austrian, and Swiss descent, and particularly members of the Archconfraternity to the Sorrowful Mother of God of the Germans and Flemings. The previous year he celebrated Mass at the Roman Catacombs of Priscilla.

On Monday 4 November Pope Francis will preside at a Mass in St Peter's Basilica for the repose of the souls of the bishops and cardinals who died during the previous year.

Watch the Mass here on Vatican Youtube cnannel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzPKW8qfovE

Watch The Pope Video: November 2024 - For those who have lost a child: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/50991