Pope prays at St Mary Major ahead of Holy Week

Mary, Salus Populi Romani

Source: Vatican Media

On Saturday afternoon, on the eve of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week, Pope Francis visited the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the Pope entered the Basilica to pray before the icon of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani.

The Holy Father's devotion to Salus Populi Romani (Our Lady Protectress of Rome) is well known. Upon being discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital three weeks ago, he had paused briefly outside the Basilica on his way back to his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican. On that occasion, he gave a bouquet of flowers to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Coadjutor Archpriest of the Basilica, to be placed before the sacred icon.

Saturday's visit marked the 126th time the Pope has visited the papal Basilica to pay tribute to the icon of Our Lady. Since the day after his election - 14 March 2013 - he has made it a point to pray before Salus Populi Romani before and after each Apostolic Journey.

Pope Francis's most recent visit to the Basilica, the latest of more than one hundred such occasions, took place on 14 December 2024. On that occasion, he prayed before his 47th Apostolic Journey to Ajaccio, Corsica, where he was to close the Congress on "Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean."