EFE.- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, will be fired by the faithful and by his successor, Francisco, during this week, with a three-day funeral chapel and a solemn funeral in Saint Peter's Square.
The rites will begin this Monday when the remains of the German pontiff are exposed in a three-day funeral chapel in the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican starting at 9:00 in the morning (local time) so that the faithful can say goodbye.
The embalmed body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rests in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery on January 1 in Vatican City.
Vatican Pool / Getty Images
The basilica will remain open for ten hours this Monday, but this period will increase on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the faithful will be able to pass before the body of the deceased pope from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Francis entrusts the Virgin to the late Pope
Pope Francis entrusted the "beloved" pope emeritus Benedict XVI, his predecessor and who died yesterday Saturday at the age of 95, to the Virgin Mary during his homily for the first mass of the year in St. Peter's Basilica.
"Today we entrust to the Most Holy Mother the beloved pope emeritus Benedict XVI to accompany him on his way from this world to God," said the Argentine pontiff at this Eucharist, in his second public reaction on the death of Joseph Ratzinger.
Francisco, who was elected in 2013 after his historic resignation from the pontificate, yesterday expressed his gratitude for his service.
The body of Benedict XVI rests in a funeral chapel this Sunday.Vatican Pool / Getty Images
“Speaking of courtesy, at this moment, thoughts go spontaneously to the dearest Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who left us this morning.
With shock, we remember his personality, so noble of him, so gentle, ”he said then.
And he added: “We feel great gratitude in our hearts, gratitude to God for having donated him to the Church and to the world, and gratitude to him for all the good he accomplished and, above all, for his testimony of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of retired life”.
Because, he argued, "only God knows the value and strength of his intercession, of his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church."
"Lord, I love you", the last words of Benedict XVI according to his nurse
"Lord, I love you" were the last words spoken by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI before he died on Saturday morning, according to one of the nurses who attended him that night.
The nurse in question has reported this to Ratzinger's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, according to the official media of the Holy See, Vatican News, on Sunday.
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At around three in the morning, six hours before he died at the age of 95, Benedict XV was seriously ill but not yet dying, and a nurse assured that he heard him pronounce the phrase "Lord, I love you" in Italian, since he does not speak German, according to the same source.
“Benedict XVI, with a small voice, but in a distinguishable way, said in Italian 'Lord, I love you.'
I wasn't there at the time but the nurse told me later.
These were his last comprehensible words because afterwards he was no longer able to express himself ”, refers the German monsignor, a close collaborator of the emeritus pontiff.
The Holy See has published a spiritual testament that Ratzinger wrote on August 29, 2006 and in which, among other things, he asks "from the bottom of my heart for forgiveness" from those he may have harmed throughout his life.
The funeral chapel of the emeritus pope, retired since his historic resignation in 2013, will open tomorrow Monday and continue until Wednesday, while his funeral will be presided over on Thursday by Francisco, his successor since then.
