On the eve of the funeral Mass for Pope Francis, the coffin in which his body was placed immediately after his death will be sealed shut during a special ceremony held in the Vatican Basilica, known in Latin as De capsæ obseratione. Before the Funeral Mass takes place on Saturday morning, the cardinal-camerlengo will come to St. Peter’s on Friday night with representatives of the various ranks of the College of Cardinals (cardinal-bishop, cardinal-priest, and cardinal-deacon) and certain other dignitaries from Vatican City State, including the Vatican’s own canons and confessors, and the late pope’s relatives. The camerlengo will preside over the ceremony, which has three particularly noteworthy elements: the reading of a Rogito or deed of the deceased pope’s life and work, the placing of a purse of coins struck during the years of his pontificate into the coffin and the veiling of the face of the deceased pontiff.
The reading of the pope’s deeds
After an initial introduction, the Master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will read the Rogito, which recalls the late pope’s life and his most important works. In the case of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, this included not simply biographical information, but also lists of the significant output of their papal magisterium, including the number of their apostolic constitutions, encyclicals and so forth. Two copies of this document are made: The first one is placed in a metal tube, which is then interred with the body of the pope, and the second is consigned to the Archive of the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. After it has been read by the master of liturgical celebrations, the Rogito is signed while the Canticle of Zechariah (Benedictus) is sung.
The veiling of the pope’s face
Next comes the beautiful ceremony of veiling the face of the Roman pontiff. The prayer that precedes this addresses God as the Lord of life and death, with whom “the life of our Pope Francis is now hidden.” It is a gesture replete with symbolism, which — to my mind — is amongst the most evocative of the entire papal funeral liturgy. The prayer itself continues to explain the symbolism of this: “May his face, which has lost the light of this world, be forever illumined by the true light whose inexhaustible source is in you. May his face, which has searched your ways to show them to the Church, now see your paternal face. May his face, which is taken from our sight, contemplate your beauty and commend his flock to you, the eternal Shepherd.” After this the master of liturgical celebrations places a white silk veil over the face of the deceased pope, and the camerlengo honors the body with holy water.
The placing of the coins
Finally, the master of liturgical celebrations will place a purse with the coins minted during each year of the pontificate of Pope Francis, and the tube containing the Rogito (having affixed his seal to it) into the coffin, which is then closed. The zinc coffin is traditionally adorned with the coat of arms and name of the deceased pontiff, together with the dates of his ministry as the successor of St. Peter. The coffin is then soldered shut and various seals are affixed by the camerlengo and others to attest to the rites, while a series of psalms and antiphons are sung. At the end of the liturgy as a whole, the usual prayers for the dead are said and then a Marian anthem is sung, which, because this takes place during the Easter Octave, will be the Regina Caeli.
One interesting note to make regarding this celebration is that, even though these rites were revised by Pope Francis last year in anticipation of his own death, the role of the prefect of the papal household is not currently held by anyone. This office was held by Pope Benedict XVI’s private secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, from towards the end of Benedict’s pontificate until 2023. It is presently vacant, and so some of the functions assigned to this role in the papal funeral rites will either be taken up by others, or omitted altogether. It will be for the next pope to appoint a new prefect.
This rather simple, but highly symbolic ceremony has two real aims. First, to conclude the second part of the stational papal funeral rites and to prepare for the funeral Mass itself. Secondly, to perform certain administrative tasks that, alongside the liturgical and prayerful rites of burial, assist with the practical work of ensuring the fitting burial of the deceased pope and therefore, in good order, preparing the way for his eventual legitimate successor.
