Pope Francis dies on 21 April

As Mass of Ages went to press, we heard of the death of Pope Francis, on Easter Monday. Readers will probably already know the identity of his successor by the time this lands on doorsteps, although not necessarily: it took nearly three years to elect Pope Gregory X in 1271. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, a duty we owe to him as a fellow wayfarer as well as the man entrusted with the fearful responsibility of the government of the Church under God.

In the words of the English poet Thomas Grey:

No farther seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,

(There they alike in trembling hope repose)

The bosom of his Father and his God.

The Church has special liturgical orations for popes, as for many categories of people, and we were able to use these for a Requiem Mass for Pope Francis on the very day of his death, Easter Monday. The Collect is also suitable for private use.

Deus, qui inter summos Sacerdotes famulum tuum Franciscum ineffabili tua dispositione connumerari voluisti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, qui unigeniti Filii tui vices in terris gerebat, sanctorum tuorum Pontificum consortio perpetuo aggregetur. Per Christum. Amen.

O God, who by Thy ineffable providence willed to number Thy servant Francis among the Supreme Pontiffs; grant, we beseech Thee, that he who reigned as the Vicar of Thy Son on earth, may be gathered into the eternal company of Thy holy Pontiffs [in heaven]. Through Christ. Amen.

Assuming the Cardinal Electors have acted with the customary speed of recent conclaves, please pray for the new pope, whoever he may be.

We have long encouraged our supporters to pray for the pope; the following, from the Manual of Prayers approved by the Bishops of England and Wales in 1953, is reproduced in the Vademecum used by the LMS pilgrims to Walsingham.

V. Let us pray for our holy Father the Pope.

R. The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

Let us pray.

O Almighty and eternal God, have mercy on thy servant N., our Pope, and direct him according to thy clemency into the way of everlasting salvation; that he may desire by Thy grace those things which are pleasing to Thee, and perform them with all his strength. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

Another, shorter, prayer is found in the 1951 edition of the Raccolta, the old manual of indulgenced prayers:

Lord Jesus, shelter our Holy Father the Pope under the protection of Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou his light, his strength, and his consolation.

May the new Pope, supported by the prayers of all Catholics and the good will of many even outside the Church, find the wisdom, strength, and courage, to ‘preach the Word in season, and out of season’: praedica verbum insta, opportune, importune (2 Tim 4:2).