Pope prays at St. Mary Major before trip to South America
July 06, 2015
On the eve of his July 4 flight to Ecuador, to begin a week-long voyage to South America, Pope Francis visited the Roman basilica of St. Mary Major to pray, and left a bouquet before the image of the Virgin Mary Salus populi Romani.
The Pope has made it his regular practice to visit the Marian basilica before and after each of his apostolic trips. These visits are not announced in advance, following a pattern that he set on the day after his election as Roman Pontiff, when he made a surprise visit to pray before the same icon.
Pope Francis arrived at the basilica at about 7 on Saturday evening, and spent 20 minutes in prayer before returning to the Vatican.
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