by Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2025
First published in WestWard Quarterly (Fall Issue (October, 2025)
In memory of Pope Francis who said “I am so happy that Mary didn’t forget me“
recounting Mother Mary’s appearance to him asking that upon his death he be buried
in her Church
St. Mary Major’s Basilica —
the first church the newly elected Pontiff
visited to pray under adored painting
of Madonna with Child —
became his final resting place:
a dazzling basilica, where
the Madonna gazed into his eyes,
holding her baby Jesus,
in soft embrace;
The Roman church founded by
miraculous snow flurries
August fifth, three fifty-two
foretold in dreams of divine grace;
Santa Maria Maggiore, from which
Pope Gregory processed with
St. Luke’s beloved icon,
so Rome’s lives, the plague would not erase;
The mosaiced masterpiece
of stunning marbled beauty,
blessed by scores of the Pontiff’s prayers
for every race;
Our Lady of the Snows —
from whose gilded dome
white petals released each year
of his papacy, in bright rose lace;
The holy resting place
radiating Christ’s love,
on the humble, zinc-lined coffin
of a Pope, warmed by God’s face.