Pope Francis Buried at St. Mary Major, a Church with ‘Very Beautiful’ Connection to His Faith

• Pope Francis was laid to rest in the basilica of St. Mary Major on Saturday, April 26
• In a break from tradition, Francis’ burial plans made him the the first pope in more than a century not to be interred in St. Peter’s Basilica
• There’s much significance to the choice, as the first thing Francis did after becoming pope was to visit the church to pray at the tomb of St. Pius V, one expert tells PEOPLE

Pope Francis has been laid to rest less than a week after his death.

The pontiff’s funeral began on the morning of Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter’s Square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The service was led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals and concluded with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio.

Following the Mass, Francis’ coffin was transferred via a much-watched procession to the basilica of St. Mary Major for a private burial, making him the first pope in more than a century not to be interred at St. Peter’s Basilica.

But St. Mary was one of Francis’ favorite places in Rome and a church with deep personal significance to him.

“It’s especially beautiful because of Pope Francis’ love for the basilica of Mary Major, which began when he was a cardinal,” Father Patrick Briscoe, a Dominican friar and the editor of Our Sunday Visitor magazine, tells PEOPLE.

“Whenever he made trips to the Vatican as a cardinal, he would come and pray in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary there, the Salus Populi Romani, and he continued that practice as pope,” Briscoe says. “That’s not a papal custom; that’s a Pope Francis custom — to go and pray in front of that icon — and it became a signature of his apostolic visits.”

Briscoe adds that there’s another layer of meaning to Francis’ choice. 

“Pope Francis’ first public activity as pope, the very first thing he did on his first official day as pope, was to go to St. Mary Major to pray at the tomb of St. Pius V,” Briscoe says. “It’s very beautiful that he’s going back, having concluded his ministry, to the place where it began.”

Francis visited the church more than 100 times throughout his papacy, largely making the two-and-a-half mile trip from Vatican City to pray before and after overseas trips, according to The Guardian and NPR.

In March, after being discharged from the hospital following a monthlong stay for respiratory issues, Francis stopped at St. Mary to deliver flowers and he last visited on April 12, just days before he died on Monday, April 21, of a cerebral stroke.

Seven other popes have been buried at the church, although as Agnes Craword, who works as a guide in Rome, told NPR, “The vast majority of these popes were buried here during the 120-plus years it took to build St. Peter’s Basilica.”

Francis specified in his final will and testament that he wanted to be buried in a “simple” tomb in the ground “without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus,” his papal name in Latin.

“Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Francis wrote. “I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.”

According to the Vatican, in Francis’ final hours he thanked his longtime health aide, Massimiliano Strappetti, for supporting him in a surprise appearance for worshippers on Easter Sunday. 

Francis had asked Strappetti prior to the event, “Do you think I can manage it?” 

After the event, which now marks his final outing, he told his aide, “Thank you for bringing me back to the Square.”