Vatican City: Following three days of public mourning that drew around 250,000 people, the Vatican officially closed Pope Francis‘s lying in state on Friday night by sealing his casket at a secret religious ritual held within St. Peter’s Basilica, CNN said.

The Jesuit order’s first Latin American pope, Pope Francis, has asked for less elaborate burial ceremonies. In accordance with his desires, his remains were interred in a single wooden casket rather than the customary triple-layered coffins made of oak, lead, and cypress that were used at earlier papal funerals.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who is responsible for funeral planning when a pope passes away, conducted the ceremony. Farrell, a clergyman who was born in Dublin and is now a naturalized American, was the Bishop of Dallas before that.

Pope Francis’ personal secretaries, a Brazilian prelate, and an archbishop from Venezuela were among the other church leaders who helped him. According to the Vatican press office, Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former Archbishop of Los Angeles who has come under fire for his handling of cases involving clergy abuse, also took part. CNN stated that several members of the late pope’s family attended the service.

Short songs, whispered prayers, and a quiet time of contemplation were all part of the intimate coffin-sealing ritual. In accordance with Vatican procedure, Cardinal Farrell covered the pope’s face with a white silk veil and doused the corpse with holy water. Before the casket was sealed, the pope’s pallium, coins struck during his pontificate, and a document outlining the key moments of his pontificate were put within. A hymn to the Virgin Mary marked the end of the ceremony.

After the event, the Vatican said that the Chapter of St. Peter’s Basilica will hold a prayer vigil all night long in preparation for the Saturday morning funeral Mass. The burial, which will start on the steps of St. Peter’s church at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), will also signal the start of the Novendiales, which are nine days of grief during which the church will celebrate funeral Masses every day.

Italy celebrated Liberation Day as a national holiday on Friday, drawing large throngs to the Vatican. Thousands of people continued to line the streets, making their way into the basilica until it closed to the public at 7 p.m. local time, since the public holiday gave them additional time to visit. According to CNN, Joana Veiga of Porto, Portugal, one of the many foreign guests, called the mood “very peaceful – calm” after seeing the pope’s casket.

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome will serve as Pope Francis’ ultimate resting place. His tomb will be kept modest by design, with simply his papal name engraved in Latin as Franciscus and a picture of the cross he wore as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. It is made of Ligurian marble, an homage to his great-grandfather’s heritage.