Kennedy to lie in repose at JFK Library

U.S. Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, (1932-2009)  -  Photo (May 2008) by Susan Walsh, Associated PressU.S. Senator Edward Moore Kennedy, (1932-2009) - Photo (May 2008) by Susan Walsh, Associated Press

Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s body will be brought by motorcade from the Cape to the JFK Library today and will lie in repose for public viewing later in the day and from 10 to 4 on Friday, according to people close to the family. There will be a private memorial service at the library on Thursday at 7.

While President Obama is expected to make an appearance to honor the senator, plans for his arrival and participation were being closely held.

On Saturday morning, after a private family prayer service, there will be a solemn funeral Mass celebrated at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mission Church) on Tremont Street in Roxbury. The Mass at the 1,300-seat church will be by invitation only.

The Globe reported yesterday that Sen. Kennedy prayed there regularly in 2003 when his daughter Kara was being treated at a nearby hospital for lung cancer.

After the Mass, there will be a motorcade to Logan Airport and on to Washington, then to Arlington National Cemetery where, officials told the Globe, plans are underway to lay Kennedy to rest next to his brothers at the military burial ground where some of the nation’s most revered leaders are buried.

All times and dates, the paper noted were still being determined by the Kennedy family as of Wednesday. Tribute areas to honor the senator have been set up at the JFK Library, the JFK Museum in Hyannis, and at his office in Washington D.C. at No. 317 in the Russell Senate Building.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to educational programming at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. A website has been set up in memory of Kennedy where people can post their memories.

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