The candles with a photo of Paus Francis on it go over Easter Monday as hot sandwiches at the shop of the Basilica in Oudenbosch. Visitors quickly come to the Emmy van Rijsbergen saleswoman get a reminder to the deceased pope. “It sounds rock hard, but the one’s death is his bread.”
Pope Franciscus died on Easter Monday in the early morning. Less than 24 hours before, he had given his blessing, Urbi et Orbi.
Emmy van Rijsbergen runs a souvenir shop in the Basilica of Oudenbosch. She only heard of the death during a mass earlier this morning. “I wanted to be on time, so I didn’t get the news at home anymore. I had put my phone on plane stand.”
“I have been crying in the service.”
She was upset by the bad news. “I have been crying in the service. I was upset. The first customers of the store really saw me cry. I have trouble with it,” she says with tears in her eyes.
“I thought this was a good pope. He came from Argentina and I have a daughter -in -law from Argentina and I miss it a lot. It’s just my feeling. I can’t explain it.”
“He was the pope for me.”
On Easter Monday she still saw him addressing all believers. “I was impressed. He really gave everything that was still in him. Until the end. He was the pope for me. This moves me.”
She still expects a hefty crowd for the candles with a photo of the pope on it. “I have to top up the candles now. My colleague is on the way. It sounds loud, but one is dead the other is his bread. People are still grateful that they can buy a candle with the photo of the pope on it. I have also reserved one for myself. Because they are going very fast now.”
