The body of Pope Francis has been dressed in sacred liturgical vestments and placed in an open wooden coffin for his lying in state which will see the faithful from around the world flock to Vatican City to pay their respects.

Francis died on Easter Monday, aged 88, after suffering a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalised for five weeks with pneumonia.

The Vatican released the first photographs of the late pontiff this morning, showing his coffin laid out in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy.

Swiss Guards stood at attention on both sides of the casket as it awaited transfer to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the pope will lie in state for three days.

Francis was dressed in a red chasuble, which symbolises love, passion and the blood of Christ, and is traditionally worn on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, the Feast of the Cross and Pentecost.

A pallium, a white stole featuring six black crosses, was draped around his body. The garment is typically placed on a priest’s shoulders when they handle the monstrance – the sacred golden vessel used to display the Eucharist – during mass.

In accordance to Vatican traditions, the pallium was made with wool from two lambs held by the Tre Fontane Abbey monks and woven by nuns of the Basilica of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, Corriere della Sera reports. Both abbeys are located in Rome.

Francis will be buried wearing a white mitre on his head, which represents the holiness, dignity, authority and splendor of the pontiff. The two-pieced, stiffened headdress is ornamented with golden trim.