Moscow - Tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers paid their last respects Monday to Patriarch Alexi II who died on Friday at the age of 79.
People, many carrying white roses - Alexi's favourite flower - spent hours standing in line in the rain for a chance to file past the the patriarch's body lying in state at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, when Alexi's remains will be buried in the Ephiphany Cathedral in Moscow.
