Mourners Begin Filing Into Basilica For Funeral Mass

Mourners dressed in black and in dark suits, taking cover under umbrellas, are entering the church where Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be remembered this morning.

President Obama, who arrived in Boston on Friday night, left his hotel early today, dressed in a dark suit and overcoat, to walk across the street to the Fairmont Copley Plaza for a 10-minute private visit with Kennedy’s widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy.

The day’s somber mood is matched by gloomy weather. Rain and unseasonable cold enveloped the area as tropical depression Danny moved up the East Coast.

Mr. Obama will deliver a eulogy at the private service, which begins at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Mission Hill.

White House aides were mum about the eulogy the president would offer, but Mr. Obama is expected to focus on the impact Kennedy had on American life since first being elected in 1962.