US presidents, members of Congress and the public gathered on a rainy Saturday to say goodbye to Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in American politics who contributed to major social changes in the United States over the last 50 years.
US President Barack Obama hailed fellow Democrat Kennedy as a champion of the landmark Civil Rights Act, immigration reform and children's health care, but did not dwell on what the senator had called "the cause of my life" - overhauling the US healthcare system.
Speaking at Mr Kennedy's funeral service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help basilica in Boston, Mr Obama called him "the soul of the Democratic Party and the lion of the US Senate" who had authored more than three hundred laws.
Senators and US representatives of both political parties joined the large Irish-American Kennedy clan, the country's pre-eminent political dynasty, at the funeral.
Mr Kennedy's son, Teddy Kennedy, told mourners his father had taught him that "nothing is impossible".
He recalled his father's encouragement and love after he, Ted Jnr, lost a leg to bone cancer when he was 12 years old.
Mr Kennedy thanked mourners, including president Barack Obama, former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Jimmy Carter, and Taoiseach Brian Cowen, for their support.
He said his heart was "filled with appreciation and gratitude" for the support of the people of Massachusetts.
He said he was grateful to have had his father, his best friend, for as long as he did.
To laughter, Mr Kennedy said his father had also taught him some of "life's harder lessons", such as "how to like Republicans".
Dozens of lawmakers from the last several decades - many of whom had been Kennedy's fiercest foes on legislation - attended the traditional Catholic funeral Mass in the stone, 130-year-old Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica.
Mourners - from Hollywood star Jack Nicholson to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - packed the white and gold interior of the church beneath soaring arches and stained glass.
Mr Obama and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton sat at the front with their wives.
Since Mr Kennedy's death on Tuesday of brain cancer at age 77, Americans have staged a series of memorials to the last of the Kennedy brothers, and his death has been treated like the passing of a president.
Mr Kennedy's casket will be flown to Washington after the funeral Mass and taken to Arlington National Cemetery to be buried close to his brothers, former President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, who were assassinated in the 1960s.
Edward Kennedy's early career was overshadowed by the lives and deaths of John and Robert, but he went on to serve nearly 47 years in the Senate, where he became a champion of liberal Democrats and was both reviled and respected by conservative Republicans.
"Where would I be as a black man without the Kennedys? They believe in civil rights and that's why I am here to honor this great man," said Clint Haymon, one of hundreds of mourners gathered outside the church despite a steady rain.
"We had to come here. He committed a lot of his time to causes we believe in," said Douglas Geer of Walpole, Massachusetts, the father of an autistic child. "Our child benefited from his work."
Boston police opened a blocked sidewalk and spectators ran to get a spot. Across the street, families leaned out windows from a row of three-story apartment buildings.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma played and opera star Placido Domingo sang at the funeral at the basilica in a working class area of Boston.
Mr Kennedy chose Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica because it was where he prayed daily while his daughter Kara, now 49, was at nearby hospital battling lung cancer in 2003.
On Friday, dignitaries from both sides of the political aisle attended an invitation-only memorial service at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that was punctuated by teary remembrances, funny anecdotes and song.
That followed a two-day public viewing that drew more than 50,000 mourners - so many that security had to turn people away.
Reuters