Family and Friends Gather at the Onassis Apartment for Wake : Tribute: Prayers are also said at her N.Y. neighborhood church. Funeral and burial to be held today.

In the small neighborhood church where she regularly attended Mass, simple prayers were said Sunday for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Her name was included in the list of parishioners who had passed away during the week, fitting tribute to the privacy one of the world’s best known women almost constantly sought.

“She was a symbol for the world,” said the Right Rev. George F. Bardes as he stood on the sidewalk after Mass at the Church of St. Thomas More, a house of worship tucked away between towering apartment buildings just a few blocks from Mrs. Onassis’ spacious apartment on 5th Avenue.

Bardes said the widow of President John F. Kennedy was a religious woman who sometimes came to the church to pray alone.

“The stresses of her life were monumental,” he said. “. . . She almost had to be religious.”

He said Mrs. Onassis held a memorial service for her slain husband in the church each year. She would be joined by their children, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, he said.

Last week, Bardes traveled to Mrs. Onassis’ apartment to give her the last rites. He said that as he left the apartment, he was happy and relieved, not only because he had been able to offer comfort but because the family was “doing exactly as Mrs. Kennedy had hoped they would do.”

Hours later, at the age of 64, she died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.

The serenity of Sunday Mass amid the altar flowers and stained-glass windows of St. Thomas More contrasted starkly with preparations under way five blocks away at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, where the funeral service will be held at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT) today, and at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where Mrs. Onassis will be buried alongside President Kennedy.

President Clinton planned to speak at the burial service, but only First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the funeral because Clinton’s attendance would conflict with the family’s wish to keep the service private, a White House spokeswoman said.

Retired Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans will lead the Arlington service, officials said, and the Navy Sea Canters Chorus will sing.

In St. Ignatius Loyola, designated a landmark because of its Italian Renaissance architecture, Mrs. Onassis was baptized and confirmed. If parishioners look carefully as they walk down the marble center aisle, they will notice a small bronze plaque at row 62.

It notes that on Feb. 10, 1963, “John F. Kennedy 35th President attended Mass in this pew.”

Seeking to escape pressure and grief, John F. Kennedy Jr. and his companion, actress Daryl Hannah, roller-skated past the church on Sunday, startling photographers. Hours later, the pair and Caroline Schlossberg joined other family members and friends for a wake in Mrs. Onassis’ apartment.

Bardes led the service. He told reporters that the mood in the apartment had been “prayerful.”

Both children plan to speak at their mother’s funeral. Their uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), will deliver the main eulogy. Movie director Mike Nichols and Maurice Tempelsman, the longtime companion of the former First Lady, will also speak at the church, which seats about 1,000 people.

Large crowds continued to gather outside Mrs. Onassis’ graystone apartment building, which has become a magnet for the curious and those people seeking to pay tribute to her.

Tourist buses paused in front of the building, while spectators filled the sidewalks and sat on a wall of Central Park, just across the street. Many in the crowd brought cameras--and memories.

“She’s the best lady in New York,” said Rosa Ocasio, as she stood behind a police barrier. “My first vote, in 1960, was for John F. Kennedy.”

“We just thought we should come by,” said Barbara Domings, a nurse who lived in Massachusetts for a time.

“It’s like the Kennedys have been with us since we were little. It’s a corner turning. . . . It’s the end of something.”

Rites on Television

Services and burial for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are private, but the networks plan special coverage.

* ABC: (Channel 7) news special at 6:45 a.m. PDT.

* CBS: (Channel 2) special report at 6:45 a.m. PDT.

* CNN: live coverage beginning at 4 a.m. PDT.

* NBC: (Channel 4) interruptions in regular programming throughout the day for updates.

Source: Times staff and wire reports