Five-month-old baby Chayan has sadly passed away, mere days after meeting Pope Francis and receiving his blessing.

Chayan was born with a heart condition and doctors predicted he’d only live for a couple of days.

However, the ‘miracle’ baby ended up making it to five-and-a-half months before peacefully passing away.

“God welcomed our little angel, Chayan, into his arms this morning at 7:40 am. Our baby is now at peace,” parents Christian and Valerie Ciantar wrote on social media.

“We thank you all for your messages and help during these past few weeks, and we humbly ask you to keep us in your prayers… We can never find words to thank you for your extreme love and help during these hard moments. [We] had never imagined that this time will come in [our] whole [lives]. May you rest in peace, [our] little one,” they continued.

Hundreds of readers took to the post’s comments section to offer their condolences to the Ciantar family.

Christian and Valerie went on to reveal that Chayan’s funeral will be held tomorrow, 9th April, at 8:30am at the Sanctuary Basilica of Our Lady of Victories in Senglea. They requested attendees to dress up in colourful clothing.

Pope Francis had met Chayan at St Paul’s Basilica in Rabat during his two-day trip to Malta last week.

Fly high, Chayan!

Main image: Christian Valerie Ciantar / Facebook