Pope officially begins festive run-up to X’mas

Dec 15, 2017

By Robert Mickens
With the arrival of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, employees at the Vatican and practising Catholics in the Eternal City are now in full preparation mode for Christmas.

The first big, festive event of the pre-holiday season always takes place in old Rome’s most fashionable shopping district near the Spanish Steps. Resting atop a large marble pillar located in front of the Palace of Propaganda Fide, to one side, and the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, to another, is a beloved statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

Every year, on December 8, the Pope makes a mid-afternoon visit to the site, which he finds already enveloped in flowers and wreaths that Catholic associations, confraternities, religious orders and others have brought throughout the day to honour the Virgin.

He brings his own floral tribute, says a prayer and then gives a special address to the people and city of Rome. The pre-holiday season that leads us to Christmas is officially underway.

Pope Francis anticipated his visit to the Spanish Steps with a special audience on December 7 at the Vatican where he thanked the distinct groups of people who donated this year’s Christmas tree and Nativity Scene that are now on display in St Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the “governor” of Vatican City State, later blessed the crib and tree.

“This is a symbol of Christ bringing light into the world,” he said, switching on the lights of the 92-feet spruce. The cardinal noted that it’s now the 35th consecutive year that the world’s most famous church square has put up a tree.

This “tradition,” almost brand-new by Vatican standards, dates back to 1982 when St John Paul II decided to make Christmas great again. He brought the holiday’s northern European customs to the Mediterranean centre of Catholicism.

And, this year, the sainted pope’s Polish compatriots from the Archdiocese of Elk provided the Tannenbaum, while Italian children — some suffering from cancer, others who are survivors of recent earthquakes — made the tree’s ornaments.

As for the larger-than-life, 17th century Nativity Scene, that’s a gift from folks in the “diocese” overseen by the Benedictine Abbey of Montevergine, just east of Naples.

When Pope Francis met and expressed his gratitude to all of them for contributing to Christmas at the Vatican earlier in the day, he had special words for the kids.

“Dear children, my thanks go particularly to you,” the Pope said just hours before the cardinal-governor led the unveiling ceremony in the cool and cloud-covered piazza.

“This evening, when they turn on the lights of the Nativity Scene and the Christmas tree, the hopes you have expressed through your ornaments will be lit up and seen by all,” Francis said.

“Thank you for your witness and for making these symbols of Christmas more beautiful, which pilgrims and visitors from all over the world will be able to admire.” It was a touching preface to a full slate of Advent and pre- Christmas activities, celebrations and liturgies the Pope will be leading or sponsoring this year.

After the December 8 visit to the statue of Our Lady, the Pope’s next big event was a festive Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Dec 11 for the Dec 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the beloved patroness of the Americas.

That’s just the beginning.

Next week I’ll tell you more about the other events planned for the run-up to the great feast of the Birth of Christ, including a star-studded Christmas concert in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall and… Pope Francis’ 81st birthday. LCI(international.la-croix)