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The Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square – Siciliani
Christmas “icons”. But especially this year “a sign of hope.” Pope Francis thus defines the nativity scene and the Christmas tree. He does so in the brief speech of gratitude to those who donated the tree and the nativity scene that from this afternoon receive the faithful who arrive in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope’s gratitude went to the Slovenian municipality of Kocevje, who donated the majestic fir tree almost thirty meters high, placed next to the structure of the manger. Leading the Slovenian delegation, with the Archbishop of Maribor, Lojze Cviki, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Italian, however, the delegation of those who offered the preparation of the nativity scene: the diocese of Teramo-Atri, headed by Bishop Lorenzo Leuzzi, in particular the municipality of Castelli where the monumental ceramic nativity scene comes from.
The Nativity Scene in St. Peter’s Square – Sicilians
“The tree and the manger – the Pontiff told them – help to create the Christmas atmosphere conducive to living with faith the mystery of the Redeemer’s birth.” In particular, contemplating the manger “everything speaks of good poverty, the evangelical poverty that makes us blessed: contemplating the Holy Family and the various characters, we are attracted by their disarming humility”: from the figures of Mary and Joseph to those of the shepherds “who are protagonists in the manger, as in the Gospel. They live in the open air. They watch. The announcement of the angels is for them, and they immediately go to look for the Savior who was born.”
And precisely the birth of Jesus – which is sometimes forgotten – is the heart of Christmas, which “reminds us that Jesus is our peace, our joy, our strength, our comfort”. But “to receive these gifts of grace, we need to feel small, poor and humble like the characters in the manger.”
Jesus “is the sign that God gives to the world” and he does so, Pope Francis emphasizes, “even this Christmas in the midst of the sufferings of the pandemic.” Here “the manger and the tree become signs of hope” in this difficult moment that the entire planet is living as hostage to this global pandemic. In short, the crib becomes “an admirable sign, as the Letter on the crib that I signed a year ago in Greccio begins.” A letter that the Pope invites to “reread these days.”
To the Slovenian delegation and the delegation from Teramo-Atri, the Pope said: “May the Lord reward you for your availability and generosity.”
The audience with the delegations of tree and manger donors took place this morning at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. In the afternoon, however, the official ceremony of lighting both the tree and the manger took place, which was thus revealed to the faithful and present. An inauguration that has inevitably suffered the limitations imposed by the pandemic. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and by Monsignor Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, secretary general of the same Governorate of the Vatican City State.
The tree and the manger will remain on display until Sunday, January 10, 2021: end of the Christmas season, which coincides with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
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