Advent and Christmas in Rome
As the Church prepares for and celebrates the birth of Christ during Advent and the Christmas season, Rome is filled with beautiful traditions. Below are some recommendations to help you plan your pilgrimage to Rome during this Holy Season.
In addition to the events listed below, the Holy Father is also expected to lead the Angelus prayer on Sundays at 12noon in St. Peter’s Square and to give a General Audience each Wednesday in December and January.
December 2 – Mass in English by the Tomb of St. Peter
On the first Saturday of the month, we would like to invite you to join us for Mass in English, celebrated in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica – right by the tomb of St. Peter.
The Mass begins at 7:15 a.m., but we recommend arriving at the Basilica at 6:45 a.m. to allow time to pass through security. The meeting point inside the Basilica is outside of the Sacristy (close to the St. Joseph Altar). If you have difficulties finding it, please look for the Sisters in navy blue habits, and they will show you where to go.
December 9, 2023 – Unveiling of the Nativity Scene in St. Peter’s Square
On Saturday, December 9, 2024 at 5:00 p.m., the Nativity Scene in St. Peter’s Square will be unveiled, and the Christmas tree lit up for the first time. The ceremony will be in Italian and will be presided over by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, in the presence of Sister Raffaella Petrini, its Secretary General.
This year, the Christmas tree at the Vatican has been donated from the small village of Rosello in the Abruzzo region, and is decorated with bulbs made by residents of a psychiatric rehabilitation centre in the same village.
Each year, a country or a region in Italy donate the nativity scene which is displayed in St. Peter’s Square. In 2022, the crèche comes from Sutrio in the Fruili-Venezia Giuli region in northern Italy, and its figures are hand-carved our of cedar wood. In addition to the Holy Family, there will also be characters representing traditional artisans from Sutrio, including carpenters, weavers and craftspeople.
This will be the 40th Christmas tree in St Peter’s Square, continuing a tradition begun by Pope John Paul II in 1982.
The tree and Nativity Scene will remain on display until the feast of the baptism of the Lord, which will end of the Christmas season on Sunday 8 January 2023.
December 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a public holiday in Rome, and the traditional beginning of the Christmas season in Italy.
At 12:00 noon, the Holy Father will lead the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, and at 4:00 p.m., Pope Francis will go to the Spanish Steps for the traditional act of veneration of Mary Immaculate.
Why Piazza di Spagna? On December 8, 1857, a statue of the Immaculate Conception was placed on top of a nearly 40-foot high column near the Spanish Steps to commemorate Pope Pius IX’s promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary three years earlier. In 1953, Pope Pius XII begun the tradition of the Holy Father visiting the statue to place flowers at the feet of Mary and to ask for her prayers for the world. Rome’s firefighters than have the special mission of taking one of the Holy Father’s wreathes of flowers and place it on the arm of the statue. The tradition has been continued by the popes succeeding him, often also including a visit to the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
No tickets are required to attend the ceremony at the Spanish Steps, but pilgrims are advised to arrive early, about 2:30 p.m., and to be prepared for large crowds.
Visit the Crèches in the Churches of Rome
For the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the churches in Rome will begin to put up their crèches. During your advent pilgrimage to Rome, you can join the Italian families who often travel into Rome not only for their Christmas shopping, but most importantly to take their children on a little pilgrimage to visit not only the crèche in St. Peter’s Square, but also to spend an afternoon visiting different churches to pray by the crèche scenes there.
100 Presepi in Vaticano
Each year, the Vatican puts up an exhibition with 100 crèche scenes under the left-hand side colonnade in St. Peter’s Square. The nativity scenes comes from all over the world and are made of different materials, and previous years have in addition to more traditional ones also featured crèche scenes made by chocolate or with pencil stumps.
The exhibition, promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, will be open from December 8, 2022 until January 8, 2023. The exhibition is open from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. each day. More information about the free exhibition can be found at www.100presepi.it/en/.
December 12 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
In the evening of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Francis traditionally presides over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in honor of the Patroness of the Americas. If you would like to request tickets for this Papal Mass, please contact our office. The ticket application closes on November 12, since we then need to submit our final list to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
December 24 – Christmas Eve Mass with the Holy Father
On Christmas Eve, the Holy Father traditionally celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 7.30 p.m. The Prefecture of the Papal Household receive hundreds of thousands of requests from pilgrims who wish to attend this Mass each year, but the number of tickets available are limited due to the space restrictions inside the Basilica. If you would like to request tickets for this Papal Mass, please fill out this form. The ticket application closes on November 30, since we then need to submit our final list to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
Other Christmas Masses in Rome:
St. Mary Major (Masses in Italian)
Saturday, December 24 – Christmas Eve
5.00pm Christmas Novena (in Italian)
(the regular 6.00 p.m. Mass is cancelled)
The Basilica closes at 7:00 p.m. and reopens at 10:30 p.m.
11.15 p.m. The singing of the Kalenda and Holy Mass celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, Archpriest of the Basilica
Sunday, December 25 – Christmas Day
7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m. Christmas Day Masses
10:00 a.m. High Mass for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, Archpriest of the Basilica
5:00 p.m. Solemn Vespers
The Pantheon (Mass in Italian)
Saturday, December 24 – Christmas Eve
(the regular 5:00 p.m. Mass is cancelled)
11:55 p.m. Midnight Mass with music by the Musical Chapel of the Pantheon
Sunday, December 25 – Christmas Day
No Masses. The Basilica is closed.
December 25 – Christmas Day Mass in English in Santo Spirito in Sassia
We would also like to invite you to join us for the celebration of Holy Mass in English, offered every Sunday and on Christmas Day at the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, 9:30a.m. The Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia is only three blocks from St. Peter’s Square on Via dei Penitenzieri 12 (00193 Roma) and has been hosting pilgrims to Rome since the 8th century. The Mass will end in good time for you to attend the Holy Father’s Urbi et Orbi blessing.
December 25 – Urbi et Orbi
On Christmas Day each year at 12:00 noon, the Holy Father gives the Urbi et Orbi (‘to the city [of Rome] and to the world’) blessing together with a Christmas greeting from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Urbi et Orbi is the most solemn form of blessing in the Catholic Church, reserved for the most solemn of all occasions, including Christmas, Easter and the proclamation of a newly elected pope after a conclave. The tradition goes back to the 13th century, when Pope Gregory X instituted this form of blessing.
Catholics who devoutly receives the Urbi et Orbi blessing may also receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, which refers to:
- Sacramental confession within 8 days before or after receiving the blessing.
- Attending Mass and receiving Holy Communion within 8 days before or after receiving the blessing.
- Praying for the intentions of the Holy Father (traditionally an ‘Our Father’, a ‘Hail Mary’ and a ‘Glory Be’)
- Having no attachment to sin, including venial sin.
Since 1985, this indulgence is granted not only to the people in St. Peter’s Square, but also to those who though unable to be physically present, “piously follow” it by radio or television.
Formulæ of apostolic blessing in Latin and English
Sancti Apostoli Petrus et Paulus: de quorum potestate et auctoritate confidimus, ipsi intercedant pro nobis ad Dominum.
℟: Amen.
Precibus et meritis beatae Mariae semper Virginis, beati Michaelis Archangeli, beati Ioannis Baptistae et sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli et omnium Sanctorum, misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus; et dimissis omnibus peccatis vestris, perducat vos Iesus Christus ad vitam æternam.
℟: Amen.
Indulgentiam, absolutionem, et remissionem omnium peccatorum vestrorum, spatium veræ et fructuosae pœnitentiae, cor semper paenitens, et emendationem vitae, gratiam et consolationem Sancti Spiritus; et finalem perseverantiam in bonis operibus tribuat vobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus.
℟: Amen.
Et benedictio Dei omnipotentis, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper.
℟: Amen.
May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in whose power and authority we trust, intercede for us before the Lord.
℟: Amen.
Through the prayers and merits of Blessed Mary, Ever Virgin, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, may Almighty God have mercy on you and forgive all your sins, and may Jesus Christ bring you to everlasting life.
℟: Amen.
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you indulgence, absolution and the remission of all your sins, a season of true and fruitful penance, a well-disposed heart, amendment of life, the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit and final perseverance in good works.
℟: Amen.
And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come down on you and remain with you forever.
℟: Amen.
December 26 – Angelus for the Feast of St. Stephen
On December 26, the Holy Father will also lead the Angelus prayer and give his Apostolic blessing in St. Peter’s Square at 12:00 noon.
December 31 – Vespers and Te Deum
Traditionally, the Holy Father concludes the year with presiding at the Te Deum and First Vespers for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in the evening of New Year’s Eve. It has long been a custom in Catholic churches to sing the Te Deum, the hymn of thanksgiving par excellence, on New Year’s Eve, to thank God for all of the blessings received over the course of the previous year, and then to invoke His blessings for the coming year. In Rome, the Pope and cardinals resident in the city traditionally attended the Te Deum ceremony on December 31st at the church of the Holy Name of Jesus, popularly known as “il Gesù”, the mother church of the Jesuit order. In recent years, however, the liturgy has generally been celebrated at St Peter’s, together with First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and Eucharistic Benediction.
The liturgy is usually held in St. Peter’s Basilica on December 31 at 5:00 p.m., and tickets are required to attend. If you would like to request tickets for this Papal liturgy, please fill out this form. The ticket application closes on November 30, since we then need to submit our final list to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
January 1 – Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
To inaugurate the new year and to place it under the protection of Mary, the Mother of God, the Holy Father traditionally presides over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on New Year’s Day at 10:00 a.m.. If you would like to request tickets for this Papal Mass, please fill out this form. The ticket application closes on November 30, since we then need to submit our final list to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
Following the Papal Mass, the Holy Father also leads the Angelus and gives his Apostolic blessing in St. Peter’s Square at 12:00 noon.
January 6 – Solemnity of Epiphany
Epiphany is a big feast in Italy – the kings arrives in the nativity scenes, and the good witch Befania brings sweets to the kids. It is also the last great Solemnity of the Christmas season, and the Holy Father therefore presides at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m. If you would like to request tickets for this Papal Mass, please fill out this form.The ticket application closes on November 30, since we then need to submit our final list to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
Following the Papal Mass, the Holy Father also leads the Angelus and gives his Apostolic blessing in St. Peter’s Square at 12:00 noon.
January 8 – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
On January 8, the Holy Father will continue the tradition of celebrating a Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in the Sistine Chapel and baptize newborn children of Vatican employees. The tradition was begun by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1981, and the Mass has since 1983 been celebrated in the beautiful Sistine Chapel.
The process for choosing the children who will have the privilege to be baptized by the Pope himself is supervised by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and is offered to children of couples married in the Church according to the Catholic rite. In order to be eligible, the child must be under one year-old. Traditionally, they are the children of one of the Swiss Guards or of other lay officials of the Holy See and Roman Curia. Each child can be accompanied by four guests: the two parents and the godfather and the godmother; the rest of the family can follow the ceremony live through Vatican Media.
Because of the strict space limitations in the Sistine Chapel, it is not possible to request tickets for this Papal Mass. However, the Mass is usually broadcasted on the big screens in St. Peter’s Square, and the Holy Father will come to his office window at 12:00 noon to lead the Angelus and gives his Apostolic blessing.
