Pope’s Advent and Christmastide schedule
(November 25, 2011) Pope Benedict will be holding a hectic schedule of Advent and Christmastide celebrations including the midnight Christmas eve Mass, the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ Christmas message and blessing the following morning and the baptism of infants in January. The Vatican on Friday released the schedule of the papal ceremonies for the months of December and January. The first appointment of December is Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th, when he will pay a floral homage to the statue of the Madonna in downtown Rome. He will celebrate the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, but will leave the Christmas Mass the following morning to a cardinal. However, at the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict will deliver his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message, blessing and greetings in several languages from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Holy Father will bring the year 2011 to a close with the ‘Te Deum’ thanksgiving Vespers in St. Peter’s on the last day, Dec. 31. The following day, January 1st - New Years Day, he will lead a Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica marking the solemnity of the Mother of God. January 1st is also the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, for which a papal message is due in advance. Other papal ceremonies in January include the feast of the Epiphany on the 6th, the Baptism of Jesus on the 8th when he will baptize infants, and the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on the 25th. This week, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict will pay a visit to Rome's Rebibbia prison on December 18.
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