Concert and film by Bavarian TV in the Vatican

(December 03.2011) Advent should be a time of waiting and silence, disturbed, alas, by the feverish and costly preparations for Christmas, but this evening you have provided a bit of heaven on earth with your entertainment, reminiscent of Christmas traditions, said Pope Benedict XVI to the representatives of the Bavarian TV at the end of their concert and film in the Pope’s honour at Vatican’s Clementine Hall. They had dedicated the event as “Advent and Christmas in prealpine Bavaria.” You have brought to the Pope’s house a little taste of the customs and typical way of Bavarian life, Benedict told them. The Pope took the occasion also to offer his greetings to Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who precisely on Friday celebrated his 77^th birthday. The Pope recalled how Advent was known as “time of silence” in Bavaria, when the land was covered with snow and the famers could not work in their fields; so they had to be all at home, enjoying the silent expectation of the Lord. And he expressed his fervent wish that this faith be present at church and at home every advent. The film titled “Heaven on earth” gave glimpses of Advent and Christmas in Bavaria, the Pope’s native land.