Speaking to about 1,000 people taking part in the “Living Nativity” tradition at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Pope Leo challenges them to spread the message that we are never alone and continue to be “pilgrims of hope, bearers of consolation and inspiration for all those you meet.”
By Kielce Gussie
As the second week of Advent draws to a close, inching the Christmas season closer and closer, Pope Leo XIV celebrated a special tradition here at the heart of Rome. At the Vatican, the Pope welcomed about 1,000 participants in the “Living Nativity”, who will process today to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
He said that the group comes from all over to visit St. Peter’s tomb, which reflects the generations of pilgrims who have travelled across the globe to visit this sacred place. After their meeting with the Pope, the group will celebrate Holy Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major—also known as the “Bethlehem of the West” as the Holy Crib is preserved there.
Holy Crib is preserved and venerated at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome
Pope Leo highlighted that the crib is the ancient relic, “together with the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, that inspired Saint Francis, in 1223, to celebrate the first ‘Nativity of Greccio,’ marking the beginning of the Nativity scene tradition.”
From that moment on—more than 800 years ago—people in all corners of the earth continue the tradition of making a Nativity scene.
A message of hope our world needs today
The Holy Father reflected on two of his predecessors’ comments on this Christmas icon. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI described the Nativity as God’s coming without weapons or force to “conquer pride, violence, and man’s craving for possession”.
In 1223, St. Francis began the tradition of the Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy
Ten years later, Pope Francis explained that in front of the Nativity scene, “while we contemplate the Christmas scene, we are invited to spiritually set out on a journey, attracted by the humility of Him who became man to meet every man”.
“This is exactly the case,” Pope Leo noted, because in the cave of Bethlehem, the Holy Family find themselves in “disarming poverty”. It is here that “we begin again to start a new life following in Christ’s footsteps.”
As the “Living Nativity” participants process through the streets of Rome to the Basilica, they will be “a joyful sign” of the beauty of being Jesus’ disciples. “This makes you — today, and always, as a mission for your daily life — pilgrims of hope, bearers of consolation and inspiration for all those you meet”, the Holy Father said.
Their mission is one for everyone: the young and old, the healthy and sick, the lonely, and those suffering.
Closing, Pope Leo stressed that the Nativity scene is an important sign that “we are part of a marvelous adventure of Salvation in which we are never alone”. He challenged the “Living Nativity” participants to spread this message and keep the tradition alive as “it is a gift of light for our world, which so desperately needs to continue hoping.”
