• Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, exactly a week before Christmas Day, 2016.

    In the reflection he shared with the people in the square ahead of the  traditional noonday Marian devotion, the Holy Father focused on the upcoming Christmas feast, exactly one week away at the time he delivered his remarks.

    After praying the Angelus, the Holy Father returned to the theme.

    “During this this week let us look for a few moments in which to pause, have a bit of silence, and imagine Our Lady and St. Joseph on their way to Bethlehem,” he said. “The journey – the fatigue of it, but also the joy of it – the commotion, and then their anxiety over finding a place to stay, the worry – and so on,” he added.

    “In all this,” concluded Pope Francis, “the crèche scene helps us very much: let us seek to enter into the true Nativity – that of Jesus, in order to receive the grace of this feast, which is a grace of love, of humility and of tenderness.”