The Origins of Bambinelli Sunday
Pope St. John Paul II began the tradition of Bambinelli Sunday early in his papacy by inviting all the children in Rome to bring the baby Jesus figurines from their family’s Nativity scenes to St. Peter’s Square on the Third Sunday of Advent. Following the Noon Angelus, the Holy Father gave a special blessing to the bambinelli statues. The children then brought them home, where their parents gift wrapped them and put them gently under the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, families unwrapped the infant Jesus figurine first and, with great joy, laid Him gently in the manger of their waiting Nativity scenes. Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis continued the tradition, and over the last 40 years, the tradition has grown beyond the Vatican and is now a treasured Advent tradition in parishes worldwide.