The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announced on Tuesday, November 28, the calendar of ceremonies for the Christmas holidays presided over by Pope Francis.
On December 24, the Holy Father will preside over the Holy Mass of Christmas Eve at night in Saint Peter’s Basilica at 7:30 pm. On December 25, on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, from the central loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica, he will deliver his Christmas message and impart the Urbi et Orbi blessing at midday.
Sunday, December 31, on the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, he will preside over the First Vespers and Te Deum in thanksgiving for the past year at 5 pm, while on January 1, at 10 am in Saint Peter’s Basilica, he will preside over the Holy Mass for the 57th World Day of Peace.
On Saturday, January 6, 2024, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, he will preside over the Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at 10 am, and finally, on January 7, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in the Sistine Chapel, he will celebrate the Holy Mass with the baptism of some children at 9:30 am.
All of these ceremonies are in addition to those already announced by the Master of Liturgical Celebrations for the month of December: on December 8, at 4pm, Francis will preside over the ceremony with the traditional Act of Veneration to the Immaculate Conception before the statue in the Spanish Steps Square in Rome. Then, on Tuesday, December 12, the Pope will preside over the Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica at 6pm on the day the Church celebrates the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, Patroness of Latin America, a feast that the Pope began to celebrate in this way in 2014.
