Christmas

The Vatican's customary briefing on the papal Christmas celebrations broadcast globally offers details on the Christmas Mass during the Night and the ...

The Vatican News Youtube channel dedicated to LIS, in collaboration with Italy's TV2000 broadcaster and Sister Veronica Donatello, Consulter to the Dicastery for Communication and head of Italy's National Service for the Pastoral Care of People with Disabilities of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the LIS translation services will be offered via live streaming of tonight's Mass and tomorrow's Urbi et Orbi. Recalling the various nationalities represented at the Christmas Mass during the Night, Alessandro Gisotti noted that the floral homage taken in procession to the Basilica's Nativity Scene will include children from Italy, India, the Philippines, Mexico, San Salvador, Korea and Congo, the country that - together with South Sudan - Pope Francis will visit at the end of January. On Christmas day, Pope Francis will give his message followed by his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of St. Vatican News will provide live streaming on the Vatican News website and on Facebook with live translation and commentary in eight languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German, Chinese and Arabic both on Christmas eve and Christmas day. The number of faithful around the world who will follow the Vatican's Christmas celebrations is increasing thanks to digital technologies and sign language services allowing for even wider participation. Alessandro Gisotti explained that following two years of the pandemic, this Christmas will be marked by suffering due to the war in Ukraine and for all people hurt by often forgotten conflicts around the world to which Pope Francis has called attention on many occasions, praying for peace in our world.

Christmas Day, Pope Francis will deliver his Urbi et Orbi blessing from the balcony of St Peter's square to the world which will be broadcast live.

Amen. Since 2013, the midnight mass, which is presided over by the Pope in St Peter’s Basilica, has been moved to an earlier time at 7:30 pm local time, 1:30 pm ET. But now all the faithful around the world that devoutly receive the blessing can do so via radio, television and even the internet. The granting of plenary indulgence takes place on the most solemn occasions, and is generally reserved only for Christmas and Easter. The day before will commence celebrations at the Holy See with a Holy Mass on Christmas Eve.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. My warmest greetings to Filipinos all over the country and the world as we celebrate the blessed day of Christmas. The story of ...

Let us freely offer our smiles, share a conversation, or impart wisdom to our peers, our loved ones, and even strangers. Instead, let us partake in this holiday with the same simplicity, sense, and meaning that we get from it. It is this pure and simple love that Christmas represents—the same one that we constantly desire and need—that allows it to be more than just a Christian tradition.

In the past weeks, despite the rising prices of fuel, food and gift items, people have crowded shopping malls, met with family and friends in restaurants, ...

To share one’s blessings, or to reach out to a friend, neighbor, or stranger who is in need – there are a thousand ways to spread the joy of Christmas Day. Having family and friends are the pillars of strength. Today, one would be truly blessed to be part of a complete family who can gather physically for a Christmas meal.

Christmas is a time of wisdom and wonder, gratitude and giving, fresh each year. By Robert CharlesFor Central Maine News.

For a moment, the world is quiet. It is the conscious stopping of time, for gratitude and hope, no worry or wrath — in that way, light on a path. The writer of Ecclesiastes opens with “there is nothing new under the sun,” yet reminds us that hope is never done. “You do what you have to do,” adding “and I have a lot to be grateful for.” There is a sense of peace, mercy, an invitation to humility — and gratitude. For a moment, the churning, burning, wild, and unreasoning world is made quiet.

Lauren Green, chief religion correspondent, shares the faith of the Christmas story for all to know, including "that the love that brought us this ...

He was the real lamb of God — which means the first time Jesus ever appears in Scripture, He appears as the LAMB of God that's going to take away the sin of the world." "For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:8-12). Leviticus is also the veritable graveyard of New Year's resolutions and good intentions to read the Bible all the way through. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. The last plague is a crucial clue to Christians about God's plan: the 10th plague, the death of the first-born of Egypt. But God tells Moses that the Israelites will be saved by putting the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. But Jesus' birth, death and resurrection introduced the redemptive power that is operating in the world and that is available to all who believe. This law is intended to separate Israel from the pagan world around them, to keep them holy. But the plan was hatched even in the Garden, and maybe before, to bring us back into the fold. This is the "so what?" The Fall of humanity.

Christmas means that God is close to us: let confidence be reborn!” True richness found in Jesus' poverty. Pope Francis then turned to the message of “poverty” expressed in the manger, which was surrounded ...

“We see you as close, ever at our side: thank you Lord! “Jesus, we behold you lying in the manger,” he prayed in conclusion. “It reminds us that God truly became flesh.” We see you as concrete, because your love for us is palpable. Christmas means that God is close to us: let confidence be reborn!” “The poverty of the manger,” he said, “shows us where the true riches in life are to be found: not in money and power, but in relationships and persons.”

Pope Francis on Saturday led the world's Catholics into Christmas, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level ...

Peter's Basilica to tens of thousands of people in the square below. He comes there because there we see the problem of our humanity: the indifference produced by the greedy rush to possess and consume." Francis, celebrating the 10th Christmas of his pontificate, presided at a solemn Christmas Eve Mass in St.

What does this night still have to say to our lives? Two thousand years after the birth of Jesus, after so many Christmases spent amid decorations and gifts ...

Yet those are the very places to which Jesus comes, a child in the manger of rejection and refusal. This Christmas too, as in the case of Jesus, a world ravenous for money, ravenous for power and ravenous for pleasure does not make room for the little ones, for so many unborn, poor and forgotten children. As always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable. In order to rediscover the meaning of Christmas, we need to look to the manger. First, Mary places Jesus “in a manger” (Lk 2:7); then the angels tell the shepherds about “a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (v. It is a small and apparently insignificant detail that it nonetheless mentions three times, always in relation to the central figures in the narrative.

In the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis was presiding over Christmas Eve Mass.

Two years ago, the start of Christmas Eve Mass in St. “I think above all of the children devoured by war, poverty and injustice.” On Sunday, tens of thousands of Romans, tourists and pilgrims were expected to crowd into St. “While animals feed in their stalls, men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbors, their brothers and sisters,” the pontiff lamented. “How many wars have we seen! [Pope Francis](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Pope) rebuked those “ravenous” for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, in a [Christmas](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Christmas) Eve homily decrying war, poverty and greedy consumerism.

Recalling Jesus' birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those “ravenous” for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, ...

When the Mass ended, the pope, pushed in a wheelchair by an aide, moved down the basilica with a life-sized statue of Baby Jesus on his lap and flanked by several children carrying bouquets. Two years ago, the start of Christmas Eve Mass in St. “I think above all of the children devoured by war, poverty and injustice.” “He did not so much talk about poverty as live it, to the very end, for our sake.” “While animals feed in their stalls, men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbors, their brothers and sisters,” the pontiff lamented. In the splendor of St.

Palestinian Christians and pilgrims will later attend midnight Mass at the 4th-Century Nativity Church. Festivities follow a deadly escalation of violence in ...

Earlier this month, Israel said its forces unintentionally killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl during a gun battle with militants in the occupied West Bank. "The occupancy rate was over 90%. It's very sad to see," Mariana al-Arja, a hotel manager, told the BBC two years ago. In November, five Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in four separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. Although numbers are still lower than the record level seen in 2019, the streets are bustling and just as in the Nativity story, there is not a room to be found, with local hotels fully booked. Accompanying Palestinian Christians from as far away as Galilee and the Gaza Strip, there are visitors from around the world.

Tourists flock to the occupied West Bank city to celebrate Christmas after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

“It’s possible to change things,” he added. “We are living in very difficult challenges,” he said. affects the celebrations,” Ibrahim said. “We will be very clear in what we have to do and what we have to say in order to preserve the importance of unity and reconciliation among all.” “But the message of Christmas is a message of peace.” With a giant evergreen tree, colourful balloons in the streets and selfies in the Church of the Nativity, Christmas tourism has returned to the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem after two years of COVID-related restrictions.

The biblical town of Bethlehem marked what was shaping up to be a merry Christmas on Saturday, with thousands of visitors expected to descend upon the ...

Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called it the "Tree of Invincibility." This year, visitors are back, hotels are full and local shopkeepers have reported a brisk business in the runup to the holiday. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, was expected to arrive from nearby Jerusalem to greet well-wishers.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The biblical town of Bethlehem marked a merry Christmas on Saturday, with thousands of visitors descending upon the traditional ...

“We are living in very difficult challenges,” he said, noting the war in Ukraine and a recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Instead, a modest tree decorated with blue and yellow lights barely broke the gloom of the square. In war-ravaged Ukraine, the glitzy lights normally spread over over Kyiv’s Sophia Square were missing due to restrictions and power cuts. Throughout the day, hundreds of people strolled through Manger Square for Christmas Eve celebrations. “It’s possible to change things,” he added. Although the numbers have not reached pre-pandemic levels, the return of tourists has palpably raised spirits in Bethlehem.

The biblical town of Bethlehem is gearing up for what residents hope will be a merry Christmas, with thousands of visitors expected to descend upon the.

This year, visitors are back, hotels are full and local shopkeepers have reported a brisk business in the runup to the holiday. [thousands of visitors](https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/bethlehem-sees-surge-in-christmas-tourists-despite-israeli-palestinian-conflict/2936865/) expected to descend upon the traditional birthplace of [Jesus](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ancient-glue-offers-new-insight-age-what-may-be-jesus-n824421) as it rebounds from the [coronavirus pandemic](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/coronavirus). [occupied West Bank](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-west-bank-palestinians-deadliest-year-united-nations-report-rcna54643), and for the past two years, the pandemic kept international visitors away.

Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 24, 2022. (CNS photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters). By: Carol Glatz.

“He comes to touch our hearts and to tell us that love alone is the power that changes the course of history.” “How do we rediscover the meaning of Christmas?” the pope asked. He said, “God was born in a manger so that you could be reborn in the very place where you thought you had hit rock bottom. Pope Francis celebrated the “Christmas Mass at Night” at 7:30 p.m., as he did in 2020 and 2021. On Christmas Eve, God is drawing near, the pope said. The pope, who was seated to the right of the altar, watched as a cloth was lifted, revealing a statue of baby Jesus.

Pope Francis marked the start of Christmas at the Vatican by cautioning that it is impossible to celebrate the birth of Jesus without concern for the poor.

"We are called to be a church that worships a Jesus who is poor and that serves him in the poor," said the pope. "He who was born in the manger, demands a concrete faith, made up of adoration and charity, not empty words and superficiality," the pope said. "Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor; he did not so much talk about poverty as live it, to the very end, for our sake," the pope said. "Without the poor, we can celebrate Christmas, but not the birth of Jesus." "Let us remember that it is not truly Christmas without the poor," said the pope, during a Dec. Pope Francis carries a figurine of the baby Jesus at the conclusion of Christmas Eve Mass in St.

Speaking of Christ, the Holy Father said, 'Tenderly wrapped in swaddling clothes by Mary, he wants us to be clothed in love.'

He who lay naked in the manger and hung naked on the cross asks us for truth; he asks us to go to the bare reality of things and to lay at the foot of the manger all our excuses, our justifications and our hypocrisies. We see you as poor, in order to teach us that true wealth does not reside in things, but in persons, and above all in the poor: Forgive us, if we have failed to acknowledge and serve you in them. We are called to be a Church that worships a Jesus who is poor and that serves him in the poor. The poverty of the manger thus shows us where the true riches in life are to be found: not in money and power, but in relationships and persons. The manger of Bethlehem speaks to us not only of closeness, but also of poverty. As a saintly bishop once said: “The Church supports and blesses efforts to change the structures of injustice and sets down but one condition: that social, economic and political change truly benefit the poor” (St. He does not remain distant and mighty, but draws near to us in humility; leaving his throne in heaven, he lets himself be laid in a manger. In order to rediscover the meaning of Christmas, we need to look to the manger. God is no father who devours his children, but the Father who, in Jesus, makes us his children and feeds us with his tender love. Yet those are the very places to which Jesus comes, a child in the manger of rejection and refusal. As always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable. First, Mary places Jesus “in a manger” (Luke 2:7); then the angels tell the shepherds about “a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (v.

A manger, the Christ Child's first resting place, can teach us a lot about the meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said in his Christmas homily.

Without the poor, we can celebrate Christmas, but not the birth of Jesus,” he said. 1, 1980: “The Church supports and blesses efforts to change the structures of injustice, and sets down but one condition: that social, economic and political change truly benefit the poor.” People were warm in the inn, but not here in the coldness of a stable. In his homily, Pope Francis said God wants to tell us the following message: “If you feel consumed by events, if you are devoured by a sense of guilt and inadequacy, if you hunger for justice, I, your God, am with you. A statue of the Baby Jesus, displayed in front of the altar, was then unveiled as the bells of St. The Christmas Mass, which had around 7,000 people in attendance according to the Vatican, began with the chanting of the traditional Kalenda Proclamation of the Birth of Christ from the Roman Martyrology.

Pope Francis warned in a solemn Christmas Eve Mass that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to “consume even their neighbours”, in ...

Peter’s Basilica to tens of thousands of people in the square below. He comes there because there we see the problem of our humanity: the indifference produced by the greedy rush to possess and consume.” “Men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbours, their brothers and sisters,” he said.

A bomb cyclone, when atmospheric pressure plummets, has brought snow, strong winds and freezing temperatures. Nearly 250 million are affected, and at least 19 ...

You can also get in touch in the following ways: Please include your name, age and location with any submission. A number of the storm-related fatalities have involved road traffic accidents, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that killed four motorists. If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the Have you been affected by the severe weather in the US and Canada? In Canada, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were bearing the brunt of the Arctic blast.

MANILA, Philippines — In his first Christmas message as chief executive, President Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos Jr. focused on “simple love” representative ...

Filipinos are celebrating the holidays this year amid the continuous increase of commodity prices. “Even if restrictions for celebrations have been laxed, following health protocols to celebrate Christmas and the New Year will still contribute to helping celebrate the holidays with good health,” the Office of the Press Secretary said in a statement on Saturday. “Let our spirits not dwell on the adornments that we display, on the buzz and activities we create, nor on the lack thereof,” Marcos Jr.

Pope Francis asked people this Christmas to "do something good," during his homily at Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Saturday.

Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Saturday. Earlier this month, Francis had asked people to spend less on Christmas presents and donate money instead to people in Ukraine. Pope Francis asked people this Christmas to “do something good,” during his homily at Christmas Eve Mass in St.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed his wish for a Christmas that is “full of love, compassion, and hopeful beginnings” for all Filipinos as he ...

declaring December 26, 2022 as an additional special non-working day throughout the country to allow Filipinos fully celebrate the holiday with their loved ones. “Across beliefs, all the generosity and goodwill stirred in this season are welcomed. “No matter the evolution of its observance, it is imperative that we emphasize the true essence of this holiday—love.

A major winter storm that killed more than a dozen people, brought blizzard conditions to multiple states and knocked out power to over 1 million customers ...

Gusts will continue in the 50-70 mph range along and near the Great Lakes. The strong wind will produce an increased danger if power outages occur. Dangerously cold temperatures will now spread into the Great Lakes and Northeast for Christmas weekend, freezing areas in the wake of a crippling winter storm. As the storm heads into Canada, the lake-effect snow will take over Saturday. Some locations as far south as central Florida are even feeling their coldest wintertime temperatures in several years. The strong winds and snow will continue to produce blizzard conditions with visibility as low as a few hundred feet.

On Dec. 25, 2002, Coca-Cola bagged its very first title in the league when it defeated Alaska in Game Four of the All-Filipino Cup Finals, 78-63, at the Araneta ...

Spin.ph Television replays showed Arigo’s shot should have been a three, but which Montiel saw otherwise to the consternation of the entire Alaska team. Abarrientos played Game One and waxed hot for 20 points in the first half alone. “I can’t even explain how difficult that was for me and the family, my family most especially.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his people to persevere in the face of Russian attacks as the country celebrates Christmas.

In a video address to the nation late on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said: "We endured at the beginning of the war. As always. But slavery has an even higher price." However, a growing number of worshippers have been celebrating the day on 24 December, in line with the majority of Christians around the world. Most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, and mark Christmas Eve - the main day of the festive season in the country - on 6 January. Describing Russia as a "terrorist country", Mr Zelensky accused Russian troops of "killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure".

The message of defiance came as at least 10 people were killed in a missile attack on a market in Ukraine's Kherson.

Ukraine retook Kherson, the only regional capital Russia had taken since its February 24 invasion, in November. We pulled his body, he was already dead,” Kudryashov told the AFP news agency, pointing at a bloody staircase. And if there is no heat, we will embrace each other for a long time to warm one another,” the Ukrainian president said. “We will smile and be happy, as always. Relentless Russian missile and drone attacks since October have caused massive damage to the power-generating system, regularly leaving big cities without water and heat. Most Ukrainians are orthodox Christians and mark the occasion in early January.

Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, expresses his hopes that Ukrainians may celebrate Christmas in peace without the ...

And a Christmas of prayer in which there is the great solidarity of the world.” “I have personally seen several boys and girls who, despite the ongoing suffering, retain a look of hope,” he said. There is the great desire to experience Christmas and to feel the joy of Jesus, of the Son of God being born for us.”