LEXINGTON–Corpus Christi Church celebrated Bambinelli Sunday on Dec. 14. St. John Paul II started the tradition 30 years ago as a way to emphasize to children and families what the real meaning of Christmas is.
The pope gives this special blessing of Christ Child figurines that families bring from their Nativity set at on Gaudete Sunday at noon in St Peter’s Square. Children are also blessed. The name of the event comes from “bambino” which is the Italian word for baby.
“It is so easy to get caught up in the material frenzy and the secularization of Christmas,” said Father Raymond Carlo, pastor of Corpus Christi. “I thought that this would be a good way for us to do what the Knights of Columbus have tried to push for so many years, ‘keep Christ In Christmas.’ It is also a good way for us … to stay united with the universal Church and with the Vicar of Christ on Earth, the Holy Father in Rome.”
Father Carlo said he used the same blessing as the pope used. The blessings were given at the end of all four Masses at Corpus Christi.
