Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete! Modestia vestra nota sit ómnibus hominibus: Domine enim prope est. (Phil. 4:4-5)
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice! Indeed, the Lord is at hand. (Phil. 4:4-5)
The entirety of the Advent season is filled with a growing sense of rejoicing, yet of the four Sundays of Advent, the third Sunday, commonly known as Gaudete Sunday, most prominently captures the joy of the season. The name for Gaudete Sunday comes from the Latin word gaudete (rejoice), the first word of the Entrance Antiphon of this day’s Mass. The rose-colored “joy” candle of the Advent wreath is lit, and Father sets aside his purple vestments to don rose-colored ones for the occasion.
Gaudete Sunday is also known as Bambinelli Sunday. Bambinelli is the plural form of the Italian word bambinello, which means little baby boy. 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.
The tradition of the Nativity scene, however, is far older than the papacy of Pope St. John Paul II. In fact, the very first Christmas crèche was created in 1223 by St. Francis of Assisi. Desiring to promote devotion to the birth of Christ, St. Francis prepared a manger, complete with hay, oxen, and a donkey, in a cave in the small Italian town of Greccio. On Christmas Day, Francis cradled a carved doll representing the infant Jesus in his arms, intending to lay him gently in the manger. Much to the crowd’s surprise, however, the bambinello“ seemed to be awakened from sleep when the blessed Father Francis embraced Him in both arms” and cried tears of joy. The miracle moved the people of Greccio, and now, nearly 800 years later, we find ourselves similarly moved by the tender scene recreated in our own churches and homes.
At the site of the original Nativity scene in Greccio on December 1, 2019, Pope Francis explained the importance of this devotion: “Standing before the Christmas crèche, we are reminded of the time when we were children, eagerly waiting to set it up. These memories make us all the more conscious of the precious gift received from those who passed on the faith to us. At the same time, they remind us of our duty to share this same experience with our children and our grandchildren. . . . [T]he Christmas creche speaks to us of the love of God, the God who became a child in order to make us know how close he is to every man, woman and child, regardless of their condition.”
On Sunday, December 12, we invite you to bring the bambinello, the baby Jesus, from your family’s Nativity scene to Mass for a special blessing. May we, like so many generations of the faithful before us, experience the true joy of salvation in our homes this season.