The Pope blesses a sea of figures of the Baby Jesus, held by Saint Joseph

Once again, as Christmas approaches, the Nativity scene has taken center stage in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during the Angelus prayer. Pope Leo XIV blessed numerous figures of the Baby Jesus, carried mainly by children, but also by older catechists and their families, “who will place them in the manger from their homes, schools, and oratories.”.

Pray that the children of the world may live in peace.

“Dear children, before the manger, pray to Jesus also for the Pope’s intentions. In particular, let us pray together that all children in the world may live in peace. Thank you!, has stated The Pope, who today invited in the Angelus to dwell on the figure of Saint Joseph.

The initiative corresponds to the Roman Oratory Center, launched in 1969 by Saint Paul VI, and this is the first time that the Pope has asked children to pray for his intentions.

Saint Joseph: “fragile like us, but courageous and strong in faith”

“Today, the fourth Sunday of Advent, the liturgy invites us to meditate on the figure of St. Joseph. It presents him to us, in particular, at the moment when God reveals his mission to him in a dream (cf. Mt 1:18-24), the Pope began his Speech before the Angelus prayer. 

In this way, he said, “he offers us a beautiful page in the history of salvation, whose protagonist is a fragile and fallible man—like us—and, at the same time, courageous and strong in faith.

We see this when, even before the Angel reveals to him the mystery that is being fulfilled in Mary, faced with a situation that is difficult to understand and accept, “he does not choose the path of scandal and public condemnation of his future wife, but the discreet and benevolent path of secret repudiation (cf. ibid.),” added the Successor of Peter.

In this way, “he shows that he has grasped the deepest meaning of his own religious observance: that of mercy.”.

Leave your comforts behind and sail out to sea

The Pontiff emphasized that “the purity and nobility of his feelings become even more evident when the Lord, in dreams, reveals his plan of salvation to him, indicating the unexpected role he must assume: to be the husband of the Virgin Mother of the Messiah.”. 

He particularly emphasized the faith of the holy Patriarch. “Here, in fact, Joseph, with a great act of faith, also leaves the last shore of his securities and sails out to sea toward a future that is now entirely in God's hands. St. Augustine describes his consent in this way: «Through Joseph's piety and charity, a son was born to the Virgin Mary, a Son who was also the Son of God» (Sermon 51, 30).

Compassion, charity, mercy, abandonment to the Lord 

“Compassion and charity, mercy and abandonment; these are the virtues of the man from Nazareth that the liturgy proposes to us today, to accompany us in these last days of Advent, towards Holy Christmas.”.

The Pope has encouraged us to practice these virtues, “forgiving, encouraging, giving a little hope to those we live with and those we meet; and renewing in prayer our filial abandonment to the Lord and his Providence, entrusting everything to him with confidence.”.

May the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, who were the first to welcome Jesus, the Savior of the world, with great faith and love, help us in this, the Pope concluded.