Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

by Amy Welborn 

Each year, on the Third Sunday of Advent, children gather with their families in St. Peter's Square for "Bambinelli Sunday." The children bring with them figures of the Christ Child—the "Bambinelli"—from their family's Nativity scene, or presepe. During the noontime Angelus prayer, the pope blesses the children and the figurines they have brought. Bambinelli Sunday tells the story of one little boy, Alessandro, and what he learns about family, faith, and love one special day.