Bambinelli Sunday

We encourage all households, young and old, to bring the baby Jesus from their Nativity sets at home to any Mass at either church to have them blessed as part of Bambinelli Sunday. We hope that everyone will participate in this powerful witness to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Pope John VI instituted the celebration of Bambinelli Sunday in 1969 to help children and young people prepare for Jesus. Bambinelli is the name of the small statues of the infant Jesus in Rome. Since then, children have brought the figurine of the Christ Child from their Nativity sets to St. Peter’s Square on the Third Sunday of Advent to be blessed by the Holy Father after his Angelus address. Parishes around the world now join in the celebration, encouraging children to make the connection between the Nativity figures at home and the church where they worship every weekend. Father Stan celebrated the first Bambinelli Sunday at St. Bernardine Church in 2017 and the celebration now continues to be enjoyed by parishioners at both of our churches.