Pope Francis made a private visit to the Sistine Chapel on Christmas Day.
The Holy Father visited the chapel alone to not only enjoy the new lighting recently installed, but also to have a few moments of prayer, reported the Sismografo.
In addition to being Christmas Day, Dec. 25 was a special day for Francis for another reason: it was the anniversary of his Baptism.
He mentioned this recently, on a Dec. 14 visit to a Roman parish, where he spoke to a group of families with recently baptized children:
«I should be somewhat curious to ask a question, but I won’t do so … Or I will do so, but I won’t ask for an answer … How many of you know the day of your Baptism? No, don’t say anything, don’t say anything … However, if you don’t know it, go find out: call your aunt, your mother, your godmother: “When was I baptized?” Because it is a feast day, that is, it is the day that we encountered Jesus for the first time. This is a task for the home.
«When was I baptized? And this is beautiful, it’s beautiful! I was baptized, precisely, on Christmas Day! Eight days after my birth, in fact on that day, because at that time it was the custom – at least in Argentina – to baptize children eight days after their birth. Remember this always. I pray for you. May you have joy, joy with these children, joy in the home, joy in hope, so much joy. And I give you my blessing.»
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On the NET:
Article (and pictures of Pope in the Sistine Chapel, courtesy of L’Osservatore Romano): http://ilsismografo.blogspot.it/2014/12/vaticano-papa-francesco-lo-scorso-25.html?m=1
