St. James Parish will again celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent with more than a rose candle this year. On this day, we will again adopt the Vatican Tradition of blessing the figures of the Baby Jesus (“Bambinelli” in Italian) from our Nativity scenes. The tradition was started by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and ever since, the ‘Bambinelli’ blessing has been given by the pope during the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on the Third Sunday of Advent. We ask every household in our parish, young and old, to unpack your creche and bring the baby Jesus from your family’s Nativity scene to church to be blessed at the 10:00 Mass on December 17, 2023