Vatican City, Dec 15, 2008 / 12:10 pm
During an audience Sunday with pilgrims from Austria who brought the Christmas tree that will adorn St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI said the “green color and the lights on its branches are symbols of life. In addition, they remind us of the mystery of the Holy Night. Christ, the Son of God, brings a new hope and a new splendor to the confused, cold and unredeemed world in which he is born.”
After expressing his thanks for the 120 year-old tree that rises 108 feet, which will be placed in St. Peter’s Square together with other trees donated by the Austrian faithful, the Pope recalled the rich Christian tradition of Austria and said that faithful there should work to preserve the testimony of Christ to “provide men guidance in their lives.”
Benedict XVI later commented that the Christmas tree “will be a source of joy for Romans and for the many pilgrims from all parts of the world who will come to the Eternal City in the coming weeks for the festivity of the Birth of Christ.”
The Pope went on to add that the tree and the Nativity scene would be a source of joy to him as well, adding that, “If man allows himself to be touched and enlightened by the living splendor of truth who is Christ, he will experience interior peace in his heart and he will become a peacemaker in a society that so longs for reconciliation and redemption.”