Vicariate of Rome
Press and Social Communications Office

PRESS RELEASE

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION:
THE HOMAGE OF POPE FRANCIS

On this occasion, throughout the day Roman citizens and various organizations will pay their respects to the statue of the Virgin in Piazza Mignanelli. The first, as is customary, will be the Fire Service. At 16.00 POPE FRANCIS will arrive, who will be welcomed by Cardinal Vicar ANGELO DE DONATIS and the civil authorities

Friday 8 December will be the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To mark the occasion, throughout the day Roman citizens will pay their respects to the statue of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza Mignanelli, near the Spanish Steps. As is tradition, the first will be the Fire Service, in honour of the 220 colleagues who inaugurated the monument on 8 December 1857: at 7.00 they will climb to the top to lay their wreath of flowers on the Virgin’s arm. The traditional homage will also be attended by Pope Francis, whose arrival in Piazza di Spagna is scheduled for 16.00. He will be welcomed by Cardinal Vicar ANGELO DE DONATIS and the civil authorities; he will pray in front of the monument dedicated to Our Lady and leave flowers at its base.

Before the Holy Father, numerous groups and personalities will leave floral tributes at the foot of the 12-metre-high column designed by architect LUIGI POLETTI, at the top of which stands the bronze Marian statue by sculptor GIUSEPPE OBICI. The parish of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, the Sovereign Order of Malta, and the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps with the brass band, which will perform a hymn to the Virgin Mary at 9.30, will bring their homage. There will also be the Archconfraternity of the Sicilians, the Circolo San Pietro, the Don Gnocchi Foundation, the Padre Pio and Casa Sollievo della sofferenza groups, the Sodalizio degli Abruzzesi... Not to be forgotten is the large procession of workers from the most important Roman companies, including the municipal and municipalized ones, and the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See with Spanish groups. At 14.00, Unitalsi will pay tribute.

From 5.00 and throughout the day, the Friars Minor Conventual of the Basilica of the Santi XII Apostoli will be in the square to welcome groups and individual faithful, animating the event with hymns and prayers. “In the feeling of the population, that towards the Immaculate Conception has always been a deep-rooted form of devotion, even before the proclamation of the dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854”, recalls Father FRANCESCO CELESTINO, parish priest of the Santi XII Apostoli church. "From 1463, the Conventual Franciscan friars, who arrived in the Basilica of the Santi XII Apostoli, introduced the devotion to the Immaculate Conception”, the religious monk recounts, “thanks to Cardinal Bessarione, who left a painting in the church, entitled 'La Madonna di Bessarione', which is still kept in our basilica today. In 1477, Pope Sixtus IV, who was a Franciscan, gave permission to celebrate the feast of 8 December with great solemnity, and this allowed the first seed to be sown of what is now the novena of the Immaculate Conception”.

In the Basilica of the Santi XII Apostoli there is, in fact, the oldest novena to the Immaculate Conception in Rome: from 29 November to 7 December there is the recitation of the Rosary and the singing of the litanies at 17.45, then, at 18.30, Mass presided over by a cardinal with the singing of the “Tota Pulchra”, which, says Father CELESTINO, “was composed by Father ALESSANDRO BORRONE, one of our confreres who lived in the nineteenth century”. In particular, today Cardinal CLAUDIO GUGEROTTI will celebrate the Eucharist, on Tuesday 5 Cardinal ARTHUR ROCHE, on Wednesday 6 December Cardinal Vicar ANGELO DE DONATIS, and on 7 December Cardinal GIANFRANCO RAVASI. On 8 December, for the conclusion of the novena, Cardinal GIOVANNI BATTISTA RE will celebrate.

Journalists and media workers wishing to participate must send a request, no less than 24 hours of the event, exclusively through the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system at: press.vatican.va/accreditation.

4 December 2023

Giulia Rocchi, Press and Social Communications Office
of the Vicariate of Roma,
tel. +390669886343/150, cell. +393393749085
e-mail stampa@diocesidiroma.it, giulia.rocchi@diocesidiroma.it