Vicariate of Rome

Press and Social Communications Office

PRESS RELEASE

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: HOMAGE OF THE POPE

On Monday 8 December, for the entire day, the citizens of Rome and various organizations will lay flowers at the statue of the Virgin in Piazza Mignanelli. The first, as is customary, will be the Fire Brigade. At 16.00 the Holy Father Leo XIV will arrive, who will be welcomed by the Cardinal Vicar Baldo Reina and the Mayor Roberto Gualtieri

Tradition and devotion come together in homage to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the occasion of the solemnity celebrated on 8 December. For the entire day of Monday 8, in accordance with tradition, groups and individual faithful will bring their own tributes to the monument dedicated to Mary Immaculate, in Piazza Mignanelli, close to Piazza di Spagna. As is customary, the first to arrive will be the Fire Brigade, in honour of the 220 colleagues who inaugurated the work on 8 December 1957: at 7.00 they will climb to the top to lay their wreath on the Virgin’s arm. This year, for the first time, POPE LEO XIV will also be present. He will arrive in Piazza di Spagna at around 16.00 and will be welcomed by the Vicar General of His Holiness, Cardinal BALDO REINA, and the Mayor ROBERTO GUALTIERI; he will pause in prayer in front of the monument and leave a wreath of flowers.

Before the Holy Father, numerous groups and personalities will leave floral wreaths at the foot of the 12-metre-high column, designed by architect LUIGI POLETTI, on top of which stands the bronze statue realized by the sculpture GIUSEPPE OBICI. At 8.30, the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps will intervene, with the band which will perform a hymn to Our Lady; then, the parish of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Legio Mariae, the Circolo San Pietro, the Don Gnocchi Foundation, UNITALSI, and various educational institutions. At 9.00, in the Church of Trinità dei Monti, Mass will be celebrated by Monsignor FRANCESCO PESCE, diocesan representative for social and labour pastoral care, with the workers of the most important Roman companies, including municipal and municipalized ones, who will then go to pay homage to the Marian statue.

The day will be animated by the Friars Minor Conventual of the nearby parish of Santi XII Apostoli. Among other things, the basilica hosts Rome’s oldest novena to the Immaculate Conception: from 29 November to 7 December, every day at 17.45, there will be the recitation of the Rosary and the singing of the litanies; then, at 18.30, Mass presided over by a cardinal with the singing of “Tota Pulchra”, composed by a Friar Minor Conventual, Father ALESSANDRO BORRONI (Senigallia 1820 - Assisi 1896).

“Every year, in our Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles, we celebrate the novena and the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: a time of grace that illuminates the path of Advent, in sweet anticipation of the encounter with Jesus, Saviour of the World”, recalls Father FRANCESCO CELESTINO, parish priest of the Basilica. “The Franciscans have special affection for Mary Immaculate”, remarks the priest. “Just think of the many saints who deeply loved Mary: Saint Francis, Saint Anthony of Padua, Blessed John Duns Scotus, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Francis Anthony Fasani, Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Indeed, it was a Franciscan, Pope Sixtus IV, in 1477, who granted the licence for the solemn celebration of the feast of 8 December, sowing the first seeds of the current novena. He spread the devotion to Mary Immaculate long before the proclamation of the dogma by Pius IX in 1854”.

Today the Mass at the Church of the Santi XII Apostoli will be celebrated by Cardinal ÁNGEL FERNÁNDEZ ARTIME, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, and pontifical legate for the Papal Basilicas of Assisi. On Thursday 4 December, Cardinal CLAUDIO GUGEROTTI, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, will celebrate; on Friday 5 December Cardinal ROLANDAS MAKRICKAS, archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major will preside over the liturgy. On Saturday 6 December, Cardinal MARCELLO SEMERARO, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, will preside, and on Sunday 7 December, Cardinal MAURO GAMBETTI, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City. On Monday 8 December, the solemn Eucharistic celebration will be led by Cardinal LEONARDO SANDRI, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

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30 December 2025