Vatican City, Dec 15, 2019 / 05:30 am
As Pope Francis blessed children's nativity scene figurines Sunday, the pope said that the Advent season is a time of conversion to make space in one's heart for Christ to come and fill it with joy.
"Advent, a time of grace, tells us that it is not enough to believe in God: it is necessary to purify our faith every day," Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Dec. 15.
"It is a matter of preparing to welcome -- not a fairy-tale character -- but the God who calls us, involves us, and before whom a choice is imposed," he said in St. Peter's Square.
Italian children gathered in St. Peter's Square before the Angelus prayer, shouted and cheered as they awaited the papal blessing of their Nativity scene figurines of the infant Jesus, called "Bambinelli" in Italian.