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National Catholic Register

Pope Leo XIV Revives Tradition During First Christmas of His Pontificate

Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on December 21, 2025.

Leo XIV will celebrate the Christmas Day Mass in the Vatican basilica, a custom that has not been observed since the pontificate of St. John Paul II.

The Knight Before Christmas

In this N.C. Wyeth illustration from ‘The Boy’s King Arthur’ (1922), the Green Knight readies himself for combat with Sir Beaumains, horn raised beneath the thorn — “and there he blew three deadly notes.”

The Christmas story includes chivalry as well as shepherds, and knights in shining armor as well as wise men bearing gifts.

Why Nietzsche’s Ears Were Deaf to the Word of the Cross

Diego Velázquez, “Christ Crucified,” ca. 1632, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Nietzsche sought strength in the will to power, but the cross proclaims a deeper wisdom he could not hear — a word that reveals the mystery of divine strength in weakness.