By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
On Friday, Dec. 12, a delegation of 1,000 pilgrims from Lower Austria will present Pope Benedict XVI with a 109 foot Christmas tree that will decorate St. Peter’s Square during the 2008 Christmas season.
According to Vatican Information Service (VIS), Erwin Proll, governor of Lower Austria, will present the tree, a Norway spruce taken from the municipality of Gutenstein.
This year’s tree is one of the largest ever erected in St. Peter’s Square. In 2006, a fir tree of the same height, taken from the mountains of Calabria in southern Italy, was considered the tallest Christmas tree ever erected in the Square.
Workers plan to decorate the tree with more than 2,000 ornaments, then top it with a large star. On Saturday, Dec. 13, at 4:30 p.m. the tree will be lit by a boy from the Altenburg Choir during a brief ceremony which will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Austrian government representatives and pilgrims will participate in the event which will feature musicians and singers from Ziersdorf and Altenburg.
The Christmas decorations in St. Peter’s Square will not be completed until Christmas Eve when the nativity scene located in the center of the square is unveiled.
Lower Austria has also had the unique privilege of donating 40 smaller trees which will be used to decorate Paul VI Hall, the Clementine Hall, the Pontifical Apartments and various offices of the Roman Curia.
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