They carry with them a waxen image of an infant--the
_bambino_--wrap it in swaddling bands and lay it on the site which is
said to be that of the manger."{11}
The Midnight Mass appears to have been introduced into Rome in the first
half of the fifth century. It was celebrated by the Pope in the church of
Santa Maria Maggiore, while the second Mass was sung by him at Sant'
Anastasia--perhaps because of the resemblance of the name to the
Anastasis at Jerusalem--and the third at St. Peter's.{12} On Christmas
Eve the Pope held a solemn "station" at Santa Maria Maggiore, and two
Vespers were sung, the first very simple, the second, at which the Pope
pontificated, with elaborate ceremonial. Before the second Vespers, in
the twelfth century, a good meal had to |96| be prepared for the papal
household by the Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. After Matins and Midnight
Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, the Pope went in procession to Sant'
Anastasia for Lauds and the Mass of the Dawn. The third Mass, at St.
Peter's, was an event of great solemnity, and at it took place in the
year 800 that profoundly significant event, the coronation of Charlemagne
by Leo III.--a turning-point in European history.{13}
Later it became the custom for the Pope, instead of proceeding to St.
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