Pauline Basilica Gets Austrian Christmas Tree

(Nov.25, 2008):- St. Peter's won't be the only basilica graced this year with a Christmas Tree from Austria. The country has also donated an 82-foot fir to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to commemorate the Pauline Year. The tree, donated by the city of Kötschach-Mauthen, in Austria's southern state of Carinthia, arrived last week as a special gift to the monks of the Benedictine abbey at the basilica, who have been the custodians of the body of the Apostle to the Gentiles for about 1,700 years.
"It is a gift for which, we Benedictines of St. Paul's are very grateful, especially since it is the first time that such a thing has happened," said Abbot Edmund Power of St. Paul's Basilica. We are used to seeing the tree in St. Peter's Square, but none has ever been seen next to the Basilica of St. Paul," the Benedictine added. "It is a gesture that highlights in a joyous way, the importance of the present time of grace of the Pauline year, and how much all the Christians of Europe and of the world feel this connection with the Rome of the Apostles. Also, the symbol of the tree, which hearkens back to ancient traditions and has pagan origins, is one of the most popular Christmas symbols," he added."