Midnight mass: Why do Christians hold mass at 12 on Christmas Eve?
MILLIONS of Christians gather in the middle of the night to celebrate midnight mass on Christmas Eve. But why is the service so late?
Churches across Britain will be illuminated by flickering candles and filled with the sound of carols at midnight on Christmas Eve this year.
Roman Catholic churches traditionally celebrate the Christmas mass at midnight, while Protestant churches often hold candlelight services late into the evening.
Many Catholic churches now start the service an hour before midnight while the Pope celebrates the mass even earlier. This year the papal mass is scheduled for 9.15pm.
According to tradition, Catholics celebrate three masses on Christmas Day - at midnight, at dawn and during the day. There is sometimes also a vigil mass on Christmas Eve.
For many Christians, it seems fitting to celebrate Jesus’ birth at night because Luke’s Gospel tells how Jesus was laid in a manger because there was no room at the inn.
Mike Hayes, director of campus ministry at Canisius College in Buffalo, said the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel were “keeping watch over their sheep by night” at the time.
“Keeping vigil has always been a spiritual practice in Catholicism,” he wrote on the Busted Halo website about the Catholic faith.
“This is what we are essentially doing by attending any ‘Vigil’ mass, we wait in joyful hope for the coming of the Saviour.”
Many churches now celebrate midnight mass earlier in the evening to make it more convenient for families to get young children to bed at a reasonable hour.
There are also some concerns that travel disruption can make it harder for them get home, while rowdy revellers nearby might ruin the solemn mood.
But Father Raymond J de Souza, a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario, argues that the mass should not be held earlier for “greater convenience”.
“Midnight Mass is the ultimate sign that we are adjusting our lives to fit Christmas,” he wrote in the Catholic Register.
“In the whole year – sacred or profane – no other event begins at midnight. For no other reason do we head out in the middle of the night.
“In the heart of the night, in the heart of the darkest season, in the heart of the winter bleakness, Catholics gather because they have seen a great light.”
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