Christmas Midnight Mass: Celebrations and Origins

 The Christmas Eve Midnight Mass happens at midnight on December 24 to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The Mass marks the beginning of the Christmas Day. The word "Christmas" has originated from a combination of the words "Christ" and "Mass." "Christos" is Greek for "Christ," while "maesse" is from Latin "missa," or "holy mass." So the Midnight Mass has historically been an inseparable element of any Christmas celebrations.

In North American culture, the Midnight Mass involves celebrating Holy Communion with family, candles-lit carol services, dramatizations of Christ's life story and ringing of the bells at midnight.

Meanwhile, Christmas celebrations have already begun in Israel with an annual procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the presumed birth place of Jesus of Nazareth. It is being reported that Christians from the Gaza Strip will be allowed to cross the border to visit Bethlehem for 24 hours. The Midnight Mass in Bethlehem will be held at the St Catherine's Church near the Church of the Nativity. The city of Bethlehem is expecting 35,000 pilgrims over Christmas.

However, this year the Midnight Mass in Vatican won't be "midnight" at all. The Mass will be served by Pope Benedict XVI at 10 PM rather than at more conventional 12 AM to ease the burden of Holidays on the health of 82-year-old Pope. But, it turns out this year, many Churches in the U.K. are considering holding their Midnight Mass services as early as 6 PM on Christmas Eve to accommodate for people with smaller children as well as to avoid putting their worshipers in danger of walking dark streets during wee hours.

You can catch the live stream of the 2009 Midnight Mass from the Vatican on our site.