If you do a quick Google search of “Midnight Mass,” as I did this past week, your top results will likely be about some strange television series on Netflix. Apparently, the logarithm considers it the most relevant reference to Midnight Mass. Artificial intelligence, indeed.
Midnight Mass is, of course, the traditional celebration of Christmas Mass in the middle of the night. For most of the Church’s history, it was the first Mass of Christmas, as there were no Masses on Christmas Eve. If that sounds odd, it’s because you and I are used to afternoon and evening Masses, especially those taking place on Saturdays which satisfy the obligation of Catholics to attend Sunday Mass. But prior to the liturgical reforms of the 20th century, afternoon and evening Masses were not a thing – not even for weddings, which always took place mid-morning. The reason for this was the strict fast that Catholics, including priests, had to observe if they wanted to receive Holy Communion. The traditional Eucharistic fast began at midnight the night before which meant you couldn’t eat or drink anything, including water, until you received. In 1957, Pope Pius XII shortened the fast to 3 hours, which enabled more people to observe the fast. It was eventually shortened again to just 1 hour. This made the celebration of afternoon and evening Masses possible. In the 1970s, Rome gave permission to local bishops to allow the celebration of Saturday evening anticipatory Masses, which are now so familiar. The vigil Masses we celebrate on Christmas Eve appeared with these changes in liturgical and sacramental discipline. Things changed again in the Church in 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI scheduled his celebration of the night Mass of Christmas at 10pm rather than midnight. Many bishops and pastors followed suit. But before all those changes, the first Mass of Christmas was always at midnight on Christmas morning.
Midnight Mass is a uniquely Catholic experience. I remember attending it as a kid. We’d always host a big open house party on Christmas Eve, which wrapped up around 11pm. After a cursory cleaning of the house, we would head over to St. Theresa’s in Trumbull. There was something magical about driving up to the church at that hour and seeing the light from inside the building pouring out from the stained-glass windows. As my family looked for seats, I joined the other servers who were setting up for Mass, and the choir sang carols to settle the excited chatter of the crowd. We got home from Mass around half past 1am and went straight to bed so Santa wouldn’t pass us by.
For the past several years our parish has celebrated a 10pm Christmas Eve Mass. But this year, we’re going to restore the tradition of Midnight Mass. I hope that after you finish your fish dinners and maybe exchange some presents you’ll make your way over to St. Cecilia Church to sing some carols and celebrate with us the holy night of our Savior’s birth. We’ll make sure you’re home before Santa gets there.
posted 12/20/25
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 