Christmas Midnight/Shepherd’s Mass Rarely at Midnight?

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Adamek

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I was looking around for a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, but most of the churches around me have the mass in the evening. Some as early as 6pm. The latest one I have seen starts at 11:00pm. What happened to midnight? Is it such a hardship for the clergy or the faithful? How is it done in your corner of the world?
 
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I am traveling that week and so looked up the Christmas Mass times in the vicinity (Arlington, Texas). I found several Masses at midnight, and one at 11:50pm. You won’t catch me up that late though. 😴
 
We have had them at 10pm and we have had them at midnight. Not sure why the time is that important honestly. In my parish, there are great number of elderly and they don’t go to midnight mass, it’s too late. So the pastor made it earlier.
 
Midnight Mass is really hard for me, so I usually go to my son’s preferred OF at 10 pm. That way we go together for Christmas and it’s not so late.

Most parishes around here have earlier Mass, though my own parish has it at midnight and always will (we don’t have Mass the night before in TLM, so it has to be at midnight to count for Christmas).
 
Strictly speaking, there’s no such thing as “Midnight Mass” and so no reason why it needs to be at midnight. While the missal has a “Mass during the night” for Christmas (along with a Vigil Mass, Mass at Dawn and Mass During the Day" no specific times are laid down for when these should happen.
 
Irishmom2 said:
We have had them at 10pm and we have had them at midnight. Not sure why the time is that important honestly. In my parish, there are great number of elderly and they don’t go to midnight mass, it’s too late. So the pastor made it earlier.
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Even a 10 PM Mass is too late for many of the elderly, so our pastor made it even earlier (at 8:00 PM on Christmas Eve). But there are nearby parishes that still will be celebrating the Mass at Night at Midnight so those who rather attend the Mass at Night at Midnight can still easily do so.
 
Last Christmas I made my annula trip to our (reasonably local) Trappist Abbey. The porter, on seeing me after Mass said to someone standing there “This guy has been coming for 50 years!” That was probably reasonably accurate, as my family and I started some time when I was in college, I had a 3 year hiatus for the military, and have been attending since.

There are, however, numerous parishes around which have a multitude of Masses, including Midnight Mass. Perhaps in your area there are few; out here in the most unchurched state in the Union, there are plenty.
 
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In the places I have lived, Midnight Mass is often celebrated earlier in the evening on Christmas Eve. It’s considered easier for people, including the elderly and families with children, to attend when the Mass starts earlier. However, I can always find some parishes that have it at midnight. The Cathedrals tend to have it at midnight also.
 
We’ve always had Midnight Mass at Midnight. 🌲 🌲 🌲

We have an early “Children’s Mass”

Then a Spanish Mass

Then Midnight Mass

Then Morning Mass at 9 am
 
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Adamek said:
What happened to midnight? Is it such a hardship for the clergy or the faithful?
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First of all, there is nothing sacred about midnight as 12:00 AM liturgically speaking. Nothing is lessened by having the Mass at another hour.

And yes, it is inconvenient for several reasons, not all of which are immediately obvious. For example, many parishes, especially in the Northeast, are now in rough neighborhoods. It’s understandable that people would not want to venture there at midnight. Or that parishioners are elderly and it is much more difficult to get around at that hour.

Our parish has Mass at 7:30 PM, with carols before and after. We’re quite happy with it. More people attend, including sons and daughters who have moved away, together with their children. You wouldn’t see that at midnight.

I have never heard anyone complain. The holidays can be stressful enough without messing with an event at such a late hour, especially when there is no compelling reason for it.
 
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GordonP said:
You wouldn’t see that at midnight.
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For others, Midnight Mass is part of the tradition with family and friends. Little kids are carried into Mass in their flannel Christmas PJs and often sleep right through the Mass.

Adults dress up in their Christmas clothes, everyone walks in the dark, beautiful winter midnight, it feels magical and special.

I know parishes who have a breakfast meal after Midnight Mass, I know families who go home and eat, open gifts and then sleep late on Christmas Morning.

What is inconvenient for one person is the most special part of Christmas for others. That is why I thank God we have 4 Masses from which to choose!
 
TheLittleLady said:
That is why I thank God we have 4 Masses from which to choose!
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I guess I am extraordinarily lucky with where I ended up. 4 English and 2 Spanish Vigil Masses the afternoon/evening of the 24th; Mass during the Night beginning at Midnight with the varsity team for music (Parish choir, handbell choir, chamber orchestra, with the Director of Music playing the pipe organ and a set of preliminary music beginning at 11:15), then it looks like 3 English and 3 Spanish Masses starting from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM on Christmas day. Even with 4 priests and 4 permanent deacons (not to mention the possibility of bringing in retired priests or religious priests for some of them if any are available) that’s a lot to get done!
 
Our Christmas Eve Mass is at 8 pm for the same reasons others have mentioned here. I hope someday to live in a larger parish where there would be the option of a later Mass.
 
I think many of us grew up thinking “Midnight Mass” was an official name (and at one time it may have been for the English speaking world,) just as many of us thought of the word “Thursday” as part of the official title for the Ascension. It’s similar to how those of us who are Americans consider “The Fourth of July” to be as --if not more-- important a title for our national birthday as we do “Independence Day.”

A Mass that starts at 12:00AM may be steeped in tradition, but it no longer has any special liturgical significance, at least for the Ordinary Form. Midnight is just one possible time out of many to celebrate “Mass During the Night”.

My parish has Masses on Christmas Eve at 4:00pm, 4:15pm, 6:30pm, and 11:00pm. The one at 11:00pm is our “Mass During the Night.” We have a Mass on Christmas Day at 10:00am.

The other parish in town (which has more than one resident priest) has several Masses on Christmas Eve, a Mass at 12:00AM, and multiple Masses on Christmas Day.
 
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Jen95 said:
Why did it used to have special significance?
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The liturgical significance would be the English language translation of the name for the Mass in the Missal.

My Mid-1960s era English language hand-missal refers to the first Christmas Day Mass as “First Mass At Midnight.” In the 1970s, the English name was “Mass at Midnight.” At some point in the 1980s or 1990s, the English name became “Mass During the Night”.

I do not know if the Latin versions of the Roman Missal ever used a version of the word “midnight” or not. And I do not know if the English language titles were or are standardized across the English speaking world.

Edited to say: The USCCB uses the title: The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) - Mass During the Night
 
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Ours is at 10 pm, simply because our priest is getting older and needs to sleep a healthy amount. Years ago, he would say Midnight Mass, grab a few hours sleep and be back for 8 am Mass. Age has made that too difficult.
 
SMHW said:
I do not know if the Latin versions of the Roman Missal ever used a version of the word “midnight” or not.
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In Latin it was called “The First Mass, at Night” (Primam Missam in Nocte). “First Mass” meant the first Mass on the Nativity of the Lord. It was traditional to have it at midnight in the West since the 400s. I can see them maybe having it at 1 am or 2 am, just as long as it was done before the Mass at Dawn was to start, but it wouldn’t have been called “The First Mass” if it was being done the evening before, in those days.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

It’s my understanding the switch to calling it “Mass During the Night” came in 2009 after the Pope began to say the Vatican’s “midnight Mass” at 10 pm on Christmas Eve.
 
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