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In manyWestern Christian traditions,Midnight Mass is the firstliturgy ofChristmastide that is celebrated on the night ofChristmas Eve, traditionally beginning atmidnight when Christmas Eve gives way toChristmas Day. This popular Christmas custom is a jubilant celebration of theMass orservice of worship in honour of theNativity of Jesus; even many of thoseChristian denominations that do not regularly employ the wordMass uniquely use the term "Midnight Mass" for their Christmas Eve liturgy as it includes the celebration ofHoly Communion.[citation needed]
The tradition of midnight Mass on Christmas Eve was first chronicled byEgeria, aGalician woman who went on a pilgrimage to theHoly Land around 381. She witnessed how theearly Catholics ofJerusalem honored the Christmas mystery with a midnight vigil atBethlehem.[1] This was followed by a torchlight procession to Jerusalem, arriving at theChurch of the Resurrection at dawn. The tradition reached the Western world in 430 underPope Sixtus III in theBasilica of St Mary Major.[2] He instituted the practice of a midnight Mass after the cockcrow in the grotto-like oratory of the famedBasilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. There are discrepancies, however, as to the exact time of the cockcrow due to the fact that the ancient Romans set it at the start of the day.
By the twelfth century, the practice of midnight Mass had become more widespread as all priests had been granted the faculty of celebrating three Masses on Christmas Day (previously reserved to the Pope), provided the three different propers were celebrated at their appropriate times of midnight, dawn and day.[2]
In 1587, the head priest of the Church of San Agustin deAcolman in Mexico, Diego de Soria, petitionedPope Sixtus V to allow the Mass to be held outdoors because the church could not accommodate the large number of attendees at the evening celebration.[3]
TheRoman liturgy for the Midnight mass starts with an overview of salvation history, theProclamation of the Birth of Christ.
Roman Catholics have traditionally celebrated Midnight Mass with church services beginning at midnight. Since 2009 the Vatican has conducted a liturgically similar Christmas Eve Mass earlier in the day, first at 10:00 pm,[4] designated aMass during the Night, then subsequently earlier in the evening.
In Splendoribus Sanctorum is used for the Communion chant during traditional Catholic midnight mass.
Lutherans often observe Midnight Mass in addition to ChristmasVespers andMatins. In his famous work,Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, Bernard Picart describes the Lutheran Midnight Mass:
In some Lutheran Countries, the People go to Church on the Night of the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour with lighted Candles, or Wax-Tapers in their Hands. The Faithful who are met together in the Church, spend the whole Night there in singing, and saying their Prayers by the Light of them. Sometimes they burn such a large Quantity of Incense, that the Smoke thereof ascends in the Form of a Whirlwind, and their Devotees may properly enough be said to be wrapt up in it.[5]
Churches of theAnglican Communion also traditionally celebrate Midnight Communion for Christmas at 11 or 11:30 pm.
Methodist observations vary as many hold services at 11 p.m. which involve the ringing ofchurch bells when the stroke of midnight is reached.
TheChurch of Scotland observes a service just before midnight which involves the singing of carols, although it does not includeMass and is called awatchnight service (held elsewhere on New Year's Eve).
While Midnight Mass is not observed in Eastern traditions,All-Night Vigil is common on Christmas Eve and involves the celebration ofMatins, thehour which is traditionally observed at midnight.
| Misa de Gallo | |
|---|---|
 Altar decorated for aMisa de Gallo | |
| Also called | Rooster's Mass Shepherd's Mass |
| Observed by | Roman Catholics |
| Significance | Advent season |
| Begins | December 16 |
| Ends | December 24 |
| Related to | Misa de Aguinaldo Christmas Day |
Misa de Gallo (Spanish for "Rooster's Mass", alsoMisa de los Pastores, "Shepherds' Mass;"Portuguese:Missa do Galo;Catalan:Missa del gall) is the Midnight Mass celebrated in Portugal and many former Portuguese colonies and also in Spain and many formerSpanish colonies onChristmas Eve and sometimes in the days immediately precedingChristmas. The tradition ofMisa de Gallo is still observed today, mostly by Spanish-speakingRoman Catholic countries inLatin America and in thePhilippines.
In Spain, locals begin Christmas Eve by lighting small oil lamps in every home, then proceed to church to hear Midnight Mass.[6]
The most popular of these holy services is in the Basílica de Montserrat also known asSanta Maria de Montserrat, a Benedictine monastery built on the steep cliffs of the Montserrat mountain range. TheEscolania de Montserrat, Europe's oldest boys' choir known for their angelic voices, graces the celebration.
Bolivians attendChristmas Eve Mass, and the celebration is followed by a sit-down meal featuring a traditional bowl ofpicana del pollo. It is a stew[7] made of chicken with peas, carrots, and potatoes.
Simbang Gabi (Tagalog for "Night Mass"), also calledMisa de Aguinaldo ("gift mass"), is theFilipino version of theMisa de Gallo. It traditionally begins on December 16 and ends on December 24. In most parts of Philippines, however, the term "Misa de Gallo" specifically only refers to the last mass onChristmas Eve.[8] InZamboangueño Chavacano, the series of masses is also calledMisa de los Pastores.[9]
Simbang Gabi is associated with a nine-daynovena procession, as well as a reenactment of thesearch for lodgings byJoseph and the pregnantVirgin Mary known as thePanunulúyan.[10][11]
In Puerto Rico, locals celebrate Mass by singing Christmas songs, which they callaguinaldos. The more religious versions of these songs are calledvillancicos and the ones with aCriollo inspiration are calleddécimas navideñas.[12]
In Venezuela, theMisa de Gallo is only one of a series of Masses held at dawn calledMisa de Aguinaldo. The name comes from the Spanish word for "Christmas box". The Masses are held for nine days and culminate on Christmas Eve. The songs of the liturgy are replaced by songs of the "gaita" genre[1], which is a folk genre from theZulia state, and which are heard most widely throughout the country during Christmas. The lyrics of these gaitas are liturgical and approved to be played during ceremonies.
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