Once upon a time, before the creation of the Internet, there were these very, very powerful and all-knowing professionals known as “church secretaries.” Yes, I know that they have evolved into office managers and web czarinas.
But, long ago, if anyone needed to know something about church life, or really needed to reach the pastor (this is before smartphones, too), they called the “church secretary,” who basically served as an air-traffic-controller for everything happing in the church family.
Back in the 1980s, I wrote a news piece for The Rocky Mountain News (#RIP) about the question that church secretaries in Catholic parishes used to dread hearing over and over during the three or four days ahead of Christmas Eve. That question, of course, was: “When is the Midnight Mass?”
Honest. People would ask that and, truth be told, the Midnight Mass, in some parishes, doesn’t start at midnight. Hold that thought, because we will come back to it.
But this post, in the week before Christmas (for most Christians in America), is about the importance of the Midnight Mass and other Christmas Eve and Christmas services. You see, there are potential news stories here. Let’s discuss several of them, briefly.
First, there is an interesting fact that I learned long ago from the late Lyle Schaller, a Mainline Protestant maven who was an often-quoted expert on church growth and, as the Mainline world imploded, church survival. The easiest way to sum up the Christmas news angle that I learned from him is to share the top of a 2015 tribute column that I wrote about his work (“Lyle Schaller, the church fix-it man in rapidly changing times”):
All pastors know that there are legions of "Easter Christians" who make it their tradition to dress up once a year and touch base with God.
What can pastors do? Not much, said the late, great church-management guru Lyle Schaller, while discussing these red-letter days on the calendar. Rather than worrying about that Easter crowd, he urged church leaders to look for new faces at Christmas.
The research he was reading said Christmas was when "people are in pain and may walk through your doors after years on the outside," he said, in a mid-1980s interview. Maybe they don't know, after a divorce, what to do with their kids on Christmas Eve. Maybe Christmas once had great meaning, but that got lost somehow. The big question: Would church regulars welcome these people?
"Most congregations say they want to reach out to new people, but don't act like it," said Schaller. Instead, church people see days like Easter and Christmas as "intimate, family affairs … for the folks who are already" there, he said, sadly. "They don't want to dilute the mood with strangers."
In other words, while many journalists have heard of “Easter Christians,” they may not realize that “Christmas Christians” exist and that they are part of a different flock of folks than the once-a-year (sort of) “Easter Christians.”
“Christmas Christians,” for example, may truly need an answer to the question: “When is the Midnight Mass?”
There are news stories there, for reporters with the eyes to see them. Are there local congregations that reach out to these folks? Websites can only do so much.
Back to the Midnight Mass, itself. Let’s look at two chunks of background information from a new “explainer” post from that must-follow Catholic news and commentary website called The Pillar:
Technically, the Church does not have a “Midnight Mass,” as such. Instead, the missal calls the liturgy “Mass during the night,” and it can be offered over a wide range of times.
In some places, it might be offered well ahead of midnight, and in other cultures, it has customarily been offered much later.
According to some historians, the nighttime Christmas Mass was offered for centuries “when the rooster crowed” — which was usually between three and four in the morning.
As is the norm with the ancient churches, there is some history linked to all of this (which journalists can file away for future use):
While in the first centuries of the Church, the nativity was celebrated during the feast of the Epiphany, it soon became customary to celebrate the birth of Christ as a distinct liturgical feast. That feast has been celebrated on December 25 since at least the middle of the fourth century.
In the late fourth century, Christians in the Holy Land become known for a midnight vigil of Christmas in Bethlehem, followed by a candlelit procession to Jerusalem. And in 440, Pope St. Sixtus III erected a small chapel, with a manger, at the Church of St. Mary Major in Rome.
Because of the long-standing Christian belief that Christ was born at midnight, the pope celebrated Mass at midnight that year — a custom which he continued year after year.
Here is another Christmas news story worth investigating. While the vast majority of Catholics will celebrate Christmas in their home parishes, others may choose to make a holy day trip to another altar.
This is more than a travel story. For many people, as are talking about once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimages.
Where to go? There are some obvious choices, and a few that are less obvious.
Start here, with this post at Religion Unplugged by GetReligionista Clemente Lisi — “Five Best Places In The World To Attend Midnight Mass On Christmas.” Here’s some background, as Lisi looks forward to news hooks in the future:
The pandemic isn’t over, but travel has opened up more in 2021, and many will be boarding trains and planes this Christmas season. Cathedrals, basilicas and churches around the world are expecting more worshippers than usual — but not so unusual at Christmas or Easter — and this year should be no different.
The omicron variant has upended travel and rewritten the rules of this pandemic, so many of you may already be thinking ahead to Christmas of 2022 to make arrangements.
The No. 1 choice, for Catholics, is obvious:
1. St. Peter’s Basilica — Vatican City
A visit to the Vatican is always an amazing experience. The chance to attend Mass celebrated by the pope is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While anyone can walk into St. Peter’s on any given Sunday, Midnight Mass is a much trickier proposition. While you typically need a ticket to attend a Mass given by Pope Francis, the tickets are always free. However, if you are hoping to attend Midnight Mass, you would need to reserve tickets in advance.
Then there is this obvious bucket-list destination for Christmas:
2. Church of the Nativity — Bethlehem, Israel
The birth of Christ is described in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and that it was caused by divine intervention. It is therefore fitting that so many pilgrims would descend onto Bethlehem in the West Bank — and not just at Christmas — to walk in the steps of Jesus.
The church holds an even greater significance to Christians of various communion as the birthplace of Jesus. The grotto inside the church is the oldest site continuously used as a place of worship within Christianity. It is also the oldest major church in the Holy Land. Since 2012, the Church of the Nativity has been a World Heritage Site. International travelers should take note: Israel recently imposed a ban on foreign tourists after the omicron variant was discovered.
The Catholic Mass actually takes place next door at the Church of St. Catherine since the Church of the Nativity is a multi-jurisdiction Orthodox church. The actual grotto where Jesus is believed to have been born is located under the high altar of the Orthodox sanctuary.
For many Orthodox Christians, Christmas is observed on January 7th — following the ancient Julian calendar. As you would imagine, there are festive, and newsworthy, Orthodox celebrations in Bethlehem at that time.
However, for Western Rite Catholics, Lisi offers this summary of the rites linked to the Midnight Mass:
Festivities begin hours before the Mass when the faithful welcome the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem at the entrance to the city. The patriarch makes his way to Manger Square, where crowds are waiting. He then proceeds to enter St. Catherine’s for Mass, after which he leads the way to the adjacent Church of the Nativity. The patriarch carries an icon of Jesus as a child and places it on the star in the holy cave under the basilica that marks the Nativity site.
As a fervent New Yorker, the final church on Lisi’s list is quite logical:
5. St. Patrick’s Cathedral — New York
Located along Fifth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is located where all the Christmas action is.
What amazing churches won the third and fourth slots? Check out Lisi’s post for the answers.
Also, I asked Clemente if he had some honorable mentions and he wrote back with this: “I’d add the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.”
Like I said, journalists should plan ahead. There are stories linked to all of those believers gathering — at home or far from home — for the Midnight Mass.
FIRST IMAGE: Official photo of the Catholic Church of St. Catherine, which is part of the complex of buildings linked to the ancient Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Photos posted at Trip.com website.