Does anyone go to Midnight Mass?

I didn’t go in 2024, but I went on Christmas morning.
Last night I was invited by my neighbours to their NYE service but I didn’t want to be out in the cold, wet windy night.

If our Church is open, we are usually there.

Midnight mass is too late, we choose early evening.

Protestant here - yes to midnight mass, but the village church near where my family spend Christmas now no longer offers it, and it's off to one of the other 6 churches the vicar serves. Where I live, the mass is standing room only in a large Abbey. I do feel a bit of pity, though, for the enthusiastic and tipsy celebrants when they realize it's the full mass, not just a couple of carols and a prayer or two!

I was raised a catholic (very lapsed now) however, I have not been to Midnight mass since I was a child. I have been thinking of going and would love to go to the local church which is the same one I used to go to. I think its because I feel a wee bit lost at the moment plus it evokes memories of my mum and dad and of happier times.

I love Midnight Mass and sing in the church choir. It's so joyous: our R.C. Parish comprises 70 different nationalities and languages, and it's wonderful all to celebrate together. It's the best start to Christmas for me!

I am a poor excuse for a catholic these days, but my family were good Catholics and we lived 3 doors away from the church. It was a big part of my family's social life and my parents were very kind and sociable people. The house was frequently hosting people from breakfast time on as they popped in after Mass and throughout the day. For Midnight Mass, we usually had friends or relatives staying over and people going to Midnight Mass would congregate at my parents house for drinks and nibbles from about 10pm. We would all go off to church just before 11pm and there would be carols for an hour before Mass. The atmosphere was magical and it felt as if we were all part of one big family. After Mass there would be a few people who came back for either tea, whisky or sherry and sandwiches and mince pies. We would probably get to bed by 2am. My father always attended the morning masses as well to greet people at the door and to help them find seats as the services were usually crowded. He was delightful and people loved him. After 11am Mass a great friend of his always came back and had a large glass of whisky before going home to his wife and children for lunch. He did this the Christmas after my father dies as a sign of respect. My mother ( Who never cried) cried as she was making the gravy. I silently vowed that she would never have to do this again. Sadly the vow was upheld. She died suddenly 5 months later. So both parents dead in their mid- fifties. I didn't go to Midnight Mass again after that. We had two small children and my granny had come to live with me when my parents died. We lived out in the country with the nearest church was eight miles away. I didn't drive at that time. It was a wonderful childhood. We brought our children up as Catholics , although my husband isn't a Catholic. We did all the right things and they had a happy childhood. Then when they were grown up we became aware of scandals and abuse within the wider Catholic religion, thankfully it had never been part of our lives. Our children stopped going to church and so did I. I felt I could not subscribe to any organization where abuse took place. I feel robbed of my religion , The kindness, the unchanging rituals throughout each year that made people feel safe. Midnight Mass was a big part of that. Now I am too old to be going out at that time of night . But I have such happy memories of it.

Not midnight mass, but 9 lessons and carols in the cathedral for the music and tradition. I have no faith but am a cultural Christian.

DD and I attend midnight communion at our local C of E church every year. We also attend a carol service at a very isolated 12th century chapel in rural Suffolk all done by candlelight with the children bringing the figures to the crib.

Until the Covid lockdown. Now I don't like to turn out that late, returning to my isolated home alone in the dense darkness - no street or neighbours' house lights.

Our village church (very small village on Dartmoor) does most of its services via facetime believe it or not but the Midnight Mass for Christmas Eve is extremely well attended (although it takes place at about 7pm) and is standing room only. It really is a lovely service though and we go every year. We are both Catholic but the Church is not - to be completely honest I am not sure what denomination the church is and it really doesn't seem to matter which is a great thing to be able to say

Yes, we go. We also have an afternoon service of carols and readings, and refreshments. Our church (CofE) is in a very multi-cultural area and it’s lovely to see non-Christian families enjoying this.

B9exchange

We will have a Midnight Mass in the Cathedral, have to get there really early to get a seat. The time has moved to 11.00 pm instead of 11.30 pm so we wish each other Happy Christmas as we go out, rather than during the peace. I have been going for many decades. On one occasion, driving home on my own full of the Christmas spirit, it was snowing and I stopped to offer a lift to the long blonde haired figure stuggling against the wind. Imagine my horror when the 'girl' turned out to be a man! But I had stopped, so I drove him home way out of my way, and he was very grateful!

My goodness! That could have been nasty!

I'm not Catholic, so no..I used to go to Christmas Eve service all the time when I was younger though

Madmeg

I'm a Catholic and when old enough we always went to Midnight Mass. One of the lads in my primary class had older brothers and the local Trades Hall (a drinking establishment with a dubious clientele) was next to the Church.

At midnight, the drinking club would empty and my friend's Catholic brothers and all their drinking pals would pile into the church and loudly sing all the hymns and carols, before wobbling unsteadily back to the club for a few more hours.

The lovely priest welcomed them thought a few old biddies tut-tutted in disgust!

Ha! Yes, Madmeg, I remember the drunks noisily piling into the back of the church for Midnight Mass. My mum used to say 'Don't look at them!"

Yes we attend.

Our church have one but I'm usually away with family by then. Last year I visited my DD in Dubai for Christmas, and her church weren't having a service, but one of her colleagues invited us to her church. It was packed out - a very big building too - and we struggled to find somewhere to park nearby. The service went on until afte 1.00 am and there were children there, some of whom fell asleep. There was a roman catholic church nearby and that was pretty busy too hence the difficulty parking.

Do you mean Christingle Cateq?

Our church is having a midnight Mass if we can encourage a vicar to come to do the service, as our Priest in charge is too busy elsewhere to do it at our church. Having said that, I’ve not attended midnight Mass for many years, preferring to go Christmas morning, as I really don’t like going out late at night.

Not all Catholic Churches offer midnight Mass, either. A family member has said that their Priest changed it to late afternoon because many people preferred that.

My guess is that it probably depends where the church is and also how large and what age the congregation is.

Cateq, is Kris Kingle an American service? I thought it was a name for Santa Claus?
Churches in the UK may have a Christingle Service, where each child receives a specially prepared orange, a symbol of the world, and all the decorations have Christian symbolism too, with the red ribbon representing the blood of Christ. They are normally very well attended, and are held across a range of dates, not just on Christmas Eve.

Our Catholic Church has not done midnight mass for about 4 years. The mass is done for 8p.m. on Christmas Eve. Also they used to put on a children's play before the mass but due to less and less people in attendance they stopped doing it. I used to enjoy it but everything changes.

If I had a car, or any friends willing to take me, I assuredly would go to Midnight Mass, but I live 7 km away from the nearest Catholic church and no buses run that late on Christmas Eve. So I shall have to make do with the 11 o' clock mass on Christmas Day.

Not been since my teens. Why would I, I’m a non-believer.
Having said that, the theatricality of religion is enticing…particularly Catholicism, and particularly at Christmas!

We do and have do so since we got married. We also go to a local churches Kris Kringle service with the local school children

I go
I lived in a small village in Scotland and we were between 20 and 30 on a normal Sunday mass - and needed the heating running with Scotland's temperatures. We never skipped Midnight Mass.
I currently live in Texas and the church here is full - so much so that they had to build a new church as the old one was too small to accommodate everyone.

As I have done for the past seven years, I shall be going to Gloucester Cathedral's service. I think many of the churches around will also have services but the Cathedral is my "home" church.