In some places, it might be offered well ahead of midnight, and in other cultures, it has customarily been offered much later.Īccording 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. Instead, the missal calls the liturgy “Mass during the night,” and it can be offered over a wide range of times. Technically, the Church does not have a “Midnight Mass,” as such. In the eleventh century the custom of offering three Christmas Masses, beginning with midnight Mass, spread throughout the world - a custom which has continued in the life of the Church today - with one set of readings for a Christmas Eve Mass, and different sets for each of the three Christmas Masses. The midnight Christmas Mass became known as the Angels’ Mass, which celebrated the heavenly announcement of Christ’s birth, and his unity with God the Father. Over time, there arose a custom in which the pope celebrated three Masses for Christmas: The first at midnight, the second at dawn, and the third, on Christmas morning, at St. A fourth century hymn, Quando noctis medium, recounts the tradition that Jesus Christ was born at midnight:
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