A Light has risen in the darkness.
Christmas
25 December 2024
Hear Midnight Mass live.
Enroll your intentions for the Christmas Octave.
While all things were in quiet silence,
and the night was in the midst of her course,
Your almighty Word, O Lord,
leapt down from heaven’s royal throne, alleluia.
—Ant. (Magn.) Sunday within the Octave of Christmas
Christmas
Midnight Mass
For centuries, it pleased the Heavenly Father to keep the world in waiting for the coming of His Son. In keeping mankind in the long winter of waiting, Almighty God in His inestimable Providence desired to foster a deep yearning for Him whom prophets and kings longed to see. The world in darkness and silence still awaits Him, though they know it not. They still wait for Him to fulfill the emptiness they seek to fill with so many trappings of the world and falsities. We, too, eagerly await His return as we remember His first coming in humility and quiet, in the soft features of the Babe of Bethlehem. We await Him for we already know the Peace that only He can bring, the only Light that can help us navigate the thick darkness. Join us as we foster that deep yearning for Him in the celebration of Christmas so that when He returns, He may find us watchful in prayer and joyful adoration!
Lessons & Carols begin at 11:00 pm
Mass begins at 12 am
Attend in person
Come early this year for the Lessons & Carols before Mass, beginning at 11:00 pm! We will feature familiar classics like O Come All Ye Faithful as well as traditional but less-familiar carols such as Vaughn William’s Herefordshire Carol.
If this will be your first visit to the Shrine, check our Schedule page for more information on confession times, parking, and directions, as well as the rest of the Christmas Day schedule.
More informationWatch it live online
We are very pleased to invite you to watch Midnight Mass live on our YouTube channel again this year. Join us online an hour before midnight for Lessons & Carols.
Watch Mass liveEnroll your intentions
Give your loved ones the gift of grace this Christmas. Masses throughout the Octave of Christmas will be offered for your enrolled intentions. They will be placed in a gold box that will sit on the first gradine of the altar during each Mass. Print out Mass cards to let everyone know you remembered them.
Enroll your intentionsSponsor the music for this Mass
We need your help to sustain our new program for sacred music at the Shrine. Music is one of the Church’s oldest and most beautiful traditions – and an essential part of the sacred liturgy. This year’s Mass setting will be George Malcom’s Missa ad Prœsepe, Praetorius’s Puer Natus, and Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium.
Sponsor the musicWatch it live
Christmas Midnight Mass
Nativity of Our Lord
25 December 2024
Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad before the face of the Lord: because He cometh.
—Offertory: Psalm xcv. 11 and 13
Here it is! The moment all the world awaits on tiptoe. Join us beginning at 11pm for Lessons & Carols, then at midnight for Solemn High Mass. The Mass setting will be George Malcom’s Missa ad Prœsepe.
Christmas schedule
11:00 pm (December 24) Lessons & Carols
12:00 am Traditional Latin Mass (Solemn High)
7:30 am Traditional Latin Mass
10:00 am Traditional Latin Mass (Solemn High)
Christus natus est.
Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord hath said to Me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Alleluia.
Enroll your intentions
Christmas Octave
Enroll your intentions for Christmas this year! They will be placed in the gold box that sits on the first gradine of the altar throughout the Christmas Octave. The priests at the Shrine will offer Mass daily for your enrolled intentions. We’ll also provide you with a card you can print out and use to let your loved ones know that you have remembered them in this specially-graced Christmas celebration.
Use the button below to make a donation and enroll your intentions. You will be given an opportunity to submit them after you make your donation and you are redirected to our website. Your offerings help us to keep the Shrine open, and we are deeply grateful for and humbled by your support. May God reward your generosity.
George Malcom’s
Missa ad Prœsepe
Sponsor the Music
Music at the Sacred Mass
The music program is an integral aspect of liturgical life at the Shrine. Saint Alphonsus, a hymn-writer himself, is both a model and inspiration for us – his words and his life remind us of the deep connection between beautiful music and reverent worship.
As an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, the Shrine is dedicated to the celebration of the Mass in its Extraordinary Form and, as such, we seek to clothe the Holy Mass with the Church’s extraordinarly rich treasury of sacred music. The long tradition of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony bequeathed to us, like the other traditions we have inherited, is an important aid in ordering our souls toward God.
If you find yourself blessed by the music program at the Shrine, we ask that you consider helping us make its continuation possible. Your donation is as greatly appreciated as it is needed. You can use the button below to make a secure donation to our music program.
R. This day true peace has come down to us from heaven; This day the heavens drip honey upon the entire world.
V. This day brought the dawn of new redemption, of the deliverance announced long ago, of eternal happiness.
—from the First Nocturn of Matins for Christmas Day