THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS a weekly bulletin & newsletter December 2, 2018 • First Sunday of Advent
Christmas Mass in the Night By: Deacon Henry Finch
“When a profound silence covered all things and night was in the middle of its course, your all-powerful Word, O Lord, bounded from Heaven’s royal throne.” -Wisdom 18:14-15 The liturgical year is rapidly drawing to a close, and we eagerly await the beginning of the new year. The liturgical new year begins with the sacred season of Advent in which we both recall the Lord Jesus’ birth in time and look forward to His second coming in glory. The very brief season of Advent prepares us for the celebration of Christmas, which is one of our most solemn feasts as Catholics. A little-known fact about the Catholic celebration of Christmas is that there are actually four different Christmas Masses each of which has its own set of readings and prayers. The tradition of four Masses of Christmas developed over the course of the first six centuries of Church history, each Mass developing for a particular reason. Most people tend to go the Vigil Mass of Christmas, which is celebrated on December 24 in the evening. This Mass looks forward to the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. Three separate Masses can be celebrated on Christmas Day. The first is the Mass in the Night. The readings and prayers of the Mass in the Night focus on Christ the Light who comes into the world of sin and darkness to redeem it. This message of gladness is proclaimed to the shepherds as they watch over their flocks at night, and our celebration in the night calls this to mind.
end at midnight. At St. Louis this year, we will celebrate the Mass in the Night beginning at 10:45 p.m, so that we end our celebration soon after the arrival of Christmas Day. The final two Masses of Christmas are the Mass at Dawn and the Mass during the Day. The Mass at Dawn is sometimes called the Shepherds’ Mass, since the Gospel reading considers the adoration of the Infant Jesus by the shepherds. The Mass during
At St. Louis this year, we will celebrate the Mass in the Night beginning at 10:45 p.m., so that we end our celebration soon after the arrival of Christmas Day. There will be no Midnight Mass.
the Day ponders the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Now while the Mass in the Night is popularly known as Word of God, the Gospel text being the famous Prologue Midnight Mass, the Mass in the Night can be celebrated of St. John’s Gospel. As we conclude this liturgical year and officially any time after the Vigil Mass but before dawn. begin the next, may the graces of Advent prepare our hearts Since the Mass in the Night is technically considered a512-454-0384 Mass and minds for the worthy 1 St. Louis Catholic & School pondering of Church the mystery of the of Christmas Day, it would seem appropriate that it at least Word made Flesh, in whose coming we rejoice at Christmas.