5 Best Places In The World To Attend Midnight Mass On Christmas
A view from St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, one of the most-popular places to visit during Christmas. Photo via Creative Commons.
(TRAVEL) As Christmas Day approaches, more and more of us are wrapping up gifts and mailing out cards. Many of you are also packing your bags and planning trips this holiday season.
But Christmas is about more than just presents, cards and trips. It’s the time of year when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. For Roman Catholics and many other Christian denominations, Advent — the four weeks leading up to Dec. 25 — is a special time. Advent was adopted from Latin “adventus,” meaning “arrival.”
Among all the hustle, bustle and stress that come with Christmas, we should also all be reminded that it is a time of prayer. While prayer can take up many forms, Catholics are returning to in-person Mass now that COVID-19 lockdowns have largely been done away with.
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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.
As Christmas nears, here are the five best places in the world for Catholics, as well as Christians from other denominations and nonbelievers, to attend Christmas Mass:
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. Just walking distance from department stores and the Rockefeller Center tree, St. Patrick’s is worth a visit any time of year — but especially at Christmas.
While there are many services celebrated on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Midnight Mass requires a ticket. You can obtain one by visiting the cathedral’s website — although the Nov. 22 deadline already passed, so keep it in mind for next year. The Mass is also livestreamed for those who can’t be there in person.
4. Basilica of Our Lady of Peace — Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
Can you name the tallest Catholic church in the world? Since 1989, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the West African nation of Ivory Coast has held the title of tallest Catholic church in the world, at 516 feet high.
It should come as no surprise given how Catholicism has grown, and continues to grow, in Africa. Designed to look like St. Peter’s Basilica, the church can hold up to 18,000 people. For more information on this architectural wonder and its Mass schedule, you can visit the basilica’s official website.
3. Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar — Barcelona, Spain
Built in the 14th century, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar is among the places to visit if you’re going to be in Spain over the next few weeks.
Midnight Mass is known as “Missa del gall,” which means “Mass of the rooster.” The name originates from an ancient legend that said the rooster was the first animal to see Jesus and to announce his birth. If you’re in Barcelona this Christmas, make certain to check the Mass schedule before making travel plans.
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 denominations 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 basilica.
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.
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. Large screens are placed in St. Peter’s Square for many to see.
You could always watch from wherever you are spending the holidays, since the Mass is available both via livestream and broadcast on television across the planet.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.