Isn’t that stupid? Only go once a year? What if I’m not baptized? If you are tempted to enrich your Christmas Day with midnight mass, don’t be afraid. “There are people who go to church once a year just for midnight mass and it makes sense for them,” explains parish priest Sandra Silná.
You can play the audio version of the interview here:
It’s nice to have a ritual, even if it’s just because you do it. And the church is open, the lights are on, there are other people, the nativity scene, and in short, it belongs to your Christmas,” describes the Brno parish priest Sandra Silná from the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in the podcast. “If it contributes to some inner feeling of calm and peace, that’s good.”
Ritual time
Perhaps you are just about to start this ritual. Maybe because grandma used to do it that way, maybe you’re longing to bring back a little spiritual dimension to the holidays. But you hesitate. Where to go? What is expected of me? And how does it actually go?
Midnight is definitely not something to worry about. Most of the clergy count on the fact that many people will come to the church once a year for this mass, including those who are attending it for the very first time.
Singing and preaching
The form of the mass itself will be a little different every time, at least depending on which church you visited. Masses usually start with chants, you can also expect a so-called request for forgiveness, a common prayer, a reading from the Bible and a final blessing. You don’t have to sing with others, no one will be angry with you. Feel free to just listen and let the music and its peace affect you. And it is similar with prayers. You can join, but it is not mandatory.
Sit down, stand up, repeat
This may bother anyone who goes to church for the first time the most. When does he get up? How can you tell? And yet it’s quite simple – just look around. When the majority starts to get up, get up too. And when they sit down again, sit down. It takes a while for the whole church, so you don’t have to worry about being behind.
What might catch you more off guard is the so-called room greeting. During it, believers greet each other with a handshake and the phrase “Peace be with you”. Even in this case, it is enough to repeat what you see around you. It is worth not only the unique feeling of belonging to the community. Even if only for a little festive moment.
Where is the most beautiful?
When you enter this question into the search engine, you will get a list of at least five of the guaranteed most beautiful places to go for midnight. From large cathedrals to classic parish churches, depending on where you live or spend Christmas.
The masses in them are definitely impressive, but a smaller mass, for example, in the afternoon, in a small village church can be just as beautiful. A lot depends on what you expect and what kind of experience you are spiritually attuned to. Therefore, the easiest thing is to try to see where and when midnight mass is celebrated in your area. And if you are not completely satisfied with the experience? After all, no one is stopping you from going to see somewhere completely different in a year.
