In many

Western Christian Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic Ch ...

traditions, Midnight Mass is the first

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

Christmastide Christmastide, also known as Christide, is a season of the liturgical year in most Christianity, Christian churches. For the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church and some Orthodox Churches, Christmastide begins ...

that is celebrated on the night of

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, traditionally beginning at

midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

when Christmas Eve gives way to

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

. This popular Christmas custom is a jubilant celebration of the

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

or service of worship in honour of the

Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

; even many of those

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s that do not regularly employ the word ''mass'' uniquely use the term "Midnight Mass" for their Christmas Eve liturgy as it includes the celebration of

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

History

The tradition of a midnight

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin meaning 'wakefulness' ( Greek: , or ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word has become generalized in this sense and means 'eve' (as in "on t ...

on the eve of Christmas began in the East, and was observed in the late fourth century in Jerusalem by a Christian woman named Egeria on the night of January 5. The tradition reached the Western world in the year 430 under

Pope Sixtus III Pope Sixtus III, also called Pope Xystus III, was the bishop of Rome from 31 July 432 to his death on 18 August 440. His ascension to the papacy is associated with a period of increased construction in the city of Rome. His feast day is celebrate ...

in the Basilica of St Mary Major. By the twelfth century, the practice of midnight Mass had become more widespread as all priests had been granted the faculty of celebrating three Masses on Christmas Day (previously reserved to the Pope), provided the three different propers were celebrated at their appropriate times of midnight, dawn and day.

Traditions

Roman Catholicism

The Roman liturgy for the Midnight mass starts with an overview of salvation history, the Proclamation of the Birth of Christ.

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

have traditionally celebrated Midnight Mass with church services beginning at midnight. Since 2009 the Vatican has conducted a liturgically similar Christmas Eve Mass earlier in the day, first at 10:00 pm, designated a Mass during the Night, then subsequently earlier in the evening. '' In Splendoribus Sanctorum'' is used for the Communion chant during traditional Catholic midnight mass.

Lutheranism

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s often observe Midnight Mass in addition to Christmas

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

and

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...

. In his famous work, ''Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde'', Bernard Picart describes the Lutheran Midnight Mass:

Anglicanism

Churches of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

also traditionally celebrate Midnight Communion for Christmas at 11 or 11:30 pm.

Methodism

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

observations vary as many hold services at 11 p.m. which involve the ringing of church bells when the stroke of midnight is reached.

Presbyterianism

The

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

observes a service just before midnight which involves the singing of carols, although it does not include

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

and is called a watchnight service (held elsewhere on New Year's Eve).

Eastern Christian traditions

While Midnight Mass is not observed in Eastern traditions,

All-Night Vigil The All-night vigil is a service of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches consisting of an aggregation of the canonical hours of Compline (in Greek usage only), Vespers (or, on a few occasions, Great Compline), Matins, and the ...

is common on Christmas Eve and involves the celebration of

, the

hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time historically reckoned as of a day and defined contemporarily as exactly 3,600 seconds ( SI). There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. The hour was initially establis ...

which is traditionally observed at midnight.

References

{{Authority control Nativity of Jesus in worship and liturgy Mass (liturgy) Anglican liturgy Catholic liturgy Lutheran liturgy and worship