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The Christmas Eve Midnight Mass is an annual tradition at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City in Rome, Italy. It is presided over by Pope Francis and takes place beginning at 11:30 p.m. local time at the Vatican. But if you can’t be there in person on December 24, here is what you need to know about the TV time and channel.
The Television Broadcast
NBC has been the broadcast home for the annual Christmas Eve Mass for decades. The broadcast traditionally begins at 11:30 p.m. and runs until 1 a.m. in the Eastern, Mountain and Pacific time zones; the mass airs from 10:30 p.m. to midnight in the Central time zone. The mass also streams live on the Vatican YouTube channel if you want to watch it in real time.
Celebrants who have the WGN network on their cable package can also watch the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Roman Catholic midnight mass conducted by Cardinal Blase Cupich at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. It actually airs live at midnight central time for those who get WGN Chicago, but will be streaming on the Catholic Chicago YouTube channel for those who do not get WGN.
There is also a live stream of several Christmas Eve and Christmas Day masses on the Youtube channel for St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. There is a 5:30 p.m. Eastern family mass on Christmas Eve, a midnight mass as Christmas Eve rolls into Christmas Day and also a Christmas Day service at 10:15 a.m. Eastern. Those masses are all livestreamed on the St. Patrick’s Cathedral YouTube channel.
The Pope’s Pre-Christmas Message
On the Vatican’s official website, Pope Francis posted a message in anticipation of the holiday season and the 56th World Day of Peace, which is January 1, 2023.
He wrote in his Christmas Greetings:
Once more, the Lord grants us the grace of celebrating the mystery of his birth. Each year, kneeling before the Child lying in the manger, we can look at our lives in this special light. It is not the light of the glory of this world, but “the true light, which enlightens everyone.” The humility of the Son of God who partook of our human condition is, for us, a lesson in seeing things as they really are. Just as he chose poverty, which is not merely the absence of wealth, but utter simplicity, so too, each of us is called to return to what is essential in our own lives, to discard all that is superfluous and a potential hindrance on the path of holiness. And that path of holiness is non-negotiable.
At the same time, we need to realize clearly that in reviewing our lives and our past, we should always begin with the remembrance of all the good we have known. For only when we are conscious of the Lord’s goodness to us can we also give a name to the evil that we have experienced or endured. The realization of our poverty, without the realization of God’s love, would crush us. Consequently, the interior attitude that we should deem most important is gratitude.
The Gospel, to explain this gratitude, recounts the story of the ten lepers who were all healed by Jesus; yet only one of them, a Samaritan, returned to thank him. His act of thanksgiving obtained for him, in addition to his physical healing, complete salvation (cf. v. 19). His encounter with the goodness bestowed on him by God was not superficial; it touched his very heart. That is how it is: without a constant exercise of gratitude, we would end up simply cataloguing our failures and lose sight of what counts most: the graces that the Lord grants us each day.
In addition to Christmas Eve mass, the Vatican holds several other special masses during the holiday season. The mass called the Solemnity of the Lord’s Birth takes place on Christmas Day, December 25, at noon local time. The mass called the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God takes place at on New Year’s Eve at 5 p.m. local time and again on New Year’s Day at 10 a.m., and the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord takes place on Friday, January 6 at 10 a.m. local time.
The 2022 Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican airs Saturday, December 24 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern, Mountain and Pacific times and at 10:30 p.m. Central time on NBC.