Getty Pope Francis attends the Christmas night mass at St. Peter's Basilica
In the United States, the annual broadcast of the Christmas Eve midnight mass from the Vatican in Rome will be televised on Saturday, December 24 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on NBC.
If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream, which both include NBC live in the most markets and come with a free trial.
Those are the two best live stream options if you’ve cut cable, but there are also some other alternatives, so here’s a full guide on the different ways to watch Christmas Eve Mass 2022 streaming live online:
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FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of NBC (live in most markets) and 100-plus other TV channels on FuboTV, which you can use for free with a seven-day trial right here:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Christmas Eve Mass 2022 live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 250 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch most new shows on-demand within three days (and sometimes longer) of their conclusion, even if you don’t record them.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” NBC (live in most markets) is included in every one, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Christmas Eve Mass 2022 live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to unlimited hours).
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of NBC (live in select markets) and 40-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” bundle. This option doesn’t come with a free trial, but it’s the cheapest long-term streaming service with NBC and other live channels, plus you can get your first month half off:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Christmas Eve Mass 2022 live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
Christmas Eve Midnight Mass 2022 Preview
The annual Christmas Eve midnight mass, also known as the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, is taking place at 11:30 p.m. local time in Rome, Italy at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Christmas Eve, December 24. But it airs on the United States starting at 11:30 p.m. Eastern, Mountain and Pacific and 10:30 p.m. Central time on NBC.
NBC has been the home of the annual Christmas Eve midnight mass for decades. Viewers can tune in from 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. in their time zone to watch Pope Francis lead the service.
The Vatican prss release reads, “The Holy Father Francis will preside over the Mass on the night of the solemnity of the Lord’s Christmas. The Eucharistic Celebration will be preceded by the preparation and singing of the Kalenda.”
The Kalenda is the Catholic liturgy that precedes Christmas Eve mass. It is the Christmas Proclamation of the Birth of Christ.
In Pope Francis’s Christmas greetings that are posted on the Vatican website, he urges Catholics to feel “gratitude” this holiday season.
The Christmas greetings read:
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 Vatican’s Christmas Eve mass 2022 airs on Saturday, December 24 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on NBC.