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Midnight Masses and family traditions

Stacy Rausch | Catholic Herald Production Coordinator

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Christmas invokes images of families gathered around the tree opening gifts and seated at the table for a large feast. This year’s feast will be even more special for me, as my husband Ron and I have been invited to spend Christmas Eve dinner with our friends of Polish descent (Tom is Polish by heritage, and Asia was born and raised there). Polish tradition entails making 10-12 different dishes from recipes passed down for generations. Dinner starts when you see the first star in the evening sky, and everyone must try each dish.

Another tradition for many families, including Asia’s, is to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Since this is their first Christmas in Ashburn, I offered to find a Midnight Mass for us to attend. Once I started looking for churches near their home that might have a Midnight Mass, that led to a search of all the churches in the diocese — more out of curiosity at this point, especially since I remember a few years ago friends complaining that many churches in the area did not hold the traditional midnight vigil Mass anymore, opting for an earlier evening Mass instead.

After searching church websites for bulletins or calendar listings, I came up with the list below of more than 30 churches in the diocese celebrating Midnight Mass.

I have included a few churches at the end of the list that have Masses starting at 11 p.m.

If there is a concert or other musical event scheduled prior to Mass, that is listed after the name and location of each church.

Check your local parish for full schedules of other Masses on Christmas Eve. And, as one parish secretary told me when I called for the time of their Mass, “Get there early if you want a seat, it gets pretty packed.”

Merry Christmas and God bless.

Churches celebrating Midnight Mass:

All Saints, Manassas
11:15 p.m. — Musical meditations on the Nativity featuring the Adult Choir, Handbell Choir, Chamber Orchestra. Includes Christmas Carols for the congregation.

Blessed Sacrament Church, Alexandria
11:30 p.m. — Lessons and Carols

Church of the Nativity, Burke
11 p.m. — Musical meditation on the Nativity featuring the Adult Choir and will include Christmas Carols

Good Shepherd, Alexandria
Mass celebrated in Spanish

Holy Spirit, Annandale

Holy Trinity, Gainesville
11:30 p.m. — Music program

Our Lady of Angels, Woodbridge

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Vienna

Our Lady of Hope, Potomac Falls
Mass celebrated with choir and orchestra

Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington
11:30 p.m. — Lessons and carols

Queen of Apostles, Alexandria
11:30 p.m. — Adult choir concert

St. Andrew the Apostle, Clifton

St. Bernadette, Springfield
11:15 p.m. — Concert

St. Clare of Assisi, Clifton

St. Anthony of Padua Mission, King George
11:30 p.m. — Carols
Traditional Latin Mass

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Lake Ridge

St. James, Falls Church

St. John the Apostle, Leesburg

St. John the Baptist, Front Royal
11:15 p.m. — Christmas music concert

St. John the Beloved, McLean
11:15 p.m. — Music Prelude
Solemn High Mass in English at Midnight

St. Joseph, Herndon
Bi-lingual Midnight Mass with Spanish choir

St. Lawrence, Alexandria
11 p.m. — Christmas carols

St. Leo the Great, Fairfax
11:15 p.m. — Carols

St. Louis, Alexandria

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Fredericksburg
11 p.m. — Festival of carols

St. Mary of Sorrows, Fairfax

St. Matthew, Spotsylvania
11:20 p.m. — Music prelude

St. Patrick, Fredericksburg
10:30 p.m. — Choir
11:30 p.m. — Hymns and carols

St. Raymond of Peñafort, Springfield
11:30 p.m. — Christmas carols

St. Rita, Alexandria
11:30 p.m. — Musical prelude and carols

St. Theresa, Ashburn

St. Veronica, Chantilly
11:30 p.m. — Carols

St. William of York, Stafford

Churches celebrating Mass at 11 p.m.:

Cathedral of St. Thomas More, Arlington
10:15-11 p.m. — Carols and reading
11-midnight —Vigil Mass with the Cathedral Choir

Precious Blood, Culpeper
11 p.m. — Spanish Mass

St. Anthony, Falls Church
10:30 p.m. — Christmas carols
11 p.m. — Bilingual Mass

St. Jude, Fredericksburg
11 p.m. — Vigil Mass

St. Mary, Alexandria
11 p.m. — Solemn Mass during the night with choir, orchestra, and vocal soloists, featuring the “Coronation” Mass of Mozart, K. 317 (please note that this Mass will use incense)

 

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