For eligible schools outside of Canada, the program must be at least 13 weeks in duration or for students enrolled full-time at a university, the program must be at least 3 weeks in duration. For full-time programs at eligible Canadian schools this means a program of at least 3 consecutive weeks in duration with at least ten hours of Distance learning and correspondence courses are also eligible. Share What are the other Christmas Masses?įour Masses, each with its own readings, can be offered for Christmas:īut midnight Mass, in the cold, clear, middle of the night, feels uniquely special, and for many Catholic family cultures, is a sure way to center Christmas on the birth of Jesus Christ.Īnd for some families (or perhaps only JD’s) there is the long-standing belief that while a family is at Mass on Christmas Eve, God grants family pets the special grace of being able to talk - for just a minute or two - to honor the animals who surrounded the Lord at his birth.With CST Advantage Plan and other CST RESPs, we recognize any program that qualifies under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and institutions that range from community colleges and universities to vocational, technical, trade and religious schools. The Church’s current norms make that possibility a little less likely. Older priests might recall that from time to time, this meant that Catholics arrived at Mass with a little fire in their belly, courtesy of the drink beforehand. This presented an interesting situation for midnight Masses - Catholics could eat, and drink, until the moment when Mass began. But until 1964, Catholics were required to fast from midnight until the time they received Holy Communion. If you want to reach out to someone in CST and you are available anytime. In CST, this will be a usual working time of between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. in 2020, and will be offered at the same time in 2021.Ĭurrent canonical regulations require Catholics to fast for an hour before receiving the Eucharist. If you are in EST, the most convenient time to accommodate all parties is between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm for a conference call or meeting. Because of a coronavirus curfew, it was moved to 7:30 p.m. in 2009, and in 2013, Pope Francis moved it to 9:30. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI moved “Midnight Mass” to 10 p.m. In some places, Misa de gallo still begins very early in the morning.Īt St. Some Spanish-speaking countries refer to Christmas Mass during the night as the “Misa de gallo,” - Mass of the rooster - because of that custom.
In some places, it might be offered well ahead of midnight, and in other cultures, it has customarily been offered much later.Īccording to some historians, the nighttime Christmas Mass was offered for centuries “when the rooster crowed” - which was usually between three and four in the morning. Instead, the missal calls the liturgy “Mass during the night,” and it can be offered over a wide range of times. Technically, the Church does not have a “Midnight Mass,” as such. In the eleventh century the custom of offering three Christmas Masses, beginning with midnight Mass, spread throughout the world - a custom which has continued in the life of the Church today - with one set of readings for a Christmas Eve Mass, and different sets for each of the three Christmas Masses. The midnight Christmas Mass became known as the Angels’ Mass, which celebrated the heavenly announcement of Christ’s birth, and his unity with God the Father. Over time, there arose a custom in which the pope celebrated three Masses for Christmas: The first at midnight, the second at dawn, and the third, on Christmas morning, at St.
A fourth century hymn, Quando noctis medium, recounts the tradition that Jesus Christ was born at midnight: