Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum!We will be going, rather, once again to Midnight Mass, a family tradition we began, sort of, when I was little, and in earnest, the year I was pregnant.
Growing up, we would often go to our parish's Midnight Mass, except it was lame-o and had "Midnight" Mass at 10PM (and then 9PM).
Then, our amazing, wonderful irreplacable parish in CA actually had a beautiful, Midnight Mass at actual Midnight.
That first time was incredible - there is something so special, so mystical, so sacramental about leaving your house in the middle of the night, when all is quiet and still, in order to go and worship at the manger of our newly born Savior.
One can almost here the angels singing in the deep darkness of the night as one meets that newborn Savior in the Flesh and Blood of the Eucharist.
And so, we come to worship the babe.
Toddler in tow, we come. As said here, somethings are just worth getting up for in the middle of the night and we hope that even as a wee lad, our boyo will come to know that, and to understand that his beloved Mama Mary has given birth to a very special Baby, Christ the Lord, just for him.
Toddler in tow, we come. As said here, somethings are just worth getting up for in the middle of the night and we hope that even as a wee lad, our boyo will come to know that, and to understand that his beloved Mama Mary has given birth to a very special Baby, Christ the Lord, just for him.
We used to do midnight mass when I was a child. We would spend the evening at my grandparents' home, doing the old-fashioned French Canadian "reveillons" (the awakening - a big party, people going from house to house), then head home to go to mass. That all stopped the year I was 7. The incense and warmth of the church made me sick and I threw up all over the pews, kneelers and floor. Mom had to clean it up while I continued to be sick outside (ate too much chocolate, I think). After that, we didn't go to midnight mass any more....and the smell of incense in church makes me nauseous!
ReplyDeleteaww :( no fun! sick kids on christmas sounds plain awful!
ReplyDeletewe put him to bed first and wake him up to take to mass - i'm trying to imagine the whiney insane mess that would have been my boyo if we had tried to keep him up straight through! :-p