

“The parish has adapted its schedule in response to those changes.” “The shift toward attending earlier Masses has been going on for years but really became apparent about 10 years ago as part of changes in society which have seen Christmas Eve become more prominent for family gatherings,” said Msgr. Masses also will be available live and on demand on YouTube. Christmas Day and will be livestreamed elsewhere on the parish campus if the church is filled. Masses at the Dublin parish will be at 4, 6:30 and 9 p.m. The wearing of masks is being strongly recommended at St.
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Seating will be at full capacity, with the exception of a reserved section by the baptismal font, with distancing regulations in effect.

One parish that is requiring reservations for all Dec. Reservations are not necessary at most parishes this year, but a few still have some form of distance requirement. Last year, several parishes required anyone wishing to attend a Christmas Mass to make reservations as a result of pandemic-related distancing rules. Paul School gymnasium, and 200 attended the midnight Mass. Masses was 338 in the church and 140 in the St. Those numbers were smaller in 2020 because of the pandemic and its restrictions and a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, with a total of 2,254 for 10 Masses. Masses – 2,078 at the church and 1,645 at Westerville North – compared with 725 at the midnight Mass. Paul on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2019, including 3,723 at the two 4 p.m. It’s something special, being at an hour when the Church usually isn’t having liturgical celebrations, and there’s a certain peacefulness about it, with everything dark and waiting for the light of Jesus.”ĭeacon Dean Racine, parish administrator, said a total of 8,067 people attended seven Masses at St. “But I always intend to have a midnight Mass here at St. “This allows them to spend Christmas morning with their families while still making Mass the first thing they do to celebrate the birth of Jesus. “There’s no question that lots of people come to the earlier Masses on Christmas Eve,” said Father Jonathan Wilson, the church’s pastor. 24 in the church and at Westerville North High School, as well as having the traditional midnight Mass and Masses at 6:30 p.m. Paul the Apostle, is celebrating Masses simultaneously at 4 p.m. The diocese’s largest church in terms of both seating capacity and number of members, Westerville St. Other parishes are livestreaming Masses to other sites on their campuses and to homes, a practice that was widespread last year when distancing limits remained in effect because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten of the larger parishes are celebrating simultaneous Vigil Masses in separate locations because of the size of the crowds who come to those Masses each year. This year, among the 106 parishes in the Diocese of Columbus, 29 are celebrating the Night Mass at midnight, with three others at 11:30 p.m. 25 and Mass During the Day, after 10 a.m. Priests can celebrate as many as four Christmas Masses – the Vigil Mass, between 4 and 9 p.m.

24 drawing the largest attendance among Christmas Masses. The practice of celebrating Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve can be traced back nearly 1,600 years and is one of the Catholic Church’s oldest traditions.īut in the past 50 years, because of changes both in Church law and in society, it’s become common in the Diocese of Columbus and elsewhere to celebrate the “midnight” Mass at an earlier time on Christmas Eve, with vigil Masses in the late afternoon and early evening of Dec.
