The Tradition of Christmas Eve Midnight Mass is Alive & Well in Greater Green Bay

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

~ Poem by English poet Christina Rossetti

There’s just something about the cold and dark of Christmas Eve, combined with the bells and lights of neighborhood churches, that draws people to seek out a Midnight Mass as a way of beginning their observance of Christmas Day.

“Every year, shortly after December 1st, we start getting calls in our parish office asking if we — or any other church in the area — is having a ‘real’ Midnight Mass … ‘you know, like a Mass at 12 midnight?'”

“We’ve done ‘Masses during the night’ in recent years, but usually around 10pm or so.  But, this year, happily, we’ve been able to tell people, ‘YES! We’re having one!'”

~Michael Lee
Faith Formation & Communications Coordinator
Ss. Peter & Paul – Green Bay

While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the Christmas Eve Midnight Masses of which we are presently aware:

Saints Peter & Paul – Green Bay
11:30pm Christmas Concert
12:00am Midnight Mass of Christmas

Saint Patrick’s Oratory – Green Bay
11:00pm Christmas Carols
11:45pm Procession
12:00am Midnight Mass of Christmas (Extraordinary Form; Latin)

National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help – Champion
11:30pm Rosary
12:00am Midnight Mass of Christmas

Prince of Peace Parish – Green Bay
12:00am Midnight Mass of Christmas

For Information on other parishes and locations in the Diocese of Green Bay, Please Click Here.

Merry Christmas!