December 24 After sundown, the Vigil of Christ Mass

On Christ Mass Eve the church sings, "Today you will know the Lord is coming, and in the morning you will see God's glory." Tonight is a time of wonder and promise and great blessedness. We hover between Advent and Christ Mass, between expectation and fulfillment.

For centuries, the day before Christ Mass was a fast day. People would wait until nightfall to break the fast. It was also a day of abstinence. Meat was not eaten out of respect for the animals, who were the first to see their newborn Lord Lying in their own manger. Some families do not eat meat tonight, but serve fish and other seafood. A feast of fish reminds us that the Messiah will slaughter the great scaly sea beast, Leviathan, who is death itself. Then everyone will be invited to sit down to supper together. Imagine that! Heaven will be like a fish fry.

The customs of this night may look a bit different in each country, but they are often more alike than unlike. In many households a loaf of bread is broken and dipped in honey and then shared with kisses and wishes for a sweet Christ Mass. Some times this bread looks like the unleavened bread of communion. Sometimes it is rich and yeasty and filled with fruit. And sometimes it isn't bread at all but a porridge of grains and sweet berries. We are reminded in this ritual that Bethlehem means "the house of bread." The newborn Christ is placed in a manger, a feed trough, to be our bread of life.

On this night we are welcomed back to paradise. The angel who barred our way to the garden puts aside the flaming sword. The angel throws open the gates of Eden and leads us back to the tree. Then creation joins with all the company of heaven to sing glory to God.

In Finland, paradise is represented by a canopy of straw and stars set over the dining table. In Italy the eeppo, the nativity scene, is shaped like a candle-lit tower hung with fruits and flowers and filled with gifts. The custom of the Christ Masstree began in villages in Austria and Germany, but about a century ago it spread among Christians in many lands.

The strongest and most ancient tradition of the tree is that it is lit for the first time tonight. We make a great burst of light to welcome the Lord. Then Advent is over and our Christ Mass festival is here at last.

(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).

Christ Mass Season (Christmastide) In the Northern Hemisphere, during the last week of December and the first weeks of January, the days ever-so-slowly begin to lengthen. That is when the church keeps Christ Masstide.

In these merry days we Christians welcome our Lord, who comes as a tiny child, in mercy and gentleness and compassion. But make no mistake. This newborn is our God and Lord, our savior and our judge. And so we sing out loud, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" In the words of Psalm 96, "O sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, who comes to judge the world with justice, who comes to judge the people with truth." To announce God's epiphany-the glorious appearing of heaven on earth-we give gifts and greetings. We drive away the winter with lights and flowers. We gather around the shining tree of life, and we open our homes to every guest.

But the keeping of Christmas is not easy. On the day after December 25, the after-Christmas sales begin, as if Christmas were over. But it's not over. It's just begun! We Catholic Christians have to rely on our own resources when it comes to keeping our festivals. And we have so many days to keep! There's the feast of Stephen, when "Good King Wenceslas looked out." There's St. John's Day, when people toast each other's good health. There's the feast of the Holy Innocents, the sad day of the season.

Christmastide includes the Eve of the Holy Namet (also known asNew Year's. Then there's Twelfth Night, Epiphany Eve, the merriest day of our merry Christmastime, when we follow a star to our heart's desire. At St. Mary's we conclude the twelve days of Christ Mass with our Epiphany Pageant.

The season of the Incarnation ends on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Usually that falls on the second Sunday in January. But the season echoes again on February 2, Candlemas, when we praise Christ, the light of the world. Think how much we would miss if we ended Christmas on December 25.

Advent and Christmastime-the preparation and the celebration-bring us from the old year to a new. The Christian year is not a circle, leading nowhere. Rather, our years form a twisted spiral, like the ladder of angels in Jacob's dream. The ladder of the year leads us out of time, ever upward into God's bright eternity.

(Adapted from Companion to the Calendar by Mary Ellen Hynes for Liturgy Training Publications).