Christmas Eve Service

[Saphire]

The highlight of Christmas for me is the Christmas Eve service at our church. It is a wonderful affirmation of why we 'do what we do' at this time of year, and it is so good to stop and remember the true meaning of the holiday.

As we walked into church, the choir was there on either side of the entrance way, welcoming us by singing hearty, joyful carols. The lights were low and the place was packed. I always love seeing a church bursting at the seams. We found a place to sit, our kids were with us including our precious foster baby. She loved the lights and all the activity.

The service started with quiet instrumental carols of violins, violas and cellos. Then the choir began with one of my favorites... 'Of The Father's Love Begotten'. It is a 13th century hymn with awesome words and it has a haunting, Gregorian chant sound to it. We sang four or five more carols, then the pastor gave a message of warmth and hope. There was special music at the end, a song called 'A Labor Of Love' which was focused on Mary and how it must have been such a difficult time for her, not only to give birth under poor conditions but to be away from home, with no Mom or midwife to help her. We ended with 'Silent Night' and the hand bell choir played as well.

On the way home we listened to a 'Celtic Christmas' CD and looked at all the homes lit up, while the baby dozed and my kids, who are now young adults, teased each other about various things. (music to this Mom's ears)

Tell me about your Christmas Eve service, and what made it special for you.

 

[TimeforMe]

Unfortunately we didn't go to Christmas Eve service this year as I felt bad about not going regularly thus far, so didn't want to be a once-a-year visitor. (silly, I know) In the past, however, I LOVED the Christmas carols and it has always felt like I was hearing them for the first time, the way they were meant to be sung....by a choir in a place of worship. I also love the way the church is decorated with the beautiful poinsettias, trees, etc. Makes me all warm and fuzzy. Your service sounds perfect.

 

[Sal]

Our Christmas Eve service ends with Silent Night. We all hold candles and the lights are dimmed as we sing. It is beautiful and gives me goose bumps.

 

[disykat]

My favorite is always Silent Night as well. On the last verse everyone raises their candle high and it gets me every year. From where I sit in the choir loft it is amazing!

We attend several services since we do the music and they all went well.
While it's admitedly not where my focus should be, my absolute favorite is my son playing lead trumpet in the brass quintet that accompanies some of the hymns. He has the "fancy parts." I manage to restrain myself from standing up and yelling "that's my son!"

 

[tinatark]

Our Christmas Eve service ended up being bigger than the pastors ever expected - a full house, close to 1500 people. We do it at 5 p.m., so people can go to church, then family gatherings, etc.

We started with a baptism service - baptised probably 15 people, one of whom was a teenager who almsot died in a car accident 7 months ago - 2 of his friends died, he wasn't expected to survive - our church has ministered to him since the accident.

The Lord's supper is part of the service.

We used to all hold candles through the service, but it no longer works, with the average attendance so high. Now it's a candlelight service, but the "candlelight" portion is the candelabras in the pulpit area.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Our church has 4 different services Christmas Eve. The 4pm there is a family service geared toward the younger children, 7 is the contemporary service, 9 is candlelight (this service is packed) and 11 is candlelight and communion. We went at 11 this year and it was lovely.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

That sounds like a beautiful service. Ours usually is Midnight Mass.

I love hearing the songs like Silent Night and O Holy Night.

 

[PaddingtonBear]

My kids, who are 2 and 4, were crazy this year and just wouldn't sit still and be quiet so we had to take them out of Christmas Eve service this year. It was really hard for me becuase I adore Christmas services, in particuar I absolutely love hearing the choir sing O Holy Night- its such a beautiful hymn, "Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!" Goosebumps. I keep wondering when this strong willed preschooler will finally think the concequences aren't worth the attention-getting behavior and we'll be able to sit through an entire service again!

 

[englishteacha]

It's at Christmas Eve when I miss my old church where I grew up. We had an amazing choir and lots of musicians, and it was then that it really felt like Christmas. We live 2.5 hours away now, and while I like our church, it's not the same at Christmas.

Our service was nice, but there was no choir (and since our choir is not very good, I didn't really mind). My husband played his guitar for "What Child is This?", and two of the high school youth played cello and guitar for some carols. I love the cello! The younger youth did a reading that was an acrostic poem that spelled out "Merry Christmas" and they had little wooden letters that they set up by the Christmas tree. Someone knocked two letters over afterwards and it then said "Merry Crhistmas." The English teacher in me could hardly keep from leaping up and fixing them! We have a large Christmas tree decorated with angels. Each angel is in memory of a loved one of a church member. For the past several years one of our oldest members (she just turned 90) has told a story for the children about a little Church Mouse named Christopher who lives in our church and only comes out to see the people on Christmas Eve. This year, she retired from the story telling and a different lady told a story about how Christopher taught a new little mouse, Bartholomew, how to be the next church mouse, because Christopher was retiring to go live with Mrs. M to keep her company. It was very cute and I think our older member wrote the story.

We ended with candlelight singing "Silent Night" and "Let There Be Peace on Earth."

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I actually worked late on Christmas Eve, and skipped the service to get everything done that I needed to at home. I realized I should've gone since that is what Christmas is really about, but aside from getting stuff done, I was just too tired to get dressed up and go to church.

I feel extra bad though since this was the first time I've ever skipped church on Christmas Eve, and I also skipped church on Easter for the first time ever this year, and those are the two days I always have made myself go before.

 

[diznygirl]

Our Christmas Eve service was special this year because our church was finally done being built. Christmas Eve was the first day for Masses in the new church.

 

[smidgy]

thank you for sharing your church experience. it has been SO LONG (too long) since I got to spend christmas in church(as I always did, as a child.. my grandfather was the pastor).
as a waitress, the days of "the Christmas Story:, when the only places open on christmas were the chinese restaurants, are long gone.
now a days, everything is open.. maybe it's good, maybe not. you need gas in your car. you have to pay tolls, walgreens is open wal mart, restaurants, etcd. everything. I guess that's good. unless you have to work those days.
yes, I made some decent money, and I had some very nice customers.l but, I also had people yelling at me that the diet coke didn't taste right,,,and why isn't there free refills on the pop, and our 180 pound teenager son didn't like anything on the buffet, can you deduct his from the bill? aand, instead of being with my grandkids, I had people yelling at me. and instead of being in church with my loved ones (like I grew up), people didn't like... (fill in the blank here)

then there was the little old lady who paid the bill for her party of 10....paid the 18% tip, then gave me an extra $20 AND GAVE ME A HUG!.
I miss the days when it was all about the church, and Jesus' birthday, and family...... sigh!!!!

 

[wdwmom2]

Our Christmas Eve service started with the children playing the bells to "The First Noel". They did an AMAZING job!!! That was the best part of the service.

I also enjoyed lighting the candles and singing Christmas songs. But the kid's and their bells really made it for me!!

 

[rotlex]

Our Christmas Eve service was special this year because our church was finally done being built. Christmas Eve was the first day for Masses in the new church.

Please pardon the question, but would that be the new Celebrations Corpus Christi Catholic Church I had read about somewhere? If so, that would be GREAT news for our next WDW trip! We would love to try a new parish out on our vacations!

In regards to the original topic on the forums, our Christmas Eve service was magnificent. The Church was PACKED, I mean, standing room only, which is just awesome for our parish. (It would be SO nice if it was like that every Sunday, LOL).

We also ended with Silent Night, and yeah, with a choir, a full church, candles, decorations and all the extra's, I have to admit, a few tears of joy ran down my own cheeks, as well as a number of other participants!

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[bicker]

This was the first Christmas Eve we've been at our church for services, since we typically have spent Christmas Eve with my wife's family instead. It was a wonderful service, with lots of faith-appropriate hymns (ours is not a Christian church) as well as some hymns "evoking our ancient religious heritage". We had a special offeratory for abused women and children, which helped bring the meaning of the season to the fore. And the service ended with the sharing of the light of truth, a touching and significant candlelight ceremony.

 

[diznygirl]

Please pardon the question, but would that be the new Celebrations Corpus Christi Catholic Church I had read about somewhere? If so, that would be GREAT news for our next WDW trip! We would love to try a new parish out on our vacations!

www.celebrationcatholic.org

 

[DisneyFan620]

The highlight of Christmas for me is the Christmas Eve service at our church. It is a wonderful affirmation of why we 'do what we do' at this time of year, and it is so good to stop and remember the true meaning of the holiday.

As we walked into church, the choir was there on either side of the entrance way, welcoming us by singing hearty, joyful carols. The lights were low and the place was packed. I always love seeing a church bursting at the seams. We found a place to sit, our kids were with us including our precious foster baby. She loved the lights and all the activity.

The service started with quiet instrumental carols of violins, violas and cellos. Then the choir began with one of my favorites... 'Of The Father's Love Begotten'. It is a 13th century hymn with awesome words and it has a haunting, Gregorian chant sound to it. We sang four or five more carols, then the pastor gave a message of warmth and hope. There was special music at the end, a song called 'A Labor Of Love' which was focused on Mary and how it must have been such a difficult time for her, not only to give birth under poor conditions but to be away from home, with no Mom or midwife to help her. We ended with 'Silent Night' and the hand bell choir played as well.

On the way home we listened to a 'Celtic Christmas' CD and looked at all the homes lit up, while the baby dozed and my kids, who are now young adults, teased each other about various things. (music to this Mom's ears)

Tell me about your Christmas Eve service, and what made it special for you.

I played my flute at our service for the 8th year in a row (22nd year participating in some way- I used to sing before my flute days). Everyone always says it's so pretty when I play Silent Night all alone. It's not Christmas without me participating in Christmas Eve service.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...Tell me about your Christmas Eve service, and what made it special for you.

We go to a 5:45 Mass, but get there very early, as DS is in the Children's choir. I love watching the church fill up as they sing some preliminary carols. Any children attending are invited to participate in the program.

Santa comes in, in complete silence, and kneels before the manger to pray before leaving on his journey. (It sounds strange, I know, but it's like that Christmas ornament of the same theme, and really sweet.)

After that, the actual service begins. Father ___ welcomes everyone, etc. The lights dim, and "Once Upon a Christmas" is played over the sound system, while the children silently act out the Christmas story. The main parts have been rehearsed, but all the children who earlier volunteered are involved as angels, shepherds, etc.

The lights come up, and we all sing, and Communion proceeds as usual, and we sing some more. It's an absolutely lovely service, kind of non-traditional for a Catholic Mass, but absolutely beautiful. I love it every year!

 

[rotlex]

www.celebrationcatholic.org

Oh cool! And thanks!

Looking forward to a Sunday morning visit on our next trip!

 

[minniecarousel]

Amusing story about Christmas Eve Service:

I like to say that my older DS & his wife's "first date" was Christmas Eve 5 years ago. They knew each other from hanging with the same crowd. As Christmas approached, they got on to the subject of Christmas and churches. She expressed interest in going to a Christmas Eve service. Our Catholc Church has a midnight Mass. It also has very popular Masses at 4 pm. 6 pm. & 10 pm!

As a child, I well remember going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. So I confirmed for them that our Church would have a midnight Mass. Unfortunately, it was not the elaborate affair that I remember as a child. Music led by a Cantor, no Choir. See - many years ago, the first Christmas Mass of the day was at Midnight. We didn't have Masses on Christmas Eve afternoon!

They were a little disappointed. But they started dating after that & he proposed at WDW 4 years ago and they've been married for 19 months now!