Christmas Eve/Christmas Day
By Amber
@AmbiePam (120757)
United States
December 24, 2011 6:38am CST
Well, it's Christmas Eve as I'm typing this. A lot of you are probably with your family and will be reading this way after the holidays. But I've been thinking about Christmas Eve traditions, and there is one in particular that I was talking to my dad about. While my church is having a Christmas servive Christmas Day (tomorrow of course) because after all it falls on a Sunday, a lot of other churches are having their services on Christmas Eve, tonight which is a Saturday. All the Catholic churches here at least have a Christmas Eve service, and while we are not Catholic, a lot of our denomination is having them too. In fact, most of the churches in our denomination are having service on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Although morning service only on Christmas Day, not Christmas night.
I plan on going to church Christmas day with my parents because I haven't been since Thanksgiving. Migraines and the like. I know a lot of people will not be there because of the holiday and being out of town. But I'd like to see my dad smile, and I know being there would do it. But anyway, while we are not doing anything church related Christmas Eve, I was wondering about you guys. How many of you go to service on Christmas Eve? Any of you go Christmas day when it falls on a Sunday? This doesn't apply to just Christians because there was a study done that said the two holidays most people who say they are not Christians attend church is Christmas Eve and Easter.
So whatever you believe, will you be attending a service? Does your place of worship do anything special? And those of you who are not believers, have you ever in the past gone to a service on this holiday? Merry Christmas to everyone, by the way. I hope it's a good one for all of you.
2 people like this
14 responses
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
24 Dec 11
no unfortunately with my fibromyalgia I cannot go out on Christmas eve or Christmas due to the cold weather. But my family is roman catholic mostly - not me, and they always go to midnight mass, I used to go to some of the protestant services when I was more able to get around
2 people like this
@patgalca (18481)
• Orangeville, Ontario
24 Dec 11
Mylot didn't post my text indicating I need to use standard letters, numbers and punctuation, which I did. It didn't even bring me back to my original text so now I have to start all over again. Merry Christmas to you too, myLot!
Growing up I remember going to Midnight Mass. My father would stay home and go in the morning stating he was "guarding the gifts".
I go to church every weekend and sometimes during the week so it matters not what day of the week Christmas falls on. I am a devout Catholic and am involved in the church as is my younger daughter.
I live in a rural town whose Catholic church covers a broad area so there are several masses on Christmas. We have 5pm, 8pm and Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and 9am and 11am on Christmas Day. We go to 5pm. I have a tradition with my children where after mass I give them clues to find the Christmas Eve Box. In it there are new pj's, a DVD and snacks. After they find it we hunker down and watch the movie. My kids are getting older now (15 and 18) so won't always be with us on Christmas. My oldest daughter goes to her boyfriend's for Christmas Day dinner, while he comes to my extended family celebration on Boxing Day. As I was preparing this year's clues I thought about how I hope my children will carry on the tradition. They might not be good poets so I came up with picture clues this year. I hope that they will be here with their children on Christmas Eve so I can still do the Christmas Eve box until they get the hang of it.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those who don't.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
24 Dec 11
I don't normally go to church.. and I don't think I've ever been to church on Christmas day or Christmas Eve. I do have Faith.. but as far as I can tell I don't fall into any actual denomination (unless I just haven't found it).
I did go to a service on Easter once, my ex-boyfriends parents took us the year I was with that boyfriend. I actually enjoyed it, and have always wanted to go again.. it just hasn't happened.
While my husband was raised in a Catholic church.. he doesn't believe in going to church. So if I wanted to go, even on a special day, he would not go with us.
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
24 Dec 11
Hi AmbiePam! Most of the churches in my area do have Christmas Eve services and on Christmas Day...even if it is in the middle of the week, they have some kind of celebration service. There are also things like the living Christmas tree going on at a lot of them where choir singers are sit and colorfully dressed in a set of bleachers or seats that are shaped like a tree. Alot of the churches here do that.
It has been a long time since I have attended a Christmas service. When I was little my family was at church every time the doors opened.
I bet your father will be very happy to have you by his side.
Take care and have a Merry Christmas.
I bet your father will be very happy to have you by his side.
Take care and have a Merry Christmas.1 person likes this
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
24 Dec 11
We used to go to church all the time. But, the problem was, the church was so crowded many people were forced to stand it was so jam packed that my parents didn't like that, so we haven't gone in a few years.Then again, my parents and sister are Catholic, whereas I'm non-denominational. But, we're still all Christian. I'll probably just do a service of my own this Christmas Eve and Christmas day by reading my Bible and singing a few songs.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
25 Dec 11
I would think that most people who are church going people would want to go to Church on Christmas morning if it falls on a Sunday… but some churches aren’t even open on Christmas Sunday’s… one year when it fell on a Sunday our church was closed because everyone wanted to be home with their families and such… but Christmas isn’t about us.. it’s about Jesus.. but we always make it about us.
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
24 Dec 11
I home church, but will watch at least part of a church service on Christmas morning if I can. The kids will all be here, so it may not work out. They usually rerun it sometime in the afternoon, so if the timing works out, I may watch it then.
Merry Christmas to you, too!
1 person likes this
@jillhill (37353)
• United States
24 Dec 11
Neither my son's church or mine has a service on Christmas eve so we'll be going to my son's church tomorrow night as my youngest granddaughter reads from the Bible. My church also has services in the morning as it falls on Sunday. I wish they had one tonight. My daughter would have like to go to her old church where she was confirmed etc.
1 person likes this
@manleyjoe (1597)
• United States
25 Dec 11
You have gotten some really good responses here today and you thought we were all gone somewhere. We know where our friends are so we stay in touch, well anyway sometimes.
I will not be going to evening or morning services, but will observe our own service here at home. I have not moved my church home to this town yet and don't know when I will get around to doing it. The church where I will move my membership to does have service on every Sunday morning and evening as well as a prayer service on Wednesday evening. My wife is not much on going to any orginized church as she has read about all the Priests and other church leaders talking and preaching one thing but then going and committing sins.
I'm still trying to get her to go.
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
24 Dec 11
Hi Ambie, as you know, I don't embrace this holiday, but since Hanukkah falls before and after, I guess I can qualify..lol
The first night is the most important, in fact if one can't do all 8 nights, I read that he or she should at least observe the first night. We did and had a good time. The second night is when my son got his bike, and unfortunately due to circumstances out of our control, we haven't done anything the next two nights.
Today I had planned to make a turkey dinner for Hanukkah, but due to another circumstance out of our control, I couldn't even bake my yearly Star of David bread for Shabbat last night. (Let's just say the oven is temporarily out of commission..)
So I guess today we will be working to get the oven in working order again and my dinner will be Sunday or Monday, depending on how long it takes.
As for a service, I am hoping that there are extra studying on FB, that is where I learn and worship with others. I have heard from my teacher that he was planning on a special lesson, but he hasn't posted it the last I saw. So I will go into my son's lessons and see what we can do today that doesn't include baking..lol
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
25 Dec 11
Hi my sweet lil sis! And a very Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I've been very sick for the past 2 weeks, with I think Bronchitis which
bf gave me and he has been sick for even longer. I haven't been able to
get out of bed so have not been near the computer until now and am only
on for a little while. I have been to services when I practiced Judaism
when I was younger and I have also been to Church Services when I
decided that I was "Born Again Christian". I haven't known what I
am in a very long time, except that I believe in God. I am going to
be sending you a private email~ I just found out that my Mom has Dementia
and it has set in very fast. She will be 82, but it's really bad and
I have to get to Florida as soon as I can and need to talk to you.
Hope you Christmas is as wonderful as it can be! Love, Les
1 person likes this
@Chevee (5905)
• United States
24 Dec 11
Hi AmbiePam.. I go to church every Sunday anyway, so tomorrow isn't any different for me. But the church I attend is non-denominational and we are not a traditional church. So we don't it in a traditional way. However, my apostle told us that tomorrow Christmas Day, we will not have Sunday School which normally starts at 10:00 a.m. and service normally starts at 11:00 a.m. But this sunday we are skipping sunday school and service will start a 9:00 a.m. and he promised us we will be out by 11:00 a.m. Giving the members the rest of the day to spend with family and friends.
1 person likes this
@cynthiann (18612)
• Jamaica
24 Dec 11
I am a Christian who worships in the Catholic tradition and I always go to Church on Christmas Eve. I have done this from a child and w wold come home and eat hot mince pies and then go to bed!
I follow the same tradition with my family. I like being in Church for that special service and celebrating by singing Christmas Carols for the hour before midnight and then the Christmas Mass. It just somehow feels so special.
Sometimes I also go to mass on Christmas Day but this can depend on how many I am cooking for
This year, I have the four grands together and three of my four children. We will just collapse and be together for a few hours. My son is taking this one day off as our General Elections are next week and the campaign is in full swing. I am praying so hard for him to win but his oppoenet has promised the youth laptops and is giving out millions of dollars (money that should have been spent on the roads). what it comes down to is whether the people will sell their vote or not.
Say a prayer for us please. We are all exhausted and I am in my office typing this as Iam expected to work half day today. Just so tired.But tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas together and that is the main thing. Many blessings
This year, I have the four grands together and three of my four children. We will just collapse and be together for a few hours. My son is taking this one day off as our General Elections are next week and the campaign is in full swing. I am praying so hard for him to win but his oppoenet has promised the youth laptops and is giving out millions of dollars (money that should have been spent on the roads). what it comes down to is whether the people will sell their vote or not. Say a prayer for us please. We are all exhausted and I am in my office typing this as Iam expected to work half day today. Just so tired.But tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas together and that is the main thing. Many blessings1 person likes this
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
31 Dec 11
hi dearest Ambie I am playing catch up with all the mails and notifications and surveys and the like which have piled up for a little over a week now. LOL
Yes we went to Church for Christmas Eve. First we went to the Lutheran Church 5 pm to 6 pm as my husband is Lutheran.
Then later we could have gone to the Holy Mass 10 pm in German but my husband was so generous to let me choose the Midnight Mass in the Polish language. I can only understand a few words of Polish but the atmosphere of this Mass is quite like in Silesia which once was German too, where my mother comes from and I love that. It made me so happy to be able to sing "Silent Night" in Polish. I can read it quite well but I cant yet speak the language.
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