–
December 25, 2025
Vigil Mass will be celebrated at Saint Charbel Church at 11:30 AM
From the very beginning, Christians celebrated what the Lord Jesus accomplished for the salvation of humanity. They did this every Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, and as an annual feast on the Sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox, Easter Sunday.
At the beginning of the 4th century, the liturgical calendar began to evolve, giving value to the “historical” Jesus as well. Good Friday was added to recall Jesus’ death, and the Last Supper…. In that trajectory, the Nativity, the Birth of Jesus, was added. The first evidence of the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord dates back to the year 336. Soon after, in the Eastern Church, the Christmas feast of the Epiphany began to be celebrated on the 6th of January. The date was connected to the civil pagan festival of the birth of the invincible sun (Natale Solis Invicti), introduced by the Emperor Aurelian in 274 in honor of the Syrian Sun god of Emesa, celebrated on 25 December.
Christmas is the only liturgical celebration with four Masses, the Vigil Mass, the Mass during the Night, the Mass at Dawn and the Mass during the Day. The readings are the same for each of these Masses for all three liturgical years. This choice seeks to demonstrate and enhance, almost in slow motion, that Event that changed the course of human history: God became man.
Vigil: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham… Matthan became the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ (Mt. 1:1-25).
Night: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:1-14).
Dawn: When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place… So they went in haste… Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God (Lk 2:15-20).
Day: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (Jn. 1:1-18).
Today, the Light came into the world. Today, as it has done for over two thousand years, the Light shatters the darkness and the shadows of the night and illuminates us. That Light has a face and a name: Jesus Christ, prophesied by the prophet Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Mass during the Night, Is. 9:1-6). He is the Light of the world that shines in the darkness (Jn. 1:9, 3, 19; Mass during the Day). He is the Hope that does not disappoint (Rom. 5:5). Jesus, from the root and lineage of David (cf. 2 Sam. 7:8ff.), the fulfillment of God’s promise to King David (Fourth Sunday of Advent). Jesus is the radiant morning star (Rev. 22:16).
