Venite, adoremus

“O Come, Let us adore him – Christ the Lord!”

 
Midnight Mass with Papal Nuncio, Bethlehem University

 

What could possibly be better than going to Midnight Mass in Bethlehem with the Papal Nuncio, singing in the choir with university students, and having a quite wonderful evening?

 

How about going to the Church of the Nativity afterwards?

 

In fact, that’s what I and about seven of my classmates did.  We knew the line to get in would be quite long all day Christmas.  Since Mass would be happening every 30 minutes in the grotto, we decided to go to one.

We didn’t care what time it was, how long we had been on our feet (which was from 7 pm, by the way), or what language the Mass would be in.  We were standing in what seems now to be a small crowd, just trying to get in.

So, at 3:00 am, we were able to get into the grotto under the Greek Orthodox high altar, the cave where Jesus was born.

After securing my spot, I saw walk in from the other side the priest who would be celebrating the Mass.  To our surprise, it was the Latin Patriarch!

So, we attended the Patriarch’s grotto Mass at 3:00 am.  It truly will be a Christmas I will not forget.

 

And, I know I’ve been holding back on both blog readers and facebook users as regards some photos…

…so, Merry Christmas, from the place where 2010 years ago, Jesus was born, and still comes to us today!

Grotto of the Nativity

Place of the Birth

 

Place where the Manger was
(down the stairs to the right in the photo of the grotto)