Advent Calendar- Religious Services

My whole family would always go to the Christmas vigil mass together. My grandparents, aunt and uncle usually sat in the pew in front of us. Sometimes I would sit with them if it were crowded. 
To me there is nothing more beautiful than Christmas Mass. With the candles all glowing and the lights dim. The creche would be lit by twinkling lights, the smell of the incense burning and the music was played so beautifully. There was a man named Mack who sang in such a deep beautiful voice each Christmas that he sent thrills up your spine just  to hear him.

I always would find myself staring at my grandmother's silver hair in the candle light. I would memorize the way she was in that moment so I would never forget her at Christmas. I can still close my eyes and see her sitting there in that pew with her rosary in her hands, my grandfather standing tall beside her, his cane hanging over the side of the pew. He would be grinning from ear to ear the whole mass. He loved Christmas.

We would all be dressed up in our Christmas best, stuffed in the pews with family and friends. Sometimes it would get too hot and Father would have to go turn the air conditioner on so we could get through mass without anyone passing out from the heat while wearing their Christmas sweater. His signal would always be the ladies using the hymnals as fans.

After mass was over the children would be dying to go, we wanted to get home and have our Christmas dinner and open gifts. The adults would stand around talking, and it never failed that my mother would call me over to talk to the priest to wish him a Merry Christmas. Then my grandmother would send me to the car to go and get a special gift of some sort, maybe a cake or food that she had made just for the priest for his Christmas gift.








This is the twentieth blog in the series by GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2012.