Photos of Midnight Mass and Holy Observances of Christmas

Alan Taylor
December 26, 2017
36 Photos
In Focus

After many images of Santa Claus, bright lights, and shopping malls, here is one last photo visit to Christmas focusing on the holy aspect—the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the varying Christian observances taking place around the world, often at midnight. Gathered here are Christmas services and observances from China, Kenya, Iran, Iraq, England, the U.S., India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Israel, France, and many more countries.

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Believers of Legio Maria of African Church Mission hold candles during their overnight Christmas Mass at the church near Ugunja, the western part of Kenya, early on December 25, 2017. #

Fredrik Lerneryd / AFP / Getty

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Members of the Legio Maria of African Church Mission hold candles during their overnight Christmas Mass near Ugunja, Kenya, on December 25, 2017. #

Fredrik Lerneryd / AFP / Getty

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Members of the Legio Maria of African Church Mission hold candles during their overnight Christmas Mass near Ugunja, Kenya, on December 25, 2017. #

Fredrik Lerneryd / AFP / Getty

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Children pose after performing a Nativity scene on Christmas Eve at the Saint-Liboire Church in Le Mans, France, on December 24, 2017. #

Jean-Francois Monier / AFP / Getty

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People attend mass during Christmas Eve at a church in Surabaya, Indonesia, on December 24, 2017. #

Moch Asim / Antara Foto Agency / Reuters

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Indonesian Christians hold lit candles as they celebrate Christmas during mass at a stadium in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city on December 24, 2017. #

Juni Kriswanto / AFP / Getty

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Faithful members from a Catholic church take part in a Christmas parade in Shanghai, China, on December 24, 2017. #

Aly Song / Reuters

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An onlooker takes a video as a choir sings hymns during a Christmas Eve mass at a church in Fuyang in China's eastern Anhui province on December 24, 2017. #

AFP / Getty

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Churchgoers attend a Christmas Eve mass at a Catholic church in Shanghai, China, on December 24, 2017. #

Aly Song / Reuters

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Worshippers pray inside the Church of the Nativity during Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on December 24, 2017. #

Ammar Awad / Reuters

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An Armenian priest is seen inside the Church of the Nativity as people gather for Christmas celebrations in the town of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 24, 2017. #

Musa Al Shaer / AFP / Getty

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A Sri Lankan Christian looks on during Christmas mass in Colombo on December 25, 2017. Christians account for about 6 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people. #

Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP / Getty

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Members of the congregation of Living Faith Church-Jahi dance during the Christmas day service in Abuja, Nigeria, on December 25, 2017. #

Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters

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A family poses for a photograph after the Christmas day service at Living Faith Church-Jahi in Abuja, Nigeria, on December 25, 2017. #

Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters

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Belarusian girls prepare themselves for a performance before a mass in celebration of Christmas in a Catholic church in the town of Dyatlovo, Belarus, on December 25, 2017. #

Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

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Belarusian children perform before a mass during Christmas celebrations in the town of Dyatlovo, Belarus, on December 25, 2017. #

Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

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A harpist performs at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., before a gospel music Christmas celebration on December 22, 2017. #

Eva Hambach / AFP / Getty

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Priests and clergy process to attend the Christmas celebration midnight mass at the Cathedral-Basilical in Vilnius, Lithuania, on December 24, 2017. Over 80 percent of Lithuanians are Christians who celebrate the festival of Christmas on December 25. #

Mindaugas Kulbis / AP

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A man prays as he attends Christmas mass at Saint Antuan Church in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, Turkey, on December 24, 2017. #

Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty

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A priest attends Christmas mass at Saint Antuan Church in Istanbul, Turkey, on December 24, 2017. #

Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty

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People attend Christmas Eve mass at the Saint Anthony of Padua Church on December 24, 2017, in Istanbul, Turkey. #

Chris McGrath / Getty

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An Indian girl prays during the midnight Christmas mass at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Lucknow, India, on December 25, 2017. While Hindus and Muslims comprise the majority of the population, Christmas is also observed as a national holiday in India. #

Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP

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Faithful believers pray beneath a painting depicting Jesus Christ, lit with Christmas lights, during Midnight mass at the Nuestra Senora Del Carmen Church on Christmas Eve on December 24, 2017, in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The mass finished well before midnight this year to accommodate those who live in areas without electricity. The church ran the mass with a generator. Barely three months after Hurricane Maria made landfall, approximately one third of the devastated island is still without electricity. #

Mario Tama / Getty

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A Christian woman prays in the Holy Family Catholic Church during Christmas on December 25, 2017 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. The disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has a small population of Christians, hundreds of whom join mass at the Holy Family Catholic church on Christmas and pray for peace and prosperity of the region. #

Yawar Nazir / Getty

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A child dressed as an angel plays a hand clap game with an altar statue prior the midnight Christmas mass in the Cathedral of St. Mother Teresa in Kosovo's capital of Pristina on December 24, 2017. #

Visar Kryeziu / AP

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Pope Francis, background center, celebrates during the Christmas Eve mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on December 24, 2017. #

Alessandra Tarantino / AP

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Pope Francis holds a statuette of baby Jesus during the traditional midnight mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve at the Vatican on December 24, 2017. #

Tony Gentile / Reuters

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People look at a Nativity display on Christmas Eve at Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Cairo, Egypt, on December 24, 2017. #

Amr Dalsh / Reuters

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A Christian worshipper attends the Christmas mass at the Saint Joseph Chaldean-Assyrian Catholic church, in Tehran, Iran, on December 25, 2017. While Iranian Christians are a minority, they are recognized by the constitution in the Muslim country and are represented in the parliament. #

Vahid Salemi / AP

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Pakistani children dressed as Santa Claus sing songs during the Christmas Carnival at the St. Patrick Church in Karachi on December 22, 2017. #

Rizwan Tabassum / AFP / Getty

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A woman holds a candle as she attends a mass on Christmas at St. Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria, on December 25, 2017. #

Stoyan Nenov / Reuters

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Syriac Christian women pray during a mass celebration of Christmas at the Saint Efram Syriac Orthodox Church in Qamishly, Syria, on December 25, 2017. #

Rodi Said / Reuters

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Iraqi Christians receive holy communion during a mass on Christmas day at St. George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, Iraq, on December 25, 2017. #

Khalid Al Mousily / Reuters

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Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve service at the church of Mart Shmoni, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 24, 2017. #

Safin Hamed / AFP / Getty

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Worshippers attend a Christmas midnight mass at a church in Kochi, India, on December 25, 2017. #

Sivaram V / Reuters

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Choristers from the Salisbury Cathedral Choir have their final practice ahead of the services to be held in the cathedral marking Christmas on December 22, 2017 in Salisbury, England. Christmas has been celebrated in the cathedral for over 750 years, ever since it was dedicated in 1258. #

Matt Cardy / Getty

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