Midnight Mass in Rome on Christmas Eve...

Kathy and I, Noah and Danny will be spending five days in Rome over Christmas. Being Catholic, one of goals is to see the Pope while we are there. The Holy Father normally has an audience every Wednesday at 11:00 in the morning so we sent an email to enquire about tickets (they are required). I got a response back a couple of days later saying that since Christmas is on a Tuesday this year, he will not be having an audience on the 26th.

Plan B was to get tickets to either Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, or the noon Mass on Christmas Day. Per the Vatican web site last Friday I sent a fax (no emails) to His Excellency Archbishop James Harvey, Prefect of the Pontifical Household and requested tickets to both masses. I received a fax response from Archbishop Harvey today, saying that we had tickets reserved for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.



His letter says "Since this ceremony is so popular, I would advise you to be at the Basilica no later than 9:00 PM". Hmmm, I'm not sure how Noah will react to a 3-hour wait even before Mass starts (actually, I do know how he'll react) so we'll wait and tell him at the last minute and be secure in the knowledge that someday he will look back in wonder at what a great experience it was.