Burning the midnight oil

Young Chang

Congregants at St. Joachim Catholic Church don’t waste any time

celebrating Christmas.

The festivities will begin at midnight Sunday. Revelers will arrive

and be merry. They will sing, pray and symbolically wait. Half the group

will party clear through the morning. The other half will stay up until

maybe 2 a.m.

Pastor Joseph Robillard and leaders at the church say no one will be

listless. It may be Midnight Mass, but the reason for gathering usually

has everyone celebrating.

“It’s a time for remembering the past -- the birth of Christ -- and

also the present at how he impacts life today,” Robillard said.

Margot Santos, a coordinator of family life for the Spanish-speaking

members of the church, said it’s also a time to celebrate the future.

“To remember that he will come again,” she said.

The service, which will be held simultaneously in English and Spanish,

will include Scripture readings from the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of

Luke.

Robillard will preach on the importance of the birth of Jesus in one’s

daily life, and congregants will sing traditional hymns. Participants of

a procession will carry in a statue ofbaby Jesus and place it in a manger

scene. The nativity is brought out once a year and is now in a storage

closet. The figure of Jesus will then be blessed.

The 75-minute service takes place at midnight as a symbol of the time

Jesus was born.

“It’s a Mass of vigil,” Robillard said. “To watch and wait. In the

middle of watching and waiting was when Jesus was born. Midnight seems as

good a time as any because it was in the middle of the night.”

Leaders at the church expect a full congregation -- about 800 people

-- including teenagers returning home from college for the holidays and

former residents coming back to visit. Around 15% of the gatherers will

be non-regular members because it’s part of the home experience,

Robillard said.

“Kind of like it wouldn’t be Christmas without Mass,” added Kathy

Lewis, director of family life for the English-speaking members of the

church.

After Mass, many of the Latino members of the church will return home

to start their traditional holiday party, said Gricelda Becerra, also a

coordinator of family life for Spanish-speaking members. Children will

open gifts, dinner will be served, and the celebration will last for

hours.

Those who take a short nap will wake up for a breakfast of menudo,

tamales and other traditional foods, served anywhere between 5 and 7

a.m., Becerra said.Santos added that her family sings “Las Mananitas,”

which means happy birthday, to Jesus.

FYI

WHAT: Midnight Mass

WHEN: 12 a.m. Monday

WHERE: St. Joachim Catholic Church, 1964 Orange Ave., Costa Mesa

COST: Free

CALL: (949) 574-7400