Midnight Mass with Little People

Danielle Bean is discussing taking little ones to Midnight Mass.  My children love to go to Midnight Mass. The very small ones are awed by the splendor of the Basilica (we arrive very, very early because Daddy is working) and then they are lured to sleep in pews by the sweet smell of incense.  The slightly larger ones are impressed that this is a very special feast, hence we are awake in the middle of the night.  Somehow, the words of the Christmas Novena seem to come to life in the massive church on Christmas Eve:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, to hear my prayers and grant my desires. Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother. Amen.

You want to sing with the angels when the bells peal at Midnight!  You can join us this year--it would be lovely to see you in person of course.  But if you can't come to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, my husband will be directing Mass live for EWTN.  You can watch it on television.  Not quite the same without the incense, though...