By Natalie Bender
for the Register
Bishop James Conley will celebrate the midnight Mass at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln on Christmas Eve, and all are invited to attend.
Prelude music will begin at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24 at the Cathedral, 3500 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln. The preludes will be instrumental brass arrangements from a Plymouth Brass quintet, as well as carols and choral pieces.
“Having brass for special occasions always adds a special quality to our Masses,” said Amy Flamminio, director of liturgical music at the Cathedral. “We wanted at least a trumpet to join us, but when we heard that the whole quintet was available for Midnight Mass, we were thrilled to ask them all to come!”
Flamminio has a personal connection to the Plymouth Brass, and was happy to invite the group to Cathedral to join in the celebration of the Mass.
“Years ago, (lead trumpet) Tom Kelly reached out to me to have his son play with my Christmas choir at St. Peter’s, and I had never met such a talented young musician! At the time, my daughter, Ella, was a baby, but she developed a love of trumpet early on and began studying with Tom a year and a half ago,” said Flamminio. “He has been an inspiring instructor for her, and she loves getting to hear him play in Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra as well as when he comes to Cathedral. Ella was privileged to play beside Tom for Pentecost Sunday at Cathedral this year.”
The midnight Mass is one of the most ancient liturgies in the Catholic Church. During a midnight Mass in 2016, Bishop Conley explained that it dates to the very early centuries of Christianity, when the faithful would travel, in the middle of the night, to the local church or chapel, to anticipate the birth of Jesus by celebrating Mass, Christ’s Mass – the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord.
The liturgy begins with a reading from the Roman Martyrology, the announcement of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.
“I am always moved when I hear this proclamation because it reminds us of the historical fact of the birth of Jesus,” Bishop Conley said. “So many people think the birth of Jesus is a beautiful story, but they doubt its authenticity. They think of the Christmas story as a kind of myth or even a fairy tale, not a real event in history.
“But the proclamation of the Nativity of the Lord … is taken from an ancient text that is drawn from both sacred scripture and non-Christian historical sources. And the purpose of the text is to remind us that the birth of Jesus is rooted in history and is located in space and in time.”
Flamminio also expressed fondness of the midnight Mass.
“This Proclamation declares that the promised Messiah is born,” she said. “Throughout Mass, there is both a jubilance and an awe as music and prayers celebrate the Newborn Babe and King; there are ancient chants sung that have been sung at Christmases for hundreds of years as well as singing of beloved Christmas carols.”
