Christmas Prayers

Christmas Eve is the night the Church keeps watch. The Gospel of the Mass during the Night is Luke 2:1–14, the shepherds in the field and the angel’s announcement: “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11). This prayer can be said as a family before leaving for Mass, before the children go to bed, or alone, late, when the house is finally quiet.

A grace for the Christmas table, short enough to say before the food goes cold, and long enough to be different from every other meal of the year. One person can lead it; everyone joins the last line. Many Catholic families say the traditional grace, “Bless us, O Lord…,” after it.

The first Christmas was a family in difficulty: a long journey, no room, a birth among animals, and, soon after, a flight into Egypt. That is why any family can bring its Christmas to the Holy Family, including the families that are not getting along. This prayer can be said by a parent for the whole family, or by anyone for their own.

The Christmas crèche goes back to St. Francis of Assisi, who made one for Christmas Eve of 1223 in the Italian town of Greccio. Pope Francis tells the story in his letter on the Nativity scene, Admirabile signum (2019): there were no statues at Greccio, only the manger, the animals and the people, and his first biographer, Thomas of Celano, records that from that night “everyone went home with joy.”

The U.S. bishops publish a short blessing for a family’s Nativity scene, from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. It may be done on the Vigil of Christmas or at another suitable time, and when the crèche is at home it is fitting for a parent or another member of the family to lead it. In outline:

1. The Sign of the Cross, with the leader’s “Our help is in the name of the Lord” and the answer, “Who made heaven and earth.”
2. A reading from Scripture: Luke 2:1–8, the birth of Jesus, or Isaiah 7:10–15, the sign of Emmanuel.
3. The prayer of blessing, said by the leader with hands joined. It begins “God of every nation and people,” gives thanks that when our need for a Savior was great God sent his Son to be born of the Virgin Mary, and asks him to bless all who look upon the manger, so that it reminds them of Jesus’ humble birth and raises their thoughts to him, God-with-us.

The full text is on the USCCB website; we give its order rather than reprinting a copyrighted rite. A family can then add a prayer of its own as the figure of the Christ Child is laid in the manger:

For the first Christmas after a death, a divorce or a move; for anyone estranged from family, spending the day at work, in hospital or in a care home; for anyone for whom the songs and the lights only make the silence louder. Christ was born to exactly this world: the angel’s news came first to shepherds out in the field at night.

If Christmas has brought you to thoughts of ending your life, or you are afraid for your safety, please reach out to someone first; prayer can wait a few minutes:

The Church’s own prayer at Christmas is the Mass. The Nativity of the Lord on December 25 is a solemnity and, in the United States, a holy day of obligation, and it has four Masses, each with its own Gospel, according to the USCCB’s liturgical calendar:

• The Vigil Mass, on the evening of December 24: Matthew 1, the genealogy of Jesus and the angel’s message to Joseph.
• The Mass during the Night, often at midnight: Luke 2:1–14, the birth in Bethlehem and the angels’ song.
• The Mass at Dawn: Luke 2:15–20, the shepherds come to the manger.
• The Mass during the Day: John 1:1–18, “The Word became flesh.”

The Catechism puts the meaning of the feast in one line: “Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family” (CCC 525), and “simple shepherds were the first witnesses.” It calls Christmas the mystery of a “marvellous exchange”: the Creator has become man so that we might share in his divinity, and “only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us” (CCC 526).

For a card, a message, or the door as guests leave. Several come straight from the Gospels:

• “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)
• “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)
• “They shall call his name Immanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)
• May the peace of the Christ Child fill your home this Christmas.
• Wishing you a blessed and holy Christmas. May the newborn King bring you joy.
• May Jesus, born in Bethlehem, be born again in your heart this Christmas.
• May the light of Christmas guide you through the new year.
• Christ is born! Glorify him!

If you read one verse before the Christmas meal, or write one in a card, these are the ones the Church herself reads at Christmas, in the World English Bible, Catholic Edition:

• “For a child is born to us. A son is given to us… His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)
• “She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)
• “For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
• “The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
• “The dawn from on high will visit us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78–79)
• “But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)