Masses at dawn in anticipation of Christmas

Are Masses at Dawn (6 am) popular in your countries in anticipation of Christmas? Every day until Christmas and last four weeks? In Croatia, you can't enter any church because it's crowded, from young to old and those who go to work afterwards.



"Zornica" = dawn mass is the early morning of St. mass at the time of advent.

Zornice are very widespread in the Croatian religious regiment. They are usually served at 6 in the morning, ie at dawn. They are also called rorates. They symbolize the vigilance of Christians during the preparation for Christmas, but also for the final coming of Jesus at the end of time. Christians try to watch over their own lives, but also over the lives of others, so as not to lose eternal life. Zornice has a festive atmosphere.

In Advent, every morning dawns the people's favorite early mass, which has a penitential significance, because you have to get up very early to get to church. Therefore, they represent some form of four-week permanent renunciation of sleep. They have their beginnings in the Middle Ages.

An incredible feeling of God's spirit can be felt at these masses, I can't say how many people go out cheerfully after the mass to work, to school or whatever... Traditional church songs are sung. What a pure pleasure when you go out a little before 7 in the morning and then you have the whole day ahead of you. They are so popular that even MSM media did reports (and they don't like us). Every day for four weeks is packed...

The only problem is that this morning it was -8 degrees celsius, but our priest celebrated mass outside because not everyone fits inside. So it is served in the churchyard, and those who are cold are warm in the church. Later we have coffee, juice and some cakes after mass where people hang out and talk before work/school etc.

This is how it looks every morning



University campus at 6 in the morning

 

That’s beautiful!! No the earliest weekday mass at my parish is 830. We get about twenty people on a good day.

 

How blessed you are! What a beautiful and holy tradition.

I’ve often wished that the US would benefit from old world immigrants who brought their centuries old religious traditions to their new home. I believe now we are starting to see Eucharistic processions wind through our streets because we have a desperate need to have Christ regain His Kingship on our soil.

Thank you for sharing this Croatian sign of faith.

 

There is a dawn Mass here in Ireland and I recall it has its own Liturgy. But it was never as popular as Mid night Mass. I remember after Mass we used to come home my mother had cooked a ham and home made chicken soup.

I don't know if they actually do a midnight mass anymore anywhere , just in the evening. Because I always worked in a hospital over Christmas I have not properly got to a late Mass. So I am really looking forward to it..plus I think I may cook a ham myself and some chicken soup

Praying the rosary last night when I cam to the Nativity Mystery I thought how beautiful it is that because of the Rosary we have, Holy Week, Easter and Christmas everyday....what could be better?

 

We have those here too Orangina. They are called "rorate" masses or the mass for the watchmen and the Churches are usually lit only by hundreds of candles. I love them, they are simple, silent and prayerful and also associated with Our Lady now during the time of Advent. Maybe people could ask their priests to come in for such a mass wherever you live? I read years ago that the youth love these masses and in one town the small chapel overflowed and the mass had to be moved into the Cathedral to accommodate everyone. In our parish, the candles are placed outside too and since it's dark out, the beauty of it always draws in people passing by.

 

How wonderful there are so many and all full! I'm going to a Rorate Mass this Saturday. The last two years the Rorate Masses at my FSSP have been full as well.

This year I'm going to a Latin Rorate Mass offered by the parish priest of our little country parish. He's trying to introduce the Latin Mass bit by bit, and I'm excited to offer my son to be his server, since he doesn't have any.

 

What a special privilege. Let us know how it turns out.

 

I don't know if I've explained it well, but here masses are held at dawn every morning except Sundays (somewhere even then).
So every morning till Christmas churches look like this packed all over the country.
The best feeling is when you walk towards the Church, it's snowing outside and everything is decorated for Christmas, and then you hear Christmas "folk" songs that are really beautiful inside the Church. Same thing with going out after mass...
It's hard for me to describe, but it's like taking some powerful pill to start the day, I have the feeling that I could fly away from joy, not only me, but the people around me as well. I think that's why they are so popular because you enjoy going to work, school or bed after them.

I'm sorry that they "died out" in many Western countries because they originated there somewhere in Europe, but when God lights the light of faith again in Europe, I have no doubt that it will reappear and that churches will be crowded everywhere...


However, what gives them a special charm are the folk Christmas songs.
They are sung here and I'm really interested as a "foreigner" how do you like them... You can turn on the subtitles for translation(
Maybe somewhere it doesn't translate the meaning of the word well...), tears come to my eyes because of how beautiful they are.....

When they are sung in full Church, they give a special charm.

So tell me your impressions ))
And which song did you like the most !

ps: This is just a part, there are many more



0:00 - Veselje ti navješćujem (I preach you joy)
2:57 - Tri Kralja jahahu ( Three Kings were riding)
6:00 - Svim na Zemlji ( All on Earth)
9:27 - Kyrie Eleison
13:16 - Radujte se narodi (Joy to the World)
17:46 - Veseli se Majko Božja (Rejoice Mother of God)
22:28 - O Betleme (Oh, Bethlehem)
25:25 - U to vrijeme godišta (At that time of the year)
29:27 - Narodi nam se (Born unto Us)

 

I look forward to listening. I remember the beautiful Marian hymns in Medjugorge. They were in Croatian but I was so moved even without knowing the English words.

 

The hymns are beautiful. The second last one was my favourite.

Do you have snow all winter in Croatia?

 

Depending on which part we are talking about. Croatia can be divided into 3 parts (the one along the Adriatic Sea): Dalmatia, Kvarner and Istria. There is the Mediterranean climate, those beautiful pictures of the sea that I posted before. It's not cold there even during the winter, temperatures range from 10 to 20 degrees during the day. They see snow once in about 50 years, and it's a shock to them all. He fell about 10 years ago in Split, about a few centimeters, in a few hours over 200 people were in the hospital due to falls, fractures, stitches, etc.
Then this part between the sea and the continental part are mountains (mountainous Croatia). Winter here lasts from October to May. Temperatures are from -15 to +5 on average during the winter. There is snow for quite a long time (8 months) and it can be up to 2 meters, even over that height. People mostly heat with wood. You need about 40 cubic meters for heating during the winter.

And then there is continental Croatia, i.e. the interior. We have a very moderate climate there, warm summers, pleasant spring and autumn, and a mild, yet snowy winter. Temperatures range from -10 to +15. With the fact that winter somehow moved towards spring, and summer extended into autumn. I would say that spring and autumn are almost gone.
Back in mid-November, we had temperatures around +25, but now at the end of November/beginning of December the temperatures would drop below zero. This time it's a little early and now it's snowing outside.

Something like this

By the way, a lot of students when they come from sunny Dalmatia to cold Zagreb during the winter become "desperate"... But I see that you are from Ireland and a lot of Croats have emigrated there in recent years for work. They say that the weather shocks them because there is less sun and it is more cloudy/rainy, at least in the beginning. Later they get used to it... The only thing they told me was that the situation in Dublin is terrible, that rents have skyrocketed, that it is quite dirty, that they are afraid to walk on some streets at night... Some have been there since 2014 and say that the situation was drastically better (a good part returned home). I knew that the situation was not very good, but I did not know that it had become so bad.

 

Thanks for going to the trouble to explain it. I think that I may have been to Croatia during the Yugoslavian period. I was on holiday in Italy near Venice and there was a day trip to Yugoslavia. All I remember about it was that we visited a disused mine where there was a rare species of animal or fish preserved (I think it might have been a fish). I don't know what they had mined there but it was very deep in the ground and we were transported in something that wasn't a train but I think it ran on train tracks. It was extremely cold down there after the heat of the Adriatic coastline. I often wondered what country we visited. I suppose it could have been Montenegro but have a feeling it was Croatia.

What your friends tell you about Ireland is fairly accurate although I have been in dirtier cities than Dublin. What we have now is so far removed from the Ireland of my youth that sometimes I feel like the foreigner. The vast majority of immigrants are good, hardworking people. There's a small element that seem to come with an unpleasant attitude of entitlement but most settle in well considering they are far from home and family in a place where everything from the culture to the weather is alien to them.

I hope for Croatia's sake that the people returning learn from Ireland's mistakes and don't let the same fate befall your country. The love of money can destroy a country.

 

Yes the situation in Ireland is bad especially Dublin. I feel we are under constant attack and clouds of evil have descended on us. Yet I know many good people are praying constantly so I place my hope in Jesus.
The Croatian hymns are solemn and beautiful. I did like the last one and also Rejoice Mother of God.

 

I visited Ireland in 2005. It was so lovely! I don't recall seeing anyone but big-eyed Irish people everywhere I went. I am of mixed European descent and have a little Irish in me and was struck when a bunch of school kids (upper grades) boarded the bus I was on, by how much they seemed to look like me (I was college-aged and still had reddish curly hair). I felt I could easily pass as Irish.

But anyway, I remember Dublin being very pleasant and not dirty at all. I'm sorry to hear how much has changed since then and am grateful I got to visit before the changes.

 

Speaking of those customs, do you have an annual house blessing in Ireland, USA( other countries as well)?
So every year from 27.12. after Christmas until approximately January 15th (sometimes even later) in each parish, the priest goes from house to house and blesses the house for that year.
He enters the house, accompanied by one, two or three ministers (you call them altar boys). When they walk through the street they have a bell so that people know they are passing by, at the Mass earlier( on Christmas) he announce which day they are going through which street so that people can prepare.
When you hear the bell, you go outside and meet him. Go inside the house, bless with blessed water, all together pray the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father. You get a religious sticker with the year of blessing that you stick on the door or wherever you want.
After that, he sits down, talks with you for a few minutes about family, health, etc. There is a blessed candle on the table, and on a plate you give money as a gift as much as you want... There is no church tax in our country, i.e. there is, but it is not obligatory to pay .
I went as a minister( I was child), so from 8 in the morning until I guess 6 in the evening we walked through the street.
At one house, you sit down and get lunch, that is, you eat lunch together with that family, and then continue with the blessing of the other houses. I collected a bag, and I really mean a bag of sweets, because everyone gave chocolates, candies, .
Here everyone welcomes a priest to bless the house, even those who come to church once a year or don't go to church at all, but are catholics.

In general, the house blessing is normal in your countries too?!

 

This is a holy practice. I wish we did that here, In the US, you can invite the priest to your home to bless it.

 

That's wonderful! We're so spread out here, it would be difficult I think for priests to go down every street. We individually request house blessings from our priests.

 

The seeds of our current situation were sown long before 2005. It's not immigrants who make me feel like an alien. In the suburb where I live it's not nearly as bad as the inner city but we do need a monitored house alarm despite having nothing of value. Burglars are unlikely to be foreigners. Like most countries where the social fabric is coming apart at the seams, we are seeing the results of policies promoted by people who were far from poor but used supposed concern for the poor to have those policies implemented. Even the drug culture started in the universities at a time when very few poor people had a third level education. Beware of any rich person telling the poor what are their real needs.

 

What a wonderful tradition. We have nothing like that here. When I was young, the priest visited eveey house in the parish once per year. We don't have enough priests for that now. Back then everyone had their house blessed but I doubt that may do so now.