Two Catholic churches, one in the Greenbrier Valley and one in the Alleghany Highlands, will hold the traditional Midnight Mass on Dec. 24 and all Masses at each of the area Catholic churches are open to the public.
In the Greenbrier Valley, St. Charles Borromeo Church on US 60 West in White Sulphur Springs and in the Alleghany Highlands, St. Joseph’s Church on Jefferson Street in Clifton Forge, VA, will hold the traditional Midnight Mass with special music beginning at 11:30 p.m. and the Mass begins at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 25.
A recent article in “Be,” a publication of Mountain Messenger Media, referred to Midnight Mass as a service that “may bring entire communities together to share the holiday season message of joy and peace,” and “Midnight Mass also may feature awe-inspiring performances by church choirs or private performers who lend their talents to the festivities.”
St. Charles Borromeo will also have a Christmas Eve Mass at 5 p.m. and Christmas morning Mass at 9 a.m. while St. Joseph’s will host a 10 a.m. Mass Christmas Day.
In Pocahontas County, St. Mark, the Evangelist, Church at Bartow will have a 5 p.m. Mass and St. Bernard’s at Snowshoe will have a 9 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve with St. John Neuman Church in Marlinton holding Christmas Day Mass at 10 a.m. followed by a pot luck Christmas dinner.
St. Catherine of Siena Church in Ronceverte will celebrate a Christmas Eve Mass at 7 p.m. and Christmas Day Mass at 10 a.m. and Sacred Heart Church in Covington, VA, is celebrating Christmas Eve Mass at 6 p.m.
Sacred Heart Church in Rainelle will celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at 5:30 p.m. and St. Patrick’s Church in Hinton will host a Christmas Eve Mass at 8 p.m. and Christmas Day Mass at 9 a.m. St. Mary’s of the Greenbrier in Alderson will have a Christmas Day Mass at 11 a.m.
The Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Hot Springs, VA, will hold a Christmas Eve Mass at 8 p.m. and Christmas Day Mass 11 a.m., according to its website.
“We are very pleased to encourage all area residents to consider attending a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Mass at one of the churches in the Greenbrier Valley and Alleghany Highlands,” noted Perk Berry of White Sulphur Springs, grand knight of the Alleghany Highlands Council 8689 Knights of Columbus. “One of our Council’s projects is to make certain the public, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, realizes they are invited to join at the area Catholic churches in worship in the Christmas season as well as throughout the year,” Berry added.
