Christmas carols will be sung by the Palestrina choir in Dublin's Pro-Cathedral at 9.30 tonight, followed by the Mass of Christmas Night with Archbishop Desmond Connell as principal celebrant.
The Lord Mayor, Ms Mary Freehill, members of Dublin City Council and the diplomatic corps will attend. Part of the Mass will be televised live worldwide as part of Vatican ceremonies marking the beginning of the Great Jubilee Year.
At Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, there will be Midnight Eucharist at 11.59, celebrated by Archbishop Walton Empey. Dean John Paterson will preach and music will be from Haydn's Missa Sancti Nicholai. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, will begin at 4 p.m. Admission is by ticket only.
There will be Evensong at 5 p.m. today in St Patrick's, Armagh, and Midnight Communion at 11.30 p.m. at St Anne's, Belfast, and at St Columb's, Derry. The Midnight Eucharist begins at 10 p.m. in St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick and at 11.30 p.m. at St Nicholas's in Galway.
A spokesman for the Catholic Press and Information Office said Christmas ceremonies would be at the usual times in churches throughout the island. The opening Mass of the jubilee year will be celebrated at 11 a.m. tomorrow by Archbishop Connell. At Christ Church there will be a sung Eucharist at 11 a.m. celebrated by Dean John Paterson, with Archbishop Walton Empey preaching. At St Patrick's Cathedral Holy Eucharist will be at 7.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., with matins and sung Eucharist at 11.15 a.m. The preacher will be Dean Robert MacCarthy, with music from Mozart's Missa Brevis in D.
Holy Communion will be at 8 a.m., with Choral Eucharist at 11 a.m., in St Patrick's, Armagh, where the Primate, Dr Eames, will preach. Holy Communion is at 10 and 11 a.m. in St Anne's, Belfast, where Bishop Harold Miller will preach.
Holy Communion will be at 8 a.m. in St Nicholas's in Galway, with parish Eucharist at 11.30 a.m. Holy Communion is at 8.30 and 10 a.m. in St Mary's, Limerick, and the Eucharist with carols begins at 11 a.m. Holy Communion is at 8 and 9.30 a.m. in St Columb's, Derry, and again at 11 a.m., when Bishop Mehaffey will preach.
On St Stephen's Day there will be Evensong and music from Handel's Messiah at 3.13 p.m. in St Patrick's, Dublin.
On New Year's Eve at 3.30 p.m., There Is a Time, a ceremony of words and music, will take place in the Pro-Cathedral, concluding with the lighting of candles to mark the fading of the last light of this millennium. It will be led by Archbishop Desmond Connell.
Other millennium ceremonies will take place on New Year's Eve at 4.30 p.m. at St Patrick's Church, Wicklow, and at 6.30 p.m. at the Church of the Ascension, Balally, Co Dublin.
At 11.30 a.m. on New Year's Day, World Day of Peace Mass will be celebrated by the Papal Nuncio, Dr Luciano Storero, with Archbishop Desmond Connell concelebrating. Mgr Alex Stenson, former chancellor of the Dublin archdiocese and now parish priest of Maynooth, will deliver the homily. The Dublin Lourdes Choir will sing, accompanied by Prof Gerard Gillen on the organ. In attendance will be the President, Mrs McAleese, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ms Frehill.
Ceremonies will conclude with two minutes of silence, coinciding with two minutes of silence nationwide, beginning and ending with the ringing of the procathedral bells.
An ecumenical celebration to welcome the new millennium takes place at the National Concert Hall on Sunday, January 2nd, at 3 p.m. Titled Morning Has Broken, it will be broadcast live on RTE and will be attended by the President, Mrs McAleese, the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Ms Freehill, Archbishop Desmond Connell and Archbishop Walton Empey. Admission is free.
The millennium story of the first Christmas is continuing until January 10th at the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Harold's Cross, Dublin.
