midnight
The procession went on toward the royal altar , set up under an open tent in a wide space , so that the multitude could kneel on the grass and both see and hear the celebration . So they all knelt down , the great barons and chief vassals having small hassocks for their knees , while the King and Queen and the sovereign lords of Savoy and Alsatia and Lorraine , and of Bohemia and of Poland , had rich praying-stools set out for them in a row , next to the King and Queen . The torches were stuck into the ground to burn down as they might , and the great wax candles shone quietly on the white altar , for the night was now very still and clear . There all the great nobles and many thousands of other men heard the Christmas mass , just after midnight , knowing that many of them should never hear it again on earth . There they all sang together , in a mighty melody of older times , the ` Glory to God in the highest , ' which was first sung on the Holy Eve ; and there , when the Bishop of Metz was about to lift up the consecrated bread , the royal trumpets rang out a great call to the multitude , so that all men might bow themselves together . Then the silence was very deep , while the Lord passed by ; nor ever again in his life did Sir Gilbert Warde know such a stillness as that was , save once , and it seemed to him that in the Way of the Cross he had reached a place of refreshment and rest . Gilbert rose from his knees with the rest , and then he saw that the King and Queen placed themselves side by side and standing , and the nobles began to go up to them according to their rank , to kiss their hands .