midnight
Accordingly , about twenty or thirty years ago , the performance of the Midnight Mass was looked upon as an ordinance highly important and interesting . The preparations for it were general and fervent ; so much so , that not a Roman Catholic family slept till they heard it . It is true it only occurred once a year ; but had any person who saw it once , been called upon to describe it , he would say that religion could scarcely present a scene so wild and striking . The night in question was very dark , for the moon had long disappeared , and as the inhabitants of the whole parish were to meet in one spot , it may be supposed that the difficulty was very great , of traversing , in the darkness of midnight , the space between their respective residences , and the place appointed by the priest for the celebration of mass . The difficulty , they contrived to surmount . From about eleven at night till twelve or one o'clock , the parish presented a scene singularly picturesque , and , to a person unacquainted with its causes , altogether mysterious . Over the surface of the surrounding country were scattered myriads of blazing torches , all converging to one point ; whilst at a distance , in the central part of the parish , which lay in a valley , might be seen a broad focus of red light , quite stationary , with which one or more of the torches that moved across the fields mingled every moment .