By Demian Russian
Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) listeners will have access to a special lineup of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day programming, including live coverage of Pope Benedict’s Midnight Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica, music and more, on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel (Sirius and XM channel 129).
On Christmas Eve, at 3:50 pm ET, The Catholic Channel will present a live broadcast of the Midnight Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome celebrated by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. The Papal Mass begins a series of Christmas Masses airing on Sirius XM — including five services from Rome, New York and Washington, DC.
At midnight ET on Christmas Day, listeners will hear a live broadcast of the Midnight Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, celebrated by Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Listeners will also get Christmas Day Masses from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, as well as from St. Patrick’s.
Between Mass broadcasts, The Catholic Channel will provide listeners with a musical mix of Christmas carols and sacred hymns. Several of the Masses will replay on Christmas Day.
Christmas Programming Schedule on The Catholic Channel (All times ET)
Christmas Eve – December 24
3:50 pm: Midnight Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica (live) – Rome
11:00 pm: Choral Prelude from St. Patrick’s Cathedral (live) – New York
Christmas Day – December 25
Midnight: Midnight Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral (live) – New York
2:30 am: Choral Prelude from National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception – Wash, DC
3:00 am: Midnight Mass from National Shrine – Wash, DC
10:15 am: Christmas Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral (live) – New York
Noon: Christmas Mass from the National Shrine (live) – Wash, DC
For more information, visit www.siriusxm.com/thecatholicchannel.
Disclosure: Long SIRI
Contact the author: DemianRussian@SatelliteRadioPlayground.com
As far back as I can remember, this the first time that the Papal Midnight Mass was not shown in Manila. I don’t know if its due to the much earlier time schedule of the mass in Rome (10:00 instead of the usual 12:00) which would have been at a very early time of 5:00 am in Manila. The change to an earlier schedule of the mass was attributed to the health of Pope Benedict XVI. Another reason could be due to the nonavailability of an english commentator because of the recent passing away of John Cardinal Foley of Philadelphia, who has been giving the english translation and commentary of the mass to the english speaking viewers of the world for the past 25 years. I have to settle with the italian version of the mass which I watched in channel 87 of my cable tv provider which was shown at 5:00 am. Merry Christmas to all!