Parishioners fill Holy Name Cathedral for Midnight Mass in celebration of Christmas

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Hundreds of parishioners gathered to celebrate the big Christmas holiday.

Holy Name Cathedral hosted multiple Christmas Eve vigil masses on Sunday, all the way to Midnight Mass.

Attendees looked back on this year and forward to 2024 with hope.

People filled the scores of pews inside the festively-adorned church, spreading the message of Christmas.

Christmas Eve mass at Holy Name Cathedral is one of the most attended masses throughout the entire year, drawing in people from Chicagoand around the world.

For celebrating Catholics, Sunday marks the end of the Advent season that leads into one of the holiest holidays for Christians around the world: Christmas Day and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Cardinal Blase Cupich delivered a Christmas message.

"Artificial a life pursued only by personal gain and greed can leave us," Cupich said.

Standing side-by-side, parishioners said Christmas marks a time of reflection, appreciation and hope going into a new year.