Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is the evening before Christmas Day, on December 24th. Many churches ring their church bells and hold prayers in the evening before holidays. Since Christian tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke 2:6-8), Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, in commemoration of his birth. The idea of Jesus being born at night is reflected in the fact that Christmas Eve is referred to as "Heilige Nacht" ("Holy Night") in German, "Nochebuena" ("the Good Night") in Spanish. 

Julaftonen (Christmas Eve), a 1904–05 watercolor painting by Carl Larsson