Midnight Mass | Video

Jessica Roose | 12/24/2012

Each year 15 seminarians from around the world are chosen to serve midnight mass for the Pope at Saint Peter`s Basilica. In 1990 two seminarians from the Bismarck Catholic Diocese had the honor of serving midnight mass to Pope John Paul II. Reverend Patrick Schumacher was one of those young men.

"It was hard to believe. Sort of like winning the lottery," he said.

Such an honor is rare, even more so to have two men from the same diocese serving the same year.

"It is a tremendous blessing. You know, for a little diocese like ours to just have one over a long period of time would be a great honor. And then to have two in the same year," said Rev. Tom Richter from the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.

This year, once again, the Bismarck Diocese will get that honor. Jordan Dosch and Doug Krebs will be center stage on for Midnight Mass at the Vatican, right behind Pope Benedict XVI.

"It`s an incredible gift to be able to serve for the Holy Father for Christmas, for mass, and celebrate the incarnation of God. So it`s incredible," Krebs said.

His story gets even more incredible.

"I actually served for the Pope last Christmas and I think this time I was more excited this time around than I was last year."

Now that he knows what to expect, he gets to go through it again with someone he`s known since grade school.

"There`s thousands of different seminarians in Rome and it`s just such an honor that they choose us out of the thousands, I was one of them. So I was incredibly honored to be able to serve the church in thus way on Christmas Day," Dosch said.

Schumacher says the day goes by, like most important moments, in a blur and he hopes they can take in every minute.

"Life doesn`t bring us many moments like that if life brings us moments like that at all. So enjoy it, take it in, relax, but don`t mess up. (laugh)"

You can watch the tape delayed broadcast of Midnight Mass from the Vatican, following the Night Report.

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