Holiday Worship: St. Richard Church

The early Christmas Eve Mass is popular with young families eager to get to bed early for Santa's arrival — so popular, in fact, that St. Richard Parish must offer an "overflow" Mass.

There's room for 1,100 people at the 4 p.m. Mass in the church, but things still get crowded. And so the parish offers a simultaneous Mass downstairs in the social hall, where 630 chairs are lined up for the overflow.

"It's crazy around here from 3 until 6 that day," said Mary Jordan, pastoral associate at St. Richard. "We have a police officer directing traffic."

Jordan said the congregation swells at Christmas, something she sees as an opportunity to draw more families to the church.

"It's a teaching moment for us," Jordan said. "God's gonna do his work. We do the best we can and let God do the rest."

The St. Richard parish has been busy all month with service projects, including a toy drive for North Hills Community Outreach, and the church's regular monthly visit to downtown Pittsburgh to serve hot meals to homeless people. Each month, church members feed 75 to 100 people, most of whom live under the Stanwix Street bridge downtown.

Christmas weekend brings plenty of opportunities to attend Mass. In addition to the two services at 4 p.m., Mass will be celebrated at 6:30 and 10 p.m. That will be a high Mass with the adult and handbell choirs.

Christmas Day Mass will be at 8 and 10 a.m.