Strange Things Happen on the Night of Christmas

A priest told
me what
happened to him
once in his first
parish. After the
Midnight Mass
on Christmas
Day he
personally
locked the
church. With the
keys in his
pocket he went
to his room and
had a good sleep.
At 7:30 in the
morning he got
up and went
back to the
church intending
to have one hour
of prayer all to
himself. He
opened the side
door leading to
the sacristy,
turned on a light
and then turned
on the lights for
the church. As he
opened the
sacristy door and
walked into the
church, he
literally froze.
Strange people
clad in the
poorest of clothes
occupied most of
the pews and all
were in total
silence. No one
so much as
wiggled and
nobody cared to
look at him. A
small group was
standing by the
Nativity Scene
contemplating
the manger in
total silence.
The priest
recovered
quickly and in a
loud voice asked
them how they
got in. Nobody
answered. He
walked closer to
them and asked
again “Who let
you in?” A
woman
answered totally
unconcerned:
“Strange things
happen on the
night of
Christmas.” She
said, and then
lapsed back into
total silence. The
priest went to
check the main
door and found
it locked just as
he had left it. He
was now
determined to
get the facts and
turned his face
to the pews; but
they were
empty. The
people had
vanished.
He kept
this puzzle to
himself for some
time. Unable to
hold it in any
longer, he told
me just what I
have told you.
–Segundo
Llorente, S. J .