New Year Eve

In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watchnight service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, 1 January.

The Line Islands (part of Kiribati), Samoa and Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, are the first places to welcome the New Year, while American Samoa, Baker Island and Howland Island (part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands) are among the last.

Religious observances

Many Christian congregations have New Year's Eve watchnight services. Many denominations in Christianity, especially Moravians and Methodists, as well as congregations populated by certain ethnic communities, such as in the Korean community and African American community, have a tradition known as the Watch Night service (or Watch Night Mass), in which the faithful congregate in services continuing past midnight, giving thanks for the blessings of the outgoing year and praying for divine favor during the upcoming year. In the English-speaking world, Watch Night services can be traced back to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism,[196] who learned the custom from the Moravian Brethren who came to England in the 1730s. Moravian congregations still observe the Watch Night service on New Year's Eve. Watch Night services took on special significance to African Americans on New Year's Eve 1862, as slaves anticipated the arrival of 1 January 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation became effective.[197]

With Christianity, in the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and the Anglican Communion, 1 January is observed as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, and specifically within Roman Catholicism, honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus; it is a Holy Day of Obligation in most countries (Australia being a notable exception), thus the Church requires the attendance of all Catholics in such countries for Mass that day. However a vigil Mass may be held on the evening before a Holy Day; thus it has become customary to also have Mass on the night of New Year's Eve (which are sometimes referred to as Watchnight Masses). (New Year's Eve is a feast day honoring Pope Sylvester I in the Roman Catholic calendar, but it is not widely recognized in the United States).[citation needed] The Catholic Church grants a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, to those who recite the Te Deum in public on New Year's Eve, which is usually done prior to the celebration of Mass.[198]

In Vatican City, on December 31, the Pope usually performs a solemn service of Vespers with recitation of the Te Deum in St. Peter's Basilica. After the service, he usually goes out from the basilica into St. Peter's Square to greet the faithful and visit the Nativity scene on the square.[199]