Silent night, holy night. 

Church will be a bit quieter on Christmas this year, as fewer people will be permitted inside places of worship on one of the largest days of celebration in the Christian faith. But residents of Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester who haven’t secured spots in-person service will still be able to participate virtually in many Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. 

At St. Gabriel’s in Marion, Reverend Robert Malm said the church has been preparing for a shift to a virtual service since before the pandemic began. 

“We felt like this was a wave of the future and we needed to be doing it anyway,” he said. 

So when lockdowns began in March, the church was ready for that shift online. 

Malm added that it means a lot to parishioners to be able to see their own church, clergy and fellow parishioners, even if it’s not in-person. 

He said virtual service isn’t a perfect surrogate for in-person worship, but it’s still “better than not participating at all.”

And St. Gabriels has had a steady viewership of its Sunday services since the pandemic began, usually bringing in between 40 and 70 households every week. 

“It’ll be interesting to see how the numbers go up on Thursday and Friday,” Malm said. 

The church even hired a dedicated tech engineer to help the church with virtual services.

The extra help has paid off, too. Malm said that with a new internet router the church recently bought, services look like they’re being broadcast using thousands of dollars of equipment. 

In reality, it’s just a few well-placed cameras that show angles of the choir, priest and organist. 

Malm said the system works so well that last Sunday’s broadcast was “just perfect.”

“We’re hopeful this week going into Christmas,” he added. 

Services at St. Gabriel’s will take place on Christmas Eve at 4 and 9 p.m., and at 9 a.m. on Christmas Day. 

All three services are limited to 25 people in-person. Spots must be reserved by calling or emailing the church. The 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. services will be broadcast on Vimeo and Old Rochester Community Television. 

Contact information can be found on the church’s site at stgabrielsmarion.org.

Over at the First Congregational Church of Rochester, one service will be held on Christmas Eve at 6:30 p.m. 

The 25-person service will be held in the church’s sanctuary, with overflow space in the Fellowship Hall. Others will be able to stream the service on the church’s site at rochestercongregational.com.

Pastor Colby Olson said the service will be “Christmas from a different angle,” looking at the birth of Christ in a new way, within the context of the pandemic. 

“This is a time when people have been having a lot of issues with anxiety and depression,” Olson said. 

At St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett, three Masses will be held on Christmas Eve at 3:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m., and two on Christmas Day at 8:00 and 9:30 a.m. The 9:30 a.m. Mass will be streamed on the Church’s Facebook page. Tickets are required for the in-person versions of all three Masses.