Rarate Caeli Mass, 5 am, 14 December, Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand

This coming Saturday is the predawn, candlelit Rorate Mass, celebrated in commemoration of the tidings brought to the Blessed Virgin by the Archangel Gabriel, announcing to her that she was to become the Mother of God.

It is celebrated in the early morning because the Blessed Virgin preceded our Lord, as the aurora precedes the rising sun