The mass follows a fairly standard format, embellished for Christmas. Gabriel genuflects and gestures without any of it seeming perfunctory or passive - it isn't. And every hymn, every Christmas song, he sings: a clear, smooth tenor.

Toward the end of mass, at the midnight hour, light flickers to life along the walls of the church and the choir stands in the aisle to perform the Hallelujah Chorus, accompanied by the organ. Gabriel gets goosebumps from the sensation of being surrounded by the music.