The form is on the Pilgrims' Office site and is linked from the Christian Information Centre's Midnight Mass page. A family ticket is approved or declined as a whole, and single tickets cannot be linked to one another. Tickets are free of charge, so do not buy one from anyone. Dignitaries apply instead to the chancellery of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The page gives no closing date and does not say when or where tickets are collected, so apply early and follow the instructions in the office's reply.
The Mass is in St. Catherine's, the Franciscan church adjoining the Basilica of the Nativity. The programme for Christmas 2026 had not been published when this was checked. In 2025 the Latin Patriarch made his solemn entry at Manger Square in the early afternoon on December 24, followed by First Vespers; the church doors opened in the evening and closed once the church was full; the Office of Readings began late that night and Mass at midnight, by ticket. From the early hours of the morning, Masses in various languages followed every half hour in the Grotto, with no ticket needed, until the afternoon of Christmas Day, apart from an early-morning break.
Good to know before you go: on the 2025 pattern a ticket does not hold a place once the church is full, so arrive well before the doors open. Most pilgrims in Bethlehem that night are in Manger Square or at the Shepherds' Field with their own priest, and they are not left out of Christmas. The Grotto has been closed for maintenance in autumn 2026 with only short visiting periods, so do not count on the Grotto Masses until the new programme confirms them. The night also depends on the checkpoint, on transport after dark and on the security situation.