Cardinal Dolan celebrates Midnight Mass in New York

NEW YORK (WITI) -- Thousands of worshippers gathered early Wednesday morning in New York City for midnight Mass, officiated by former Milwaukee Archbishop, and now Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

"This midnight, we gather here at St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan around a mother and a baby, Mary and Jesus. The mystery and meaning of Christmas -- so heavenly, so supernatural, so miraculous -- and yet so earthly. So natural. So simple. Only in God is my soul at rest. This baby we welcome and celebrate this midnight is our God," Cardinal Dolan said.

Mass was celebrated inside the famed church on Fifth Avenue in NYC.

Notable New Yorkers in attendance included Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

Cardinal Dolan on Christmas Eve also said Mass to inmates and Department of Corrections staff at the George Motchan Detention Center on Rikers Island -- his third visit to the prison.