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December 15, 2013Join in the celebration of Simbang Gabi on Wednesday, December 18th at 7:00 pm in our church. (The regular 6:45pm Wednesday Night Mass will not take place.)
For Filipino Catholics the nine-day celebration before Christmas is a tradition with deep roots in the country's religious culture. Literally, simbang gabi means "night worship.'' The origins of this Filipino custom are obscure. Perhaps the tradition came from Mexico, like many Catholic practices and devotions found in... the Philippines. One old Spanish name for this pre-Christmas series of daily masses is Misa de Aguinaldo. The phrase offers some insight into the meaning of simbang gabi. In Spanish aguinaldo means a gift. So Misa de Aguinaldo suggests a gift for the Child Jesus. Whatever its title, this pre-Christmas observance is surely a sacrifice of love for it requires dedication and discipline to get out of bed so early while yet fulfilling all one's daily duties.
Over the generations, local Filipino faith communities have creatively adapted simbang gabi. While only candles and lanterns are used in rural areas, as in centuries past, most churches today have electric lights, lanterns, and sound systems in keeping with the economic means of the congregation. So amplifiers now blare the Christmas music and the readings from the World of God and the Eucharistic prayers. Over adaptations are deeper. For example, many urban parishes now celebrate simbang gabi around 8 or 9 in the evening, not just in the morning, in order to accommodate the needs of people on a great variety of work schedules. The custom is also kept among Filipinos living elsewhere in the world. No matter how or when this celebration takes place, the annual simbang gabi provides a strong indication of the depth of Catholicism in the hearts of Filipinos.
