“Misa de Gallo sa simbahan,
At nagtilaok na ang tandang,
Tanda ng pagdiriwang at pagmisa,
Paskong dakilang araw.
Misa de Gallo sa tuwing Pasko
Nagdarasal ang bawa’t tao.
At nagpapasalamat sa pagsilang
Ng Diyos na hari ng mundo.”
Misa de Aguinaldo
On March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday, Magellan planted a cross in Limasawa, Leyte, and claimed the Philippines for the King of Spain. Pope Leo X obligated Spain to Christianize the people. Spanish priests came to teach the Filipinos the Christian doctrine.
To impress on Filipino Christian converts on the significance of Christmas Day, the dawn Mass was introduced. Likened to a gift for all the blessings, the Mass was called Misa de Aguinaldo (Gift Mass). Because the Mass was celebrated at 4 in the morning and was still dark, it was called midnight Mass to approximate the darkness of night. And with the rooster as the heralder of the good news, the Mass was called Misa de Gallo, or Rooster’s Mass in many countries.
The Filipinos, who are early risers to work in the farms at sunrise, welcomed the celebration. They, too, are rooster lovers. The dawn Masses indeed augured well with their waking habits and gratefulness to God’s blessings in their lives.
Since it is a nine-day celebration, thus, considered a novena, one who completes the dawn Masses receives blessings and the wishes are granted too. Thus, through the centuries, the dawn Mass has become an important Christmas celebration among the Roman Catholics and the faithfuls of the Philippine Independent Church.
Sometimes a band goes around the neighborhood to wake up the people to attend Mass. The band resumes playing after Mass to add a festive mood to the occasion. The continuous ringing of the bells served as a beacon call to parishioners.
Simbang Gabi (Midnight Mass) starts on December 16 and ends on December 24.
To accommodate the urban faithfuls, anticipated Masses are held at 9 or 10 p.m. the night before in shopping malls with chapels.
Historical beginnings
Simbang Gabi could be traced to the midnight vigil among early Christians in Bethlehem. After the vigil on the night of Christmas, a torchlight procession is held until dawn at the Church of Resurrection.
The ceremony called Misa de los Pastores (Shepherds Mass) was first chronicled by Aetheria Egeria or Etheroniua in a letter titled “Peregrinatio Itimerarium Ad Loca Santa (Pilgrimage to Holy Land by Aetheria) in the early 380s to women of a spiritual community.
Only the middle part of her writing was discovered and copied in Codex Aretinus by Italian scholar Gian Francisco Gamurrini, who theorised that the author was Saint Sylvia of Aquitaine.
Karl Meister disputed the theory about Aetheria Egeria’s identity and date of pilgrimage. Since the language in the letter shows no evidence of Spanish dialect, the author must be from a religious house of the sixth century, and the pilgrimage took place during the first half of Justinian’s reign (527-565)
The significance of this letter though according to Martin Connell in Eternity Today: On the Liturgical Year is its historical liturgical importance. It provided catholics a universal acceptance of December 25 as the nativity of Jesus Christ.
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Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons