People Are Busy With Christmas Preparations

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The Christmas fever had caught many of our fellow Filipinos, just almost a week to go before the big day, Christmas Day. Although there are debates on the date when Jesus Christ was born, it had been a tradition by Roman Catholics in our country, the Philippines, to celebrate it on December 25. Last night, we attended the first Night Mass or "Simbang Gabi," an anticipated Mass which is part of the nine dawn Masses in preparation for Christmas Day. It is usually held at 4 a.m., the reason it was called Misa de Gallo (Mass of the Roosters) because Spanish priests, during the colonial days, held Dawn Masses to allow Filipino farmers to attend Mass first before going to their farms. Several years ago, churches hold anticipated mass at night to allow more people to attend it because some people could not wake up so early for the Mass, or some are busy preparing for work. But there are still Dawn Masses being held in churches to continue the tradition. After the Mass, people can buy Filipino foods around the church, the famous of which are hot rice cake or "bibingka," and the violet-colored "puto bumbong" or rolled rice cake cooked inside bamboo tubes. These are only a few of the highlights that Filipinos do to celebrate Christmas.