nine mornings

@jornz87 (139)
Philippines
December 7, 2010 6:43am CST
what is nine mornings? will it is a nine days of morning mass usually at 3:00 - 4:00 o'clock in the morning before the day Jesus Christ was born. but why is it that in English it is "nine mornings" while in Tagalog it "simbang gabi"? "simbang gabi" if you translated it into English "simbang" from the word "simba" which means 'mass', while "gabi" means 'night'. so if you translated it into English it is 'night mass'. my question is, why is it? how it came up to that?
2 responses
hushi22
@hushi22 (4928)
•
7 Dec 10
i am so excited to attend the simbang gabi. i will make sure to attend those since I will leave Philippines by January. i think the literal translation doesnt make any sense. it is about the concept.
Just an Ordinary Owl?
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
7 Dec 10
Many people think of 'morning' as beginning at dawn, so 'night' is the time between sunset and sunrise. This may be the traditional way of thinking of it in the Philippines, so, in the local language it is called 'Night Mass'. It seems to be increasingly common, in the West, at least, these days to think of 'morning' as beginning at midnight, so that 3:00 AM would be early morning. This is probably why the name for the celebration in English is "Nine Mornings".