Simbang Gabi

The Filipino tradition of Misa de Gallo starts December 16. Misa means Mass, while Gallo means rooster. Get my drift? In Filipino it's called "Simbang Gabi" with simba meaning worship and gabi meaning night. For Roman Catholics, the Misa de Gallo is at 4:00 A.M. For most Evangelical churches, the worship service is at 8:00 P.M. For nine consecutive days, believers attend mass or worship service to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. For most youngsters, the "simbang gabi" serves as a venue to socialize and eat puto bumbong or bibingka after the mass.

I have not attended Simbang gabi for quite a while. My church holds its worship service at 8:00 P.M. that when I was a teener, I hated it. It was not "cool" for there was no native delicacies galore after the service. When I was in UP, I had the chance to attend the Roman Catholic simbang gabi because of my then boyfriend. We were both staying at different dorms and since the church was just a stone's throw away from our dorms, what the heck?! I attended the mass for 5 consecutive days. On the sixth day, classes ended for Christmas break and I had no option but to go home. That was my first and last Catholic simbang gabi.



Simbang Gabi was a composition of the late National Artist Lucio San Pedro. I was actually looking for a version of the song from UP Concert Chorus as I'm alumna. This version is from the Philippine Madrigal Singers (formerly UP Mardigal Singers) -close to me heart too. Why? My ex who I went with to attend the Midnight Mass eons ago, is an alumnus of the UP Madrigal Singers. Saan na kaya itong ex ko na to? ( I wonder where he is now)