Misa de Gallo: A Filipino Tradition
By Jigs Arquiza
ONE of the longest and most popular of Filipino traditions, the Misa de Gallo signals the coming of Christmas for most Filipinos. It is the time when church bells start ringing as early as three o'clock in the morning, waking people up so they can get ready for the four o'clock dawn mass.
This custom started in the early Spanish era. As much as they had wanted to, the farmers at that time were not usually able to attend regular masses because they had to go to the fields to work. As a gift, or 'aguinaldo', to these farmers, the priests started to celebrate mass early in the morning so the farmers could hear mass before going to work.
A nine-day novena, the Misa de Gallo starts on the sixteenth of December and culminates on the morning of December 24, acting as sort of a prelude to the midnight mass held on Christmas Eve.
Reasons vary for attending the Misa de Gallo. For some people, it is an opportunity to renew their faith and ties with God. Others attend early morning mass as a form of thanksgiving or an offering to the Lord. Still others see it as an occasion for fellowship and oneness with other Christians.
The Misa de Gallo is also seen as a way of requesting blessings from the Lord, as most people believe that if one completes the whole series of nine dawn masses, wishes will be granted.
Unfortunately, the Misa de Gallo has lately become a social event. People attend the early-morning mass to 'see and be seen', making it an occasion where they can be with friends and exchange stories as well as the latest gossip. Even worse, people attend the dawn masses to put on a show of piety, to pretend to be religious and holy, so that other people will hold them in high esteem.
Even as the Philippines grows more and more Western in culture, it is reassuring to see that we as a people still cling to our traditions.
And as Christmas day draws near, as we attend the Misa de Gallo, we should always remember that we are not attending the masses only for ourselves. Rather, we attend the Misa de Gallo as an acceptance of God's Gift to us.
