Misa de Gallo: Why the dawn Mass?

Of the many things that make Christmas in the Philippines unique, perhaps the most distinct is the Misa de Gallo, the series of daily novena masses held from December 16-24.

The term Misa de Gallo is Spanish for "Mass of the Roosters", so called because it is celebrated at dawn, a time when - especially in the rural areas where crop fields abound - roosters begin to crow upon sensing the first burst of sunlight. The roosters' crow would rouse up the farmers to go to work early at the fields. The early hours of the morning were taken advantage of in order to avoid the scorching heat of the tropical sun as the day proceeded.

The Spaniards introduced Roman Catholicism in the country in the 16th century. Spanish friars taught their new converts that it was their Christian duty to offer nine days of prayer towards the feast of Christ's nativity. They taught them as well that it was good practice to start the day with prayer. Hence, the series of novena masses was celebrated before the farmers would go out to the fields.

The Misa de Gallo has since brought about the proliferation of delicacy stalls around the public plazas adjoining the churches, where people usually passed by after the novena mass. In the Visayas and Mindanao, enterprising women serve hot sikwate (native chocolate drink) with puto-maya (sticky rice cooked in coconut milk) or bibingka (rice cake). In Luzon, their own Tagalog delicacies are served. In big cities, the original makeshift stalls have developed into full-blown night markets.

The Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia, is said to have the longest Christmas season in the world. The Church-prescribed period-from December 16 through January 6-is observed, but the celebrations actually start much earlier and last much longer.

Other Catholic nations center their Yuletide celebrations only on December 25, Christmas Day, and the feast of the Epiphany on January 6. In the Philippines, Christmas is a period of unceasing festivities and merrymaking, which sometimes even extend all the way until February 2. This can look like profound piety to some, or sheer excessiveness to others.

Through time, the Filipino Christmas has welcomed many foreign influences. Examples include such imports as Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. And many Filipino kids today look forward to Christmas for a carnival-on ice!

The old folk lament the fading away of the old Filipino Christmas traditions. They say it was better during the country's early Christian beginnings. Yet even the Christmas originally brought to the islands by the Spaniards was already a product of many earlier adaptations. And, in fact, Misa de Gallo was another variation purposely to adapt the prescribed Christian rites to the local life and conditions then obtaining in the country.

It is probably true that Christmas in the Philippines today is a far cry from what it was in the olden days. But many people welcome the transformation. The celebrations have become something more-modern, fabulous, colorful. Yet, for the most part, they have remained basically religious and distinctly Filipino!