Pinoy faithful gather for 9-day Simbang Gabi

MANILA, Philippines — The traditional pre-dawn novena masses, popularly known as “Simbang Gabi” in the Philippines, will officially start today.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said most parishes in the country would adopt “synodality” as the theme for this year’s nine-day pre-dawn masses to promote journeying with Jesus Christ and with one another.

“It looks like most parishes all over the country will be adopting synodality as the main running theme for the ‘Simbang Gabi’ celebration because Christmas is really about God who has been journeying with us so that we learn to journey with one another,” David said.

“Synodality has to do with promoting communion within the Church as well as greater participation towards mission, and our dream is missioning Church and we hope that through these nine novena masses, our priests will be able to impart message, good news of synodality of communion participation and mission,” he added.

In a video message, CBCP vice president and Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara urged the Catholic faithful to attend the first of the nine-day novena masses as he emphasized that the first day will determine the faithful’s disposition toward the coming of Jesus Christ.

Vergara said the faithful should emulate St. John the Baptist who served as the Lord’s “precursor” and led a greater majority to the protection of the Lord.

The Simbang Gabi will run from Dec. 16 until Dec. 25.

Masses at the Manila Cathedral from Dec. 15 to 23 will be held at 8 p.m. while pre-dawn masses will be held from Dec. 16-24 at 4:30 a.m. Masses at the Quiapo church will be held from Dec. 15-23 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. while pre-dawn masses will be from Dec. 16-24 at 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Quiapo church spokesman Fr. Earl Valdez said they are preparing for “a slight increase” of people attending the nine-day masses as he urged the faithful to continue observing health protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

“We are preparing for a slight increase in mass attendance so cleaning and maintenance, plus placement of markers for physical distancing. We also have several volunteers deployed for ushering and observance of safety protocols (particularly masking),” Valdez said.

He added that they are also in close coordination with the Manila city government and the police for increased security measures as he hopes that the observance of Simbang Gabi will become meaningful and not become a super spreader event.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday all security measures are in place to ensure the public’s safety at the start of dawn masses today.

Col. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson, said they went on full alert status on Thursday, which will run until Jan. 10, “so that all available police officers are ready for deployment and respond in case of emergencies.”

In compliance with the directive of PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., all police commanders are required to deploy 85 percent of their personnel on the streets to secure churches and other places of convergence.

Fajardo told dzBB that least 85 percent of the PNP force or 192,950 policemen should be on field duty.

While the PNP has not monitored any credible threat to security, she said policemen are not keeping their guard down to prevent lawless elements from disrupting the Simbang Gabi and the rest of the Yuletide season.

In Metro Manila, Lt. Col. Dexter Versola, National Capital Region Police Office spokesman, said at least 14,000 policemen are deployed for Simbang Gabi. – Emmanuel Tupas