“Lanterns represent the star of Bethlehem, the guiding light that led, many Catholics believe, the three wise men to the infant Child”
The nine-day Midnight Mass, which started Tuesday in Aglipayan and Catholic churches, symbolizes the jubilant celebration of the Mass or Service of Worship in honor of the Nativity of Jesus, a tradition that began in the early 400s.
The Midnight Mass, its ninth edition on Christmas Eve which becomes a Christmas Day, is moored in the belief that Jesus was born at midnight.
Christians in this nation of 117 million, nearly 13 million of whom live in the thriving metropolis, gather in their respective parishes to celebrate the birth of Jesus, that moment, in the words of Roman Catholic Archbishop Diartmuid Martin “when the God who had existed before all ages took on human flesh for our salvation.”
Theologians say God took on human flesh and taught the believers what it meant to be human: The Christmas story getting past “a fascinating fairy tale: A wonderful story of simplicity set in the bleak and austere beauty of a cold winter’s night” nearly 8,800 kms away from this Land of the Morning.
Aglipayan and Catholic priests – from Gonzaga in Cagayan to Paoay and Pinili in Ilocos Norte down to Muñoz City in Nueva Ecija, Dagupan City in Pangasinan to Moncada and Gerona in Tarlac as well as Camalig in Albay and Minglanilla in Cebu, and the other Christian towns in the country – started inoning yet once more the significance and message of the Midnight Masses which culminate on the eve of Christmas.
There are those who talk of the simplicity the shepherds displayed, the first to go to Jesus in the manger and encounter, according to Christians, the world’s Redeemer, without even saying “transeamus usque Bethlehem (writer’s translation: Let’s go to Bethlehem).”
Priests, Aglipayans and Catholics, are one in saying while the Christmas story is captivatingly engrossing, there is something, the inroads of technology despite, that makes believers stop and think and realize that life is deeper than Yuletide’s commercialized portrayal.
And the cold winds from the Mongolian steppes, which have started to be felt in this tropical country in mid September, have been an apt reminder that before much too long the Church bells would start chiming the Midnight Masses as it did this week.
In some streets of historic San Juan City, particularly Gilmore, Ortigas Avenue, Pinaglabanan and F. Blumentritt, including the square fronting the Agora Public Market, the colors have become a reminder that Yuletide indeed is here.
In Makati’s Central Business District, Ayala Land has illuminated the six-lane Ayala Avenue with ornaments and light installations to mark the beginning of the Christmas season, with this year’s design showcasing bronze cone-shaped Christmas trees, angel wings and fan-inspired installations maximizing local products like capiz chandeliers.
After the lively service, churchgoers will filter out into the church yard, bless themselves with steaming cups of coffee, tea or chocolate and freshly baked rice cakes like “bibingka” – made from rice flour topped with carabao cheese and grated coconut, or “puto bumbong,” the purple glutinous rice cake steamed in bamboo cylinders and sprinkled with grated coconut and brown sugar, and other native delicacies” – hung lanterns of different colors not far away.
The lanterns represent the star of Bethlehem, the guiding light that led, many Catholics believe, the three wise men to the infant Child.
