“The nine Masses celebrated in the pre-dawn hours from Dec. 16 began as a way of accompanying Mary symbolically in prayer through the nine months of her pregnancy”
IN NEARLY all the Christian-populated towns of this Southeast Asian archipelago of 117 million people have risen giant Christmas trees – and some are being rushed in time for the start of the Midnight Masses starting Tuesday next week.
From lanterns along the highway or in many Christian homes to display a merry season, Disneyland has also risen in a Christmas Village in Pamplona, Cagayan while dancing lights are up in some towns of Ilocos Norte, home province of the rebel Catholic priest Gregorio Aglipay.
Many have started preparing for the Night Mass – known as Simbang Gabi in the National Capital Region and Miatinis in the Ilocos.
The series of nine Masses traditionally celebrated in the pre-dawn hours each day from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24 began as a way of accompanying Mary symbolically in prayer through the nine months of her pregnancy.
There is a giant Christmas tree at the Lipa Cathedral, where the nine pre-dawn masses start on Tuesday at 4 am, with those attending Masses overwhelmed on their way out with the native puto bumbong, the Filipino purple rice cake steamed in bamboo tubes – a sight seen in many other areas of this country like Samar, Quezon, Rizal and Albay as well as Tarlac, Pampanga and Pangasinan which received the Christian Cross in the 16th century.
There is also the native bibingka, the fluffy cake made of glutinous galapong or rice dough, which is as well relished in the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley.
In Minglanilla, Cebu, Marivic Rosal talks of praying the Rosary followed by the 4 am Mass, with vendors of puto maya, a sticky rice cake made of steamed glutinous rice, fresh ginger juice and sweetened coconut milk, ready with their accompanying sikwate, the Cebuano version of hot chocolate or the tsokolate de batirol prepared by adding cocoa tablets.
In Paoay, Ilocos Norte, where the UN Heritage Lister Roman Catholic Church is, known for its colonial earthquake baroque architecture, Dr. Wilma Natividad talks of dancing lights that accompany a wave of rhythmic music and a giant Christmas tree in front of the town hall near the church.
In Cagayan, known for its breathtaking Sierra Madre mountain, great beaches, and amazing caves, the first class town of Gonzaga is also setting up a Christmas tree.
But the town of Pamplona, according to Zena Gail Jacinto, has a Christmas village called Disneyland, where the young and old prepare for the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.
More than 140 kms from Manila is a balmy barangay, inappropriately named Caturay, which has become, at least among highway travelers, an early Central Luzon symbol of Christmas in this predominantly Christian country.
The barangay name is derived from the corkwood tree whose flowers are relished as salad by Ilokanos in the Central Plains up to the northernmost towns and villages of Ilocos and the Cagayan Valley.
As early as the latter part of September up to the cold weeks of December, the area provides stiff business competition to lantern makers 73 kms south of Gerona, where the giant lantern parade has become an icon for Christmas festival in this country.
Farther north, in Rosario town in La Union, 216 kms from Manila, a tree house at the junction is decked with multi-colored lanterns that provide lights to and tribute from night travelers passing by following relaxed pandemic lockdowns – those from the Ilocos and Benguet or those driving from the metropolis for quick visits to the province.
Some towns in La Union, like Agoo, Aringay and Bacnotan, Ilocos Sur, like Cabugao and Sinait, and Ilocos Norte, like Badoc, the hometown of the Lunas, and the Darat junction in Pinili, where Filipino guerrillas fought hand-to-hand combat against the Americans during the Philippine American War, have their share of the night lights from giant lanterns along the concrete MacArthur highway (Manila North Road).
(The author is a freelance writer who writes orations for necrological services as well as theses and dissertations for graduate students.)
