The Aguinaldo Masses: Origins, Setbacks and Survival - A Special Feature
"Simbang Gabi" at the Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados de Marikina, Marikina City Written by +Rev. Fr. Fidel Villaroel, OP [Originally Published in Philippiniana Sacra Vol. XXXIV, No. 12 (Sept. - Dec., 1999)] Blogger's note: One of the most awaited season in the Philippines is the Christmas season where we are known to celebrate this season with so much merriment and it is rich with traditions that we still practice up to the present.One of the most cherished Christmas tradition that we still practice is the "Simbang Gabi" where the faithful hear dawn or evening masses for 9 concecutive days before Christmas - a Christmas novena if we are going to look at it that way. This venerable tradition became one of the most enduring that aside from the Masses itself, other practices were also done specifically on these 9 mornings: the selling of hot puto bumbong and bibingka, singing of carols among others. However, in the recent years, t...