I may be stretching my Old Word Christmas theme a bit with this post. The Philippines aren’t in what we consider the Old World. Yet they celebrate Christmas because they were owned by Spain for hundreds of years and the country is predominately Catholic.
If you think the U.S. begins with the Christmas festivities too early, you should move to Manila (insert sarcasm). The Christmas decorations start going up in August. Yes, snowmen and Santa Claus and all that jazz. It’s strange to see snowman decorations when it’s 90 degrees.
One decoration they particularly love is the parol. It’s a star, basically, but they take it to the nth degree – some even twirl and have blinking lights. They decorate their cars and jeepneys, as well as their homes and offices. The best way for you to understand what they are is to show you a few examples.
Now you know why I needed to show them to you. The kids and I made parols one year from construction paper. They looked nothing like this 😉
Simbang Gabi is celebrated from December 16th until Christmas Day. This daily mass held usually very early in the morning, around 4:00 a.m. or so. After mass, they buy a breakfast treat from the vendors set up outside of the church.
On Christmas Eve, they attend midnight mass, then enjoy a feast called Noche Buena. These feasts have been known to go all night long. They might have roasted pig, pancit (a noodle dish), rice, adobo (stewed chicken or pork), and rice cakes, lumpia (Filipino egg rolls). Some families will also open presents at this time.
The morning is the time for visiting relatives. For elderly relatives, children will do mano, kissing the person’s hand or bringing the hand to their forehead. The relative then gives them a gift. The celebration goes on through new year’s and epiphany.
So, I wish you Maligayang Pasko!
Merry Christmas!