Families develop their own unique ways to celebrate Christmas. Many have vivid memories of Christmas family rituals. The warmth and joy may even acquire an extra glow over the years. A Christmas I remember well is one that has acquired that increased glow over the years for me. It was over 50 years ago and my first Christmas in the Philippines.
Now I am more familiar with Posadas celebrated by Latinos and other novena celebrations before Christmas Day. Fifty years ago, I wasn’t.
I had just arrived in Dumingag, a rural town in Mindanao in the Philippines. The Aguinaldo Masses (Simbang Gabi in other parts of the Philippines) were to begin the next day. This is a novena of Masses beginning December 16.
The pastor gave me the honor of celebrating the first Mass the next morning. “By the way, Mass begins at 4:30,” he said nonchalantly. Half hoping he would volunteer to celebrate the Mass himself, I said, “I hope I wake up in time.” “Don’t worry, you will hear the bells,” he replied. With that we retired.
The next thing I heard were two loud blasts. This was followed by three solid minutes of clanging sounds. It was 4 A.M. and time to get ready for Mass. The two loud blasts I later discovered came from firecrackers and the clanging sounds were produced by altar boys sledge hammering an empty gas can that served as the church bell. All this took place right outside my window.
I proceeded to make a quick five-minute meditation praying that somehow the merciful Lord would find it in His heart to forgive that Spaniard that started this custom of rousing a whole nation at such an ungodly hour.
Sufficiently renewed by this, I added a little thought of Christmas forgiveness for whoever had failed to fix our generator, leaving me to grope around in the dark. Light or no light I felt I had to shave. That meant frantically feeling around for a candle and searching various drawers for a match.
The novena of Masses is a wonderful expression of faith, tradition and community spirit in Filipino culture. It is a symbol of devotion and gratitude in anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ.
I shaved and then bandaged myself and headed over to the church wondering if anyone would actually be there braving the chill of early morning.
As Mass began at 4:30 A.M. there was only one gas lamp to give light to the altar. But the church was almost full.
After Mass we had breakfast. By now the sun had risen. I was handed a long green object that had the shape of a banana. So, I dug in. Right away I figured something was wrong. On closer inspection I discovered that the green part was leaves which covered the edible part of the rice inside. Feeling a bit sheepish I noticed that everyone was consciously not looking.
Finally, around 6 A.M. I finally returned back to our house.
It took me a while to put the pieces together, and when I did it all made sense. The novena of Masses is a wonderful expression of faith, tradition and community spirit in Filipino culture. It is a symbol of devotion and gratitude in anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ.
As we turn to our own traditions during Advent and Christmas, let’s remember why they matter.
They matter because they are founded on acts of love by those who have gone before us. The story continues and we all have a role to play.
Columban Fr. Brendan O’Sullivan lives and works at St. Columbans, Nebraska.