The nine-day Midnight Mass has begun.
Today’s Mass, the second, starts before the break of dawn, symbolizing the cock-a-hoop celebration of the Mass or Service of Worship in honor of the Nativity of Jesus, a tradition that began in the 400s.
Tradition says Jesus was born at midnight in a manger in Bethlehem, so the late-night Mass is celebrated by the church to honor the hour Jesus was born, according to theologians.
The darkness of the hour is also reflective of the spiritual darkness of the time, as the birth of the promised Messiah was anticipated.
Midnight Mass, a Christian service held in many churches around midnight on Christmas Eve in this predominantly Christian nation of 114 million which received the Cross in the 16th century, is the first Eucharist Mass in some faiths.
It is a time for Christians to spiritually prepare for Christmas Day and the arrival of Jesus in their lives.
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 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.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines itself previously underlined to the young Filipinos that they must “put God in their friendship” because the Midnight Masses were for worship and not for courtship.
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, Camalig in Albay, Minglanilla in Cebu and Tagbilaran in Bohol—and the other Christian towns in the country will intone yet once more the significance and message of the Midnight Masses which culminate on the eve of Christmas.
There will be 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 eve in saying “transeamus usque Bethlehem (writer’s translation: Let’s go to Bethlehem).”
At the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church east of Manila, the parish priest Fr. Jaime Padilla has been talking about the Holy Year of Mercy and Compassion, wishing everyone should be able to welcome into their lives the mercy of God that Jesus had given to the faithful.
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.
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.
In some towns of Ilocos Norte, there are waves of lights that illuminate the town centers, apart from giant Christmas trees that rise beside municipal halls blinking for much of the night.
The art installation near the Manila Standard office symbolizes light and life and sends what many describe as “a message of hope and strength” in this Southeast Asian archipelago, discovered for Europe by Ferdinand Magellan on March 16, 1521.
Christmas songs as well have taken the night atmosphere like the song “Joy to the World,” whose lyrics were written in 1719 by English hymn writer and theologian Isaac Watts (1674-1748).
“Joy to the World, the Lord is come!/ Let earth receive her King;/ Let every heart prepare Him room,/ And Heaven and nature sing,/ And Heaven and nature sing,/ And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.”/
Elsewhere in the city, the Tagalog Christmas song “Pasko Na Naman” is being sung by young boys and girls in front of lantern-decorated houses.
“Pasko na naman, o kay tulin ng araw./ Paskong nagdaan, tila ba kung kailan lang./ Ngayon ay Pasko, dapat pasalamatan./ Ngayon ay Pasko, tayo ay mag-awitan.”/(It’s Christmas once again, the days roll by fast./ The past Christmas, ’twas like it had just passed by./ Now that it’s Christmas, only proper we give thanks./ Now that it’s Christmas, let’s sing carols.//)
Exotic foods at home after the Midnight Mass or the Misa de Gallo (the Mass of the Rooster)—following nine successive night masses in Church—expectedly enrich plates of Filipino homes.