The last time I completed nine mornings was when I was still in college.
After that, I think I lost interest in this particular Catholic tradition knowing I've already accomplished it. I had a lot of excuses then: a thesis to finish, then a day job, then the need to make up for sleep lost during the weekdays.
This year, I'm still not feeling up to it. My excuse is that I have exams to take care of and going to mass early in the morning would "cramp my style".
Simbang Gabi is an oxymoron. Its name, which literally translates to "evening mass" in English, refers to a mass held in the early hours of the morning. It's also not just one mass but nine masses spread out across nine mornings, thus negating the singular word "Simbang Gabi" ("Mga Simbang Umaga" is more grammatically apt).
But, then again, you have to hand it over to us Filipinos for observing this tradition. Despite these shallow observations, nothing could be more appropriate for the time of advent. The scene of hundreds of people emerging from the darkness of the streets to the well-lit chambers of a church or a humble chapel echoes the initial, haphazard, yet purposeful embrace of humanity of this once little-known religion called Christianity. From the darkest time of the night, the people gather and celebrate the coming as the morning sun breaks out of the horizon.
It is a scene wrapped in poetic metaphor and it is reminiscent of a passage in the Bible which remains true to this day:
"The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone." - Matthew 4,16
Merry Christmas.
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