Among Catholic Filipinos, the much-awaited religious event after the Holy
Week are the ten consecutive pre-Christmas dawn masses called simbang gabi (dawn or evening mass) which start on Monday December 16.

The early morning mass, which begins at four o'clock in the morning, dates
back to the time when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi celebrated the first feast
of the Nativitiy in 1565 in the archipelago.

Since then, the Philippines has celebrated the longest Christmas season in
the world. This religious tradition, also known as misa de aguinaldo (gift
masses, has its origins in Mexico when, in 1587, Fray Diego de Soria, prior of the convent of San Agustin Acolman, petitioned the pope for permission to hold Christmastide masses outdoors because the church could not accommodate the multitude that attended the dawn services. After the request was granted, these masses came to be known as misa de aguinaldo.

In the 16th century, Pope Sixtus V decreed that these pre-dawn masses be
also held in the Philippines starting every December 16. The decree was in
keeping with the nine-day traditional festivals of Filipinos in celebrating
auspicious occasions like harvesttime. But, in reality, it was meant to give farmers a chance to hear mass before setting out for the fields. As in any
agricultural country, rural Filipinos were used to starting the day two hours before sunrise.

In the provinces, an hour or so before the simbang gabi, a brass band
plays traditional Christmas music all over town. Parish priests of yore are said to go as far as knocking on each and every home to rouse up the whole community for the misa de aguinaldo.

After the mass, church-goers head for the rows of stalls in the church
square offering simbang gabi fare like piping-hot salabat (ginger tea) and puto bumbong, finger-shaped violet-colored glutinous rice steamed in small bamboo tubes attached to a steamer. It is served on a banana leaf wrapper with a dash-of sugar and grated coconut.

The simbang gabi ends on Christmas Eve with a midnight mass known as the misa de gallo or the cock mass, after which, families partake of a hearty post-mid night meal called noche buena. This nocturnal feast gathers together all members of the family to offer gifts to each other and pay respects to their elders. This unique tradition of family unity and religiosity has somehow strengthened the moral fiber of the Filipino people to make them weather the storm, whether it is meteorological or man-made in nature.