Home Features Photos: ‘Simbang Gabi’ marks start of Philippine Christmas celebration

Photos: ‘Simbang Gabi’ marks start of Philippine Christmas celebration

Churches in the national capital Manila now celebrate the Masses in the evening to allow more people to participate in the novena

Jire Carreon, Philippines

December 17, 2021

Simbang Gabi Cubao Cathedral — Filipino faithful attend the first day of the nine-day pre-dawn Masses before Christmas at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Quezon City in the Philippine capital on Dec. 16, 2021. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

Liturgically, the “Simbang Gabi” is a Mass celebrated early in the morning in honor of the Virgin Mary “in which the interplay of light and darkness convey the meaning of Advent.”

With Vatican II, the original intention of the celebration was revisited in the context of the modern times and the needs of modern society.

Churches in the national capital Manila now celebrate the Masses in the evening to allow more people to participate in the novena. (Photo by Jire Carreon for LiCAS News)

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