With the ease in Covid-19 restrictions and with more people vaccinated against the coronavirus, more parishioners are expected to attend the nine-day “Simbang Gabi” votive masses, which begin on Friday, Dec. 16.

As in the pre-pandemic years, devout Catholics are expected to attend physically on Friday instead of joining online the first of the nine-day “Simbang Gabi” dawn masses, which will be held at dawn in all Catholic churches across the country and in many parts of the world.

Church leaders are encouraging the faithful to attend the “Simbang Gabi” masses in churches this year while still being mindful of the safety health protocols.

Considered as one of the oldest but well observed Christmas traditions in the Philippines, church bells will peal before the break of dawn for the duration of the ‘Simbang Gabi’ which are held at 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. with the final mass, the Misa de Gallo (rooster’s mass) on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, traditionally held shortly before midnight.

In recent years, to accommodate the needs of the faithful on different work schedules, anticipated ‘Simbang Gabi’ masses will be held starting on Thursday, December 15, at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. in many parishes and chapels.

Also known as Misa de Aguinaldo (gift mass), churchgoers offer the gift of sacrifice in waking up before the break of dawn for nine consecutive days to attend the dawn masses for different intentions: in thanksgiving, as a form of worship, or for a petition.

Others, in traditional Filipino belief, attend to obtain special graces upon completing the nine-day masses.

The Simbang Gabi is an old tradition with deep roots in the country’s religious culture, dating back to 1565 when Spanish “conquistador” Miguel Lopez de Legazpi celebrated the first Feast of the Nativity.

The practice originated in Mexico when in 1587, Fray Diego de Soria, prior of the Convent of San Agustin Acolman, asked permission from the Holy Father to hold Christmas masses for the farmers who wake up very early to work.

During the 16th century, Pope Sixtus V decreed that the dawn masses should also be held in the Philippines every 16th of December.

At that time, it gave the farmers a chance to hear mass before working in the fields.