Every 16th of december, filipinos go to church to attend mass, this is to celebrate the coming of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Filipinos believe that if you have completed the 9 masses consecutive, whatever wishes in life might be granted. Today, I will introduce to you what is "Misa de Gallo" and what is the true meaning inside of it. And I will share my experience as I completed my 9 Misa de Gallo.
In Spanish, "Misa de Gallo" also pronounced as Mee-sah day Gah-yoh it means "rooster's mass". The Spanish and Portuguese people prefer to speak Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve than "rooster's mass". Many people are curious about the name for Midnight Mass, some people are saying that it comes from old European folklore. The story was a traditional tale when Jesus was born at midnight, announcing this miraculous assigned to the roosters. When the birth of Jesus has come, one of the rooster fluttered to the roof and proclaimed in a human voice saying, " Christ is born!" Another rooster followed proclaiming while crying, "In Bethlehem". And since the rooster was the first to be created to remind all the people to worship the Jesus' birth, Spanish and Portuguese people honor the animal by calling it the Midnight Mass on Christmas as the "rooster's mass" and because of that, many are inspired to schedule the Midnight Mass. In the early medieval times, the Roman Catholic priests have celebrated three Christmas masses.
In the Philippines, Catholic churches are offering nine rooster's masses on the nine nights until the Christmas eve arrive. It remains from colonial times. Our country and other areas of it that was colonized by the Spanish. Many missionaries started a special novena for nine days before Christmas will arrive. Novena prayer is offered for nine consecutive days. In the Philippines, Christmas novena is called "Simbang Gabi" which is a tagalog phrase which means, "night mass". We prefer used also Spanish terms for night mass as misas de gallo, "rooster's masses." Misas de Aguinaldo which means, "Christmas presents" or "gift masses." It refers to the shepherds who gave presents and offerings to the infant Jesus. In addition, some parts of Central America and the Caribbean are also celebrating Misa de Gallo. Although the last of these nine masses occurs in the early morning hours of December 24. Roman Catholic churches in the Philippines still offer Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
In the coming of Christmas eve, it doesn't matter how much you have prepare the foods, decorations etc. The most important is you have prepare yourself in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter how much you've prepare for the celebration, still it is important to pray for what you desires, wishes for a good health for your family.
