The traditional Misa de Gallo or nine dawn Masses that lead up to Christmas Day begins tomorrow, December 16, in Catholic churches around the country.
Msgr. Joseph Tan, the media liaison officer of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said the dawn Masses are celebrated to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and to spiritually prepare the faithful for the birthday of Jesus.
“These are nine mornings to journey with the mother of God as if to rejoice with her at the prospect of the birth of her firstborn son who is for us our salvation,” he told Cebu Daily News.
“It requires sacrifice. It requires early rising. But it’s also good to start the day with Mary and accompany her in her last nine days before we commemorate the birth of Jesus,” he added.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will be with parishioners of San Isidro Parish in Barangay Garing, Consolacion town for the first Misa de Gallo.
The 67-year-old prelate has no dawn Mass schedule the following day due to an out-of-town appointment.
On December 19, Palma will preside over the Misa de Gallo at the San Pedro Calungsod Parish in Barangay Pulangbato, Cebu City. The following day, he will be at the San Pedro Calungsod quasi-parish in Barangay Mohon, Sogod town.
Palma will take a break from December 21 to 23 as he is set to visit his relatives and attend an event in his hometown in Iloilo.
He will be back in Cebu on December 24 and will preside over the last day of the Misa de Gallo at the Holy Family Chapel of the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN) in Cebu City.
Palma opted to celebrate the dawn Masses this year at quasi-parishes or newly-established churches in Cebu.
In the evening of December 24, Palma will lead the 9 p.m. Christmas Mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
Misa de Gallo, which means “Mass of the Rooster” in Spanish, begins on December 16 and ends on December 24.
The tradition was introduced by Spanish friars in the 17th century in agricultural communities so that farmers could attend Mass before heading off to the fields early in the morning.
Filipinos associate the experience with cold mornings, snacks of hot chocolate and puto (rice cakes) after Mass, as well as spiritual favors for those who could complete the nine dawn Masses with special intentions.
The Vatican has granted special liturgical exemptions to the Philippines for this tradition.
While the Masses take place during the Advent season — a period of penance and anticipation — Catholic churches in the Philippines are allowed to sing the Gloria and Christmas carols during the Misa de Gallo.
The homilies during the dawn Masses this year will focus on the celebration of the Year of the Clergy and Religious Persons with the theme “Renewed servant-leaders for the new evangelization.”
In 2013, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines launched a nine-year “spiritual journey towards the 500th Jubilee of Christianization of the Philippines in 2021 with different themes for each year.