Churches to celebrate Filipino tradition
Early Saturday evening, local Filipino Roman Catholics will begin the Christmas ritual of Simbang Gabi, a tradition imported from their homeland, where it will begin at about the same time.
But in the Philippines, it will be early Sunday morning.
"They are about 14 hours ahead in the Philippines," said the Rev. Sunny Castillo, a priest at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton.
Simbang Gabi, a daily Mass celebrated for nine consecutive days before Christmas, is a special kind of offering known as a novena.
"Simbang Gabi is basically a novena Mass. It's one of those works of piety that you do," said Castillo, one of the festival's two coordinators in the Joliet Diocese.
The other coordinator is the Rev. Mario Quejadas, associate pastor at St. Walter's Catholic Church in Roselle.
In the Philippines, the Mass is held early each morning, sometimes as early as 4 a.m., to accommodate working people, he said.
"The farmers go out early and the fishermen are just coming back," he said. "It is the best time to do the Mass. The churches are packed beyond capacity."
Here in the Western suburbs of Chicago, Masses are held in the early evening so parishioners can attend after the work day, he said.
While church goers in the Philippines usually attend the same church throughout the nine-day celebration, church goers here visit different churches.
The Joliet Diocese is divided into two groups. Simbang Gabi begins with a Mass at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Naperville for the western cluster and at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Peace Church in Darien for the eastern cluster.
The two groups join for the final Simbang Gabi Mass, which will be at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 23 at St. Mary Immaculate Church in Plainfield.
"Bishop Sartain will actually be preaching that Mass," Castillo said.
Castillo said each Mass during Simbang Gabi is a festive occasion.
Many attendees wear traditional Filipino garb, with women dressed in silk and men in fabric made from pineapple fiber, he said.
"Here in the States, we also do a lot of Filipino songs in the Mass," he said.
Masses both in the Philippines and stateside feature a preponderance of lights, many of them star-shaped and known in the Philippines as "parols."
"A parol is a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem," Castillo said. "Also, it's a symbol to us of the light of Jesus, the light of the world."
Masses are sometimes preceded or followed by ethnic dance performances and a fellowship feast that includes egg rolls, noodles and rice cakes, he said.
Also, Castillo said, collections are taken up for charities during the Simbang Gabi Masses.
This year, he said, the western cluster will collect donations to support medical missions from the Joliet Diocese to the Philippines.
The eastern cluster will collect funds to help the Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Hermitage in Zambales, Philippines, minister to the poor, said Remy Delacruz, eastern cluster secretary. Specifically, she said, proceeds will aid the Itas tribe.
"This is the poorest of the poor," she said.
At its heart, the celebration is a way to prepare for Christmas, Castillo said.
"The primary thing is to prepare internally, spiritually for Christmas," he said.
SIMBANG GABI
Eastern cluster
• Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Our Lady of Peace, 701 Plainfield Road, Darien, (630) 323-4333
• Sunday, 5 p.m.
Ascension of Our Lord, 1S314 Summit Ave., Oakbrook Terrace, (630) 629-5810
• Monday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew the Apostle, 530 Glen Ave., Romeoville, (815) 886-4165
• Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Francis of Assisi, 1501 W. Boughton Road, Bolingbrook, (630) 759-7588
• Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Holy Trinity, 111 S. Cass Ave., Westmont, (630) 968-1366
• Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Notre Dame Church, 64 Norfolk, Clarendon Hills, (630) 654-3365
• Friday, 7 p.m.
Christ the Servant, 8700 Havens Drive, Woodridge, (630) 910-0770
• Dec. 22, 7 p.m.
Christ the King, 1501 S. Main St., Lombard, (630) 629-1717
• Dec. 23, 6:30 p.m.
St. Mary Immaculate, 15629 S. Route 59, Plainfield, (815) 436-2651
Western Cluster
• Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
St. Thomas the Apostle, 1500 Brookdale Road, Naperville, (630) 355-8980
• Sunday, 6 p.m.
Holy Spirit, 2003 Hassert Blvd. (111th Street), Naperville, (630) 922-0081
• Monday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Scholastica, 7800 Janes Ave., Woodridge, (630) 985-2351
• Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Elizabeth Seton, 2220 Lisson Road, Naperville, (630) 416-3325
• Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Raphael, 1215 Modaff Road, Naperville, (630) 355-4545
• Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Mary Gostyn, 444 Wilson St., Downers Grove, (630) 969-1063
• Friday, 7:30 p.m.
St. Margaret Mary, 1450 Green Trails Drive, Naperville, (630) 369-0777
• Dec. 22, 5 p.m.
St. Michael, 310 Wheaton Ave., Wheaton, (630) 665-2250
• Dec. 23, 6:30 p.m.
St. Mary Immaculate, 15629 S. Route 59, Plainfield, (815) 436-2651