CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS…. SIMBANG NOT SO GABI
By Sabrina Panlilio
Christmas! My favorite time of year.
When all our children still lived with us, an evening in October or November was set when we would all stay home and decorate the house for Christmas. The myriad boxes filled with Christmas decor were brought down from the attic. Christmas carols were played. And from the boxes … out would come the little house of the Belen and all the little figurines … Baby Jesus, Mama Mary, St. Joseph, the barn animals, shepherds, sheep and the Three Kings; then the Christmas tree lights and décor, garlands, angels, Christmas stockings made by Mrs. Fructuoso with our names embroidered on them, Santa climbing our spiral staircase, the little house that recited ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’, and many more. When we were done, our home would look like a Christmas wonderland! But as the children grew and moved on to their own homes, this tradition ended.
But there is one tradition that Tito and I and our family celebrate every year … our “simbang not so gabi” mass and breakfast! This tradition started almost 43 years ago and continues to the present.
Tito and I got married on December 22, 1979. We built a little house in a 300 sqm lot in Posadas Village, Sucat. Since the lots and homes in Posadas Village were small, our neighbors and their children tended to come out into the streets in the afternoons. And there we got acquainted with each other as our children played together. On our first December in Posadas, we thought of inviting all our neighbors for breakfast on the first day of “simbang gabi”. There were probably only around 30 homes in the village. We attended mass at our church, the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, and after mass our neighbors flocked over to our home for breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the breakfast and the company. That marked the beginning of our annual breakfast after “simbang gabi” because every year after, come December, our neighbors would ask if there would be breakfast again on December 16. Thus began a yearly ritual in our Posadas home until, after 5 years, we moved from Sucat to Greenmeadows.
Greenmeadows Village is a very different village from Posadas Village. Lots were bigger. Homes more resplendent. And, unlike in Posadas Village, homeowners did not go out of their houses and gather in the streets to meet and chat with other neighbors in the afternoons.
On our first December in Greenmeadows, Tito and I decided to continue the tradition of our breakfast after “simbang gabi”. But this time we invited family and friends who lived elsewhere, friends we made in Greenmeadows and our former neighbors from Posadas Village. It was an open house invitation. We never knew how many and who were coming but many did come. One of my best friends would come all the way from her home in Alabang bringing her popular bibingka.
The eve of December 16, was a hustle and bustle at home as our cook and helpers busily prepared the house for the early morning breakfast. The tables were set with Christmas table cloths, placemats, napkins and plates and decorated with everything Christmas! As early as 3:00 in the morning, the helpers would be up getting the house ready. Christmas lights would be turned on. Christmas music played as we went about preparing the home for our guests. Breakfast buffet consisted of: fried adobo flakes, tapa, longganiza, tocino, tuyo, ham, eggs, garlic rice, ensaymada, fruits, coffee, chocolate-e and more. It was always a feast! Some years we would even be able to get someone to come and cook bibingka and puto bumbong.
Mass at Christ the King was at 5:00am and as soon as we got home, family and friends would start arriving. It was always such a festive and happy event full of chatter and laughter. The number of people who would come each year varied from around 30 to as much as 80!
For several years, our breakfast was held on December 16. But as our kids Criselle, Gin, Enzo, Ange and GB got older, they asked if we could move it to a later date because they still had classes on December 16 and always had to leave early to rush to school. Tito and I decided to hit two birds with one stone and moved our breakfast to December 22, our wedding anniversary! By then, the kids were on vacation and their friends would also come over and, many times, stay until late afternoon.
I cannot recall how Fr Tito Caluag got to hear about this annual tradition. But one year, he offered to say “simbang gabi” mass for us at home. Since then, Fr Tito has become a regular in our Dec 22 “simbang gabi” celebration. We now invited friends and family for mass at home, followed by breakfast. As we got older and also because Fr Tito moved farther south, mass became later … from 6:00 to 7:00 to 8:00 am … such that when I would text friends and family, I called it our “simbang not so gabi” mass and breakfast.
In December 2019, Tito and I celebrated our 40th anniversary. It was also the 40th year that we were having this annual “simbang gabi” breakfast tradition. This time, instead of breakfast at our home, we celebrated with a mass (officiated by Fr Tito Caluag and Fr Mon Merino), followed by brunch and held at the Greenmeadows clubhouse. Our caterer put out a lovely “handa” of the breakfast food I would normally serve, with a twist. This time, about 300 plus people came … family, in-laws, extended families, our friends (many of whom have been regular attendees of our annual breakfast) and friends of our kids joined us in celebrating this milestone in our married life. What a blessing to have been able to celebrate our 40th anniversary because, as everyone knows, Covid happened in 2020!! And the last two years we celebrated via zoom mass only.
I read somewhere that “the magic of Christmas never ends and its greatest of gifts are family and friends”. Tito and I pray that, in spite of Covid, this tradition, our “simbang not so gabi” mass and breakfast will continue through the years and will always bring the magic of Christmas … the birth of our Lord … to all our family and friends.
