Misa de Gallo

 Literally ‘Masses of the Cockerel’ or ‘Dawn Masses’. There is a tradition here in the Philippines that during the nine days leading up to Christmas mass is celebrated every morning at dawn.

So both yesterday and today we have dragged ourselves from our beds and made our way to the church for a mass beginning at 4.30am.

On the first day we were expecting a half filled church populated by the ultra-faithful. We were wrong! Arriving at 4.20am the church was already packed to capacity, far fuller than for a Sunday mass, with only standing room available within the building. Outside there were half as many people again stood or sat on portable chairs. The attendance was truly impressive. All sections of society were present from new-born babies to the elderly, and unlike many European churches those in their teens and twenties were very much present.

These masses are a form of fasting. To attend them is to give up a usual activity in order to assert that following the way of God is more important. For nine days those who attend sacrifice a bit of sleep in order to make time to prayer more.

For me as a foreigner, these masses are testament to a better understanding of fasting than we sometimes have in our western churches. The masses are in no way woeful laments; rather they are celebrations of joy.  Sleep is sacrificed in favour of something better, a really life giving celebration. The pain of losing sleep is more than compensated for by the joy of celebrating God’s love.

We are only two day in but the sense of joy and positivity emanating from these masses has so far been worth a bit of lost sleep.