Filipinos Gather In Va. Before Dawn For an Annual Rite

Early Mass Is a Christmas Tradition

Rachelle Angeli Sunga, 4, and Alyssa Sunga are among the early risers who made it to North Arlington for one of nine 5 a.m. Masses. (Andrea Bruce - Twp)

The sky was dark and wet fog hung over the roadways, but just before 5 a.m. yesterday, car headlights converged in Arlington.

Outside the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church hung four "parols," the Filipino term for the star of Bethlehem, beckoning worshipers to the eighth day of a ritual called Simbang Gabi.

"When I was a child [in the Philippines], we went every day with my mother and sister," said Marina Balbado, an 84-year-old wearing a gold-colored lace head covering. "We walked on our knees from the door up to the altar."

Each year, from Dec. 16 to 24, Filipinos awake before dawn to attend the service, which celebrates the novena, marking the nine days leading to the birth of Jesus. The ritual began centuries ago when Spanish friars in the Philippines adjusted their schedule to encourage farmers and fishermen to attend Mass before going out to the fields or the sea.

In the Philippines, which is about 86 percent Catholic, many families make their own parols, and trees outside churches twinkle with the stars. After Mass, as the sun rises, worshipers pour into the streets, where outdoor stalls sell breakfast treats.

In the Washington area, St. Charles is the only church to have Simbang Gabi at dawn, though other parishes host evening Masses for the occasion. A 2005 census counted around 38,000 Filipino-born residents in the metro area; embassy officials estimate up to 200,000 residents are of Filipino descent.

For those who live far from the North Arlington church (Oxen Hill, in Prince George's County, is home to many Filipinos), mornings during Simbang Gabi start as early as 2:30, with bleary-eyed telephone calls to make sure friends don't sleep through their alarm clocks. Joseph Pauig, 65, said that on weekdays he leaves Haymarket at 3 a.m. to avoid rush-hour traffic.

The ritual at St. Charles started in the late 1990s, when Filipino immigrant Bobby Chan was seeking a kidney donor for his wife, Kathy. "That was my only hope, my only prayer, that my wife would get a kidney. I said, 'If she gets a kidney, I'll never celebrate Christmas in the Philippines again.' "

She received a kidney, and the Filipino community got its dawn Mass. Chan, now 52, started the tradition with 27 people in a side chapel, and it has grown each year.

About 300 worshipers, from newborns to grandparents, filled the pews yesterday for a Mass that combines traditional Catholic rituals with Filipino touches such as Christmas songs and "Our Father" prayers in Tagalog.

After the Mass, they filled their plates with delicacies such as bibingka (sweet sticky rice), beef kaldereta (a stew), menudo (tripe soup) and fresh mangoes. For today's final feast (known as Misa de Gallo, or Rooster Mass, because of the early hour), worshipers were preparing a suckling pig.

Diane Lim, 26, moved to the United States from the Philippines four years ago, but this was the first time she had ever made it to eight days of Simbang Gabi, and she planned to come today, to make all nine. "If you're able to complete the nine-day novena, then you get a big wish," said Lim, who works for the International Monetary Fund. "I'm actually applying to grad school, so I'm hoping to get into the school I want."

Although most attendees were Filipino, a few were non-Filipino Catholics who enjoy the ritual.

Allan Rowley, 48, who drove in from Annandale, said he started coming nine years ago, after he couldn't find early Mass for people who had to work.

When he heard about Simbang Gabi, "I said, 'You know, Lord, I said I wanted early Masses, but I didn't say anything about 5 in the morning!' But it turned out to be a real joyful, joyous community, and it keeps bringing me back."

Staff writer Ria Manglapus contributed to this report.