Bring Children to MISA

This Spanish phrase means crowing of the rooster. The loud crowing of the rooster very early in the morning is connected to the call of the church to attend mass not at six or seven in the morning but at four or five in the morning beginning December 16 until 24.

The Misa de Gallo is part of the advent preparation for Christmas day. It is offered in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the perseverance of the nation in the faith.

After a Misa de Gallo, the stalls around the brightly lighted church are filled with the sights and smells of the hot tsokolate, salabat, putobungbong, suman, bibingka, and other native sweets. This is one of the oldest and most observed traditions of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

We encourage parents to bring their children to the Misa de Gallo especially after the start of the school Christmas vacation, so that this beautiful religious tradition will remain as part of the Filipino culture and experience.