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The
Parol, the Belen, the Angkan, and the Jolly Bearded Fellow in the Red
Suit
"Christmas
has continually been a day in the year I look forward to. Of course
as I get older, the meaning of Christmas has had more depth for me...
I suppose I've always been
an idealist and a dreamer. As a child, yes, I did believe in Santa Claus.
There I said it! The embarrassment many of us adults have yet to confess
that we
Historical accounts have revealed that the first Christmas was celebrated in the Philippines 200 years before Magellan discovered the archipelago, around 1280 and 1320 A.D. On December 25th of the late 12th century, a Franciscan priest from Perdenone, Italy named Father Odoric, performed the first yuletide mass we now know as the "Misa de Gallo," on the shores of the ancient Pangasinan in the Philippines. Father Odoric then called the first Philippine Christmas, "Natale." In the Filipino culture, most of us grew up with celebrating the holidays with traditions such as the Simbang Gabi (Evening Mass), Misas de Gallo (Dawn Masses), and the Misa de Aguinaldo (Christmas Mass); singing the Christmas Carols and Christmas Caroling; the Noche Buena (Christmas feast with family after the Midnight Mass on December 24th); the Parol (Christmas star lanterns usually made of bamboo, string, starch, and colorful papers) as the most popular Philippine holiday symbol; and the Belen (Bethlehem) or the Nativity scene acknowledging the culture's gratitude on the real meaning of Christmas and the true holiday spirit. Christmas has continually been a day in the year I look forward to. Of course as I get older, the meaning of Christmas has had more depth for me. I suppose I've always been an idealist and a dreamer. As a child, yes, I did believe in Santa Claus. There I said it! The embarrassment many of us adults have yet to confess that we believed in. My memories of the Christmas holidays as a child was singing the Christmas carols with my relatives around the neighborhood to earn some candy money; going to Midnight Mass half-awake because we were really attending the 12 a.m. mass back then; then going back home to have Noche Buena with my family; and finally, what my brother and I have been waiting for, the time after midnight when we can open the gifts that yes, Santa Claus left for us which we had prayed so earnestly for. On Christmas Day, I remember putting on my new clothes and shoes (and whatever else Santa gave me), to join our extended family for an all-day Christmas feast, you name it and it was on the table: glazed ham, lechon, arroz caldo, arroz valenciana, pan de sal with queso de bola, pancit, lumpiang sariwa, empanada, ube, leche flan, bibingka, roasted castanas, and other types of food to indulge in. Today, most of these traditions still remain. It's just now, I'm a little older, and perhaps part of me would still like to believe in Santa. It seemed much easier when you can make a list, be good, wait past midnight after Christmas Eve, and expect what's on your list to be under the Christmas tree. Over time, you learn that life is more complex than that. As the economy keeps getting tighter, most of our Christmas gift lists are getting shorter. This is sad, but is the truth about reality. It was never about gifts after all. I was always taught that Christmas and the Holidays are all about the family, and the earnest gratitude of being together and being alive. With all the traditions, old and new, incorporated in the holidays, this is one sure thing that does not change-- our family and all that comes with it: the laughter, the tears, sharing the success and the challenges, witnessing the beginning and the end of our chapters in life, and being there for each other during the good, the bad, and the ugly. Regardless how old I get to be, I wish to look forward to this time of the year to join mi familia, my angkan, going to church together and celebrating Noche Buena, indulging in our family's Christmas potluck feast and all the "table-talks" surrounding that occasion, receiving greetings from loved-ones far away, and maybe even presenting the kindhearted, jolly bearded fellow in the red suit for the young ones to cheer about. In time, I hope to carry these good old traditions to the next. From my humble home to yours, I wish you peace, love, joy, hope, and healing this holiday season.
(Article originally published at Filipino American Herald on December 2002. Republished with permission from the author and Editor-In-Chief of Filipino American Herald.)
_____________________ About the author:: Ms. Joann Natalia Aquino is a freelance professional writer/ journalist, and a Legislative Liaison working on public policy development and legislative affairs for the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs for the State of Washington. In her spare time, she is also an Editor for a few publications (print and online), and is currently writing her first book "The Re-awakening of the Babaylan: Her Story," along with other shelved writing projects, she vows to finish sometime in her lifetime. At the moment, she juggles her time traveling between Seattle and New York, the places she both calls her "home."
 
To reach the author, please e-mail: joannnatalia@newfilipina.com , editor@newfilipina.com . ©Copyright 2002. Joann Natalia Garcia Aquino. All rights reserved.
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