Filipino tradition offers nine days of Mass

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Pastor Dindo Billote of St. Raphael Catholic Church, Naperville. | Submitted by St. Raphael

Updated: January 10, 2012 8:14AM

Dindo Billote remembers observing Simbang Gabi as a child growing up in Naperville. Now a pastor at St. Raphael Catholic Church in Naperville, Billote is the spiritual adviser for the annual event, which is likely to draw 500 to 1,000 people for each day of its nine-day observance.

Simbang Gabi, which means “evening Mass,” is a 400-year-old Philippine Catholic tradition of Novena during the Advent season directly preceding Christmas.

“It’s the joyous anticipation of the celebration of the birth of Jesus,” said Billote who is of Philippine descent.

Billote said one of his favorite aspects of the Simbang Gabi tradition in DuPage County is that it involves several different parishes. The Joliet Diocese divides the area into two clusters. Eight parishes in each cluster will take their turn at hosting one of the nine evening Masses. The “finale” said Billote will be with both clusters jointly at Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, he said.

Lita Pamintuan, a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Seton in Naperville, is on her church’s Simbang Gabi planning committee. Pamintuan said that, while the tradition is cherished by Philippine Americans, it is also eagerly anticipated by the Catholic community at large.

“Many people outside of the Filipino population will come for the cultural experience,” she said.

Many will come to all nine Masses, too.

Most of the religious services each night will be conducted by each parish’s priest in English, with songs and readings in the Filipino dialect by volunteers. Billote said that much of the service also includes singing.

“We have a huge choir, which does a lot of the singing in the Filipino dialect,” he said. “They practice for months.”

An important component of the celebration, Pamintuan said, is the abundance of food served afterward in the name of fellowship.

“We call it refreshments, but really, you could have dinner here. There’s food, lots of food. Filipinos love food,” she said.

Much of it will be traditional Filipino fare.

“People, who are not of Philippine descent but have come to the services, have learned to eat the food we serve. They look forward to it,” she said. “Pretty much everyone gains a lot of weight.”

Billote said that celebrating Simbang Gabi is an important and joyous tradition. “Everyone gathers as a family to attend these Masses for nine nights,” he said. “It brings people closer together and helps us to remember the birth of Jesus.”

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