Simbang Gabi novena begins Dec. 15

Friday, Dec. 05, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The Filipino Christmas tradition of Simbang Gabi will open its fifth year in the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City with a Mass Dec. 15 at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish.

Simbang Gabi is a novena of Masses that celebrates Christmas and honors the Blessed Virgin Mary. Traditionally, the Masses begin very early in the morning and are held daily from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24. However, for practical reasons, the Masses in Utah are scheduled in the evenings, when more people can attend. Also, this year the novena will begin on Dec. 15.

While the Catholic Filipino community hosts the Simbang Gabi to maintain their customs, it gives people from other cultures “a taste of how festive our Christmas celebration is, and also our traditions,” said Father Joseph Frez, pastor of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish.

Fr. Frez, Raul Yumul and Jun Enriquez, who are all Filipino, started the Simbang Gabi in Utah.

“Christmas is one of the most celebrated seasons in the Philippines, and it was hard for us not to celebrate here because we were looking for the big celebration, so we decided to do it so that we can preserve the tradition and also reach other people.”

The theme of this year’s Simbang Gabi is “Evangelization,” which is significant for several reasons, Yumul said.

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century “one of the things that they basically used to attract the people was the Baby Jesus,” Yumul said; today in Utah the Simbang Gabi not only celebrates Christmas but also brings in people who may not be practicing Catholics.

About 2,500 Filipinos live in Utah, 40 percent of whom are Catholic, Yumul said, and the Simbang Gabi is a way to remind all of them of “the beauty that we have from back home.” In addition, they share the camaraderie of their fellow Filipinos, and pass on the tradition to the children, he said.

The event organizers also work hard to attract people from other cultures to the Masses, Yumul said; last year at the Simbang Gabi Mass at his home parish, Blessed Sacrament, more than 300 people attended, and “more than half of them were parishioners from Blessed Sacrament, and that’s actively what we want to target. … This is a wonderful way for us to bring our traditions to the United States, to have other people understand where we came from and how we can help in this New Evangelization.”

Because the celebration is limited to nine days and the committee wants to reach out to other parish communities, some different parishes will host a Simbang Gabi Mass this year than in the past. For example, this year, Saint Thomas More and Saint Thomas Aquinas parishes will celebrate the Simbang Gabi for the first time. 

The schedule for this year's Simbang Gabi follows. 

Dec. 15: Saint Vincent de Paul

Dec. 16: Our Lady of Guadalupe, SLC

Dec. 17: Saint John the Baptist

Dec. 18: Saint Patrick

Dec. 19: Saint Mary, West Haven

Dec. 20: Saint. Lawrence

Dec. 21: Saint Thomas Aquinas

Dec. 22: Saint Martin de Porres

Dec. 23: Saint Thomas More

All the Masses begin at 7 p.m. except for Dec. 21, which begins at 5 p.m. All are invited.