Simbang Gabi's 9 days of prayer, food and tradition connect Milwaukee's Filipino Catholics
As Abby Mira of Franklin doled out servings of pancit, a Filipino noodle dish, to a long line of hungry churchgoers last weekend, she relished the joy and comfort that this time of year brings.
For the nine days of Simbang Gabi, a series of celebrations for Filipino Catholics leading up to Christmas, Mira loves that the community gathers together to pray and sing at Mass and then catches up afterward over a meal.
"To see them really happy, being together, eating — this is Filipino culture. This is how we gather," she said. "It's wonderful."
For about 25 years, Filipino-Americans in the Milwaukee area have prepared for Christmas by celebrating the tradition of Simbang Gabi. The Masses and subsequent receptions are a chance to reconnect with old friends, introduce children to Filipino culture and step away from the chaos of the holiday season.
"The nine days are really my Christmas Day rather than Christmas Day itself," said Father Agustin Orosa, the spiritual director of the Filipino Catholic ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He is also the president of the Wauwatosa-based St. Camillus Health System.
Orosa, the youngest of seven, moved from the Philippines nearly 30 years ago and doesn't have any family in the U.S.
"The Filipino community in Simbang Gabi becomes my bigger family," he said.
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Services draw Filipino community together like a 'magnet'
In the Philippines, the Masses take place in the predawn hours, often around 4 a.m., a legacy of the days when farmers and fishermen had rise early to work.
Here in Milwaukee, they are often scheduled for more regular hours — weeknight evenings and weekend afternoons — at nine churches across the area. Each day, a different group handles cooking and serving the food.
Following the Dec. 16 Mass at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Greendale, the second day of Simbang Gabi, Mira and her 4-year-old daughter Kaira wore festive red dresses and aprons and served food with the Philippine Nurses Association of Wisconsin.
"This is the only time that we will see a lot of Filipinos" throughout the year, she said.
About 20,000 people identify as Filipino in Wisconsin, according to 2020 census data. It is the fourth-largest Asian ethnicity in the state behind Hmong, Indian and Chinese. About 6,700 people identify as Filipino in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties.
The community doesn't tend to be concentrated in one area of town or at one church. But everyone is drawn together by Simbang Gabi, said Elsie Gonzales of New Berlin.
"The church is like a magnet for people to see each other," she said.
The friendliness from everyone Gonzales encounters at the services "brings back memories from back home," she said.
Gonzales was there with her 12-year-old daughter as well as her cousin, Leila Ledesma, and her two children, ages 9 and 11. The women want to make sure their children carry forward their heritage and close-knit sense of community.
"My fear is that the next generation might not be that close anymore," Gonzales said.
The celebrations were also a chance for newcomers to make friends in the community.
That was the hope for Erick and Eden Orille, who recently moved to Caledonia after raising their children for the last two decades in Kansas. They hoped Simbang Gabi would ease the "hard transition" to a new state.
Also feeling welcomed were two math teachers in an exchange program who recently arrived from the Philippines. As they ate lunch in the St. Alphonsus parish hall, Sherwin June Ramirez and Maybelle Villar said it was a bit like they were home again.
"It can be challenging on our end since we are still adjusting," said June Ramirez, a father of two. But, he said, he's been grateful for the support of the Filipino community.
Simbang Gabi serves as spiritual preparation for Christmas
A volunteer choir at the St. Alphonsus Mass sang songs in the Filipino language, each member dressed in a colorful, sparkly tunic. And after the Mass ended, the congregation clapped and sang along to traditional Christmas carols, some filming with phone cameras to capture the nostalgia they felt for the music.
A light-up decoration representing the traditional parol, or lantern, common in Simbang Gabi services stood behind Orosa and two fellow priests: Father Arturo Ysmael — the only other Filipino priest in the archdiocese — and Father Anthoni Jeorge, a St. Alphonsus pastor who previously worked in the Philippines.
Orosa attributes the longevity of the event in Milwaukee to parishioners' strong faith. The Philippines is a devoutly Catholic nation, and Simbang Gabi is one of the most important religious traditions in the country.
"There's this longing to go back to the Philippines, especially during Christmas," Orosa said. "The only way to really do to that is to replicate the way we celebrate Christmas there by having Simbang Gabi here."
Jaime Soriano, a liaison with the archdiocese's Filipino Catholic ministry, doesn't like to miss any of the nine days. It's part of his schedule, he said, and a key part of the way he prepares spiritually for Christmas.
The final Simbang Gabi service occurs on Dec. 23. By then, he has spent nine days praying for his Christmas wishes and thinking about what the holiday means to him.
By Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, "I am very happy. I am at peace," he said.
Angelica Varona Camara, another Filipino Catholic ministry liaison, enjoys the calm of Christmas after nine lively days of socializing.
"It's more quiet, you're with your family. You reflect on what you had just gone through," she said. "It gives you that time to think about what Christmas is all about."
Parents said they are eager to celebrate Simbang Gabi with their children. Far from the Philippines and surrounded by American culture, it's a way to keep their cherished custom alive for future generations.
"It’s a beautiful tradition," Varona Camara said. "It's something that we can hand down to them."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Filipino Catholics celebrate Simbang Gabi before Christmas
