Simbang Gabi, Parol-Lighting Highlights Filipino Christmas in San Francisco

Consul General Henry S. Bensurto, Jr., Madame Ana Mariza S. Bensurto, Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano, Consuls Andre C. Estanislao, Jed Martin A. Llona, and Vanessa G. Bago-Llona led the Consulate’s participation in the Simbang Gabi Commissioning Mass. (San Francisco PCG photo)

SAN FRANCISCO 25 December 2018 – The Philippine Consulate General participated in several traditional Filipino Christmas celebrations, primarily the simbang gabi (dawn masses) and parol (Christmas lanterns) lighting ceremonies, led by various Filipino American communities in the Bay Area

The Consulate attended the 11th Annual Simbang Gabi Commissioning Mass and Parol Lighting at St. Mary’s Cathedral on 5 December 2018, which ushered in the novena Masses in a number of parishes of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Consulate General officers and staff also attended the simbang gabi, followed by reception and fellowship after the mass. The Consulate’s choir, the Philippine Center Choir, also rendered Filipino Christmas songs in some masses including a culminating dawn mass on 24 December 2018 at Flanagan Center in San Francisco.

Consul General Henry S. Bensurto, Jr. underscored that the Filipino community’s continued leadership in institutionalizing the simbang gabi in many parishes brought about a Filipino tradition that has diffused to various communities in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

“Through our celebration and other festivities, we show the world a part of ourselves and who we are as a people,” Consul General Bensurto added.

The Consulate General also participated in the Parol Lantern Festival and Parade in Yerba Buena Lane, Jessie Square and St. Patrick’s Church on 8 December 2018. Organized by the Bayanihan Community Center and SOMA Pilipinas, the festivities with the theme, “A Gathering of Lights,” featured parol-making contests and workshops, the parade of lights, and a feast of traditional Filipino delicacies.

The Consulate’s lighted bahay-kubo parol, made of recycled wood, hay, and recycled paper, led the parade of lanterns. It symbolized the Bayanihan spirit that Filipinos wish to foster not only among those in the United States, but the entire Filipino diaspora worldwide.

The Bahay-Kubo represented unity in diversity among overseas Filipinos and the Consulate General’s thrust to spark the Filipino spirit among communities, encourage them to connect with one another, empower them to proudly promote Philippine heritage and culture to the world and contribute to nation-building. END

For more information, visit www.sanfranciscopcg.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippinessanfrancisco.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSF/