What is the general way in which traditional catholics celebrate Christmas?
Coming from the Philippines, I can tell you that the traditions here haven’t really changed with regards to Christmas in the past four hundred or so years.
Philippine Catholics start anticipating Christmas early. There is a somewhat celebratory and anticipatory period before Advent in which houses begin to be decorated. Nowadays it begins September 1st. The saying goes “If it’s a ‘-ber’ month, it’s Christmas.” When Advent hits, the joy doesn’t deminish but penitential practices start to come into play depending upon the area’s traditions. During this ‘-ber’ (or ‘-bre’ during the Spanish colonial period) the decoration of the house would begin. In the Philippines, many times there isn’t the restraint in decoration seen in the West. Instead there is a general attitude of ‘the more decorations the better’. The distinctive Philippine Christmas decoration is the Parola, large ornate stars traditionally crafted from bamboo and colored paper. Because of their fragile nature, they were made every year by the families. Originally, they were lit by candles, but with technological advances and the electrification of most Philippine towns and cities, light bulbs gradually replaced the candles.Starting with the American colonial period after the Spanish-American War, traditional American decorations filtered into Philippine culture: evergreen garlands, Christmas Trees, Santa Clause, etc.
Starting December 16th, the practice of Simbang Gabi (literally Church Night) begins. Filipinos all over the country (and the world) wake up in the early hours of the morning to attend nine days of celebratory novena masses in honor of Our Lady. These Masses usually start between 3-4am and often have gatherings and celebrations before and/or after the Mass (food is almost always present). The Simbang Gabi evolved from the Spanish practice of Misa de Aguinaldo, a penitential practice of waking up for early morning mass every day for a period of time so as to make a gift to the infant Christ of your sacrifice. The Simbang Gabi, however, is a purely celebratory novena in honor of Mary. So much so that the Vatican has long granted permission to the Philippine dioceses to allow the Gloria within Advent during the Simbang Gabi celebrations.
On Christmas Eve, the whole family gathers together and waits until midnight. A great feast is then held for hours. This is called Noche Buena and celebrates the familial context of Christ’s birth.
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