Is there a "Misa de Gallo" in other countries?

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Here in my country we have something we call “Misa De Gallo” its like a 9 day novena but instead its done in the early morning around 3 am the mass is celebrated in anticipation for the nativity of Christ.

In these 9 masses the priest wears white and the Gloria is sung but all other mass except for the “Miss de Gallo” will still wear violet and the Gloria will be ommited.

So does any other country do this?

Its also called: “Simbang Gabi” literally translated to “Night mass”

Miss de Gallo if translated will literally be called “Rooster’s Mass” there’s actually a whole story here to why this practice started during the colonial times of the Philippines.
 
I have not been in a parish or area that does this in the US. It’s interesting how different things can be from one area of the country to another. The closest we have here is a 10 PM Mass
 
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I believe the Misa de Gallo corresponds to what is usually called the Midnight Mass in English-speaking countries, although the custom is not as widespread as it is in the Spanish-speaking countries.

en.wikipedia.org

Midnight Mass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
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In our diocese, Seatte, the nine masses are celebrated in 9 different parishes over the time of the novena. They are sponsored by the Philippine community on the days leading up to Christmas. They are called Simbang Gabi here.
 
There are three masses for Christmas, at Midnight, dawn and during the day. misa de Gallo probably corresponds to the mass at dawn, I am guessing.

But it is more than mass at Christmas, it is the days leading up to it. Mexico has something like it, I believe. I seem to remember Sicily doing something from St Lucy’s day to Christmas.

And the O antiphons structure the days before Christmas according to prophecies of Christ: wisdom, root of Jesse, dayspring, key of David, Emmanuel, etc. They might help in understanding the Philippine practice.

I’d love to hear more about the Misa de Gallo. What is the spirituality? A gradual awkening to Christ? Increasing anticipation? The spouse’s fretting about the impending birth?
 
Sorry, @Dovekin, I’m not the one to answer that question. I don’t have that specialist knowledge. There are several South Americans who post regularly here at CAF and maybe some of them will be able to help you.
 
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My apologies. It is the midnight Mass, the mass of the shepherds. I actually bothered to look it up, should have done that first.

My question wasn’t just for you, I was hoping others would talk about what it means.
 
It is the Midnight Mass for us. But why it is called Misa de Gallo,I really do not know.
 
I believe it may vary by country. Where my husband grew up, they had mass for families (6 PM at priest home parish) and midnight mass (12 AM in one town) and misa de gallo (3 AM in another town) and also another mass at 8 AM in yet a different town. There is only one priest and he covers many different churches. The town my husband is from had the midnight mass. I left Bolivia when I was very little and don’t really remember much. My sisters still talk about walking to Mass at 3 AM and eating chicken soup afterwards.

Most parishes in the US have midnight mass and at least two more options, but the one I am in now only has mass at 10 PM the 24th. No other mass available. It’s interesting what options are from place to place.

Instead of varying by country I should have said by location and what is available. If many churches share a priest they will have fewer options.
 
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It sounds like a nice custom. I personally enjoy going out to church in the wee hours when nobody else is out (the novelty wears off around 5 or 6 am when people start getting up for work).

I’ve not seen it done in USA though. Usually the standard early Mass time here is 6 to 7 am. It’s hard to get people out at 3 am for anything.

Edited to add, I Googled and I see that one diocese I spend time in has “Misa de Gallo” but it is held in the evenings rather than early mornings, and it travels to a different parish each day and ends up at the Cathedral. There is one parish in the next diocese over doing it in the mornings but they have it at 5:30 am, not 3 am.
I think these are being held in areas where there are a lot of Filipino immigrants.
 
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Misa de Gallo apparently goes back to 5th century Rome, when the rooster would wake people for the beginning of the day. It was the name for mass at midnight, though they also called it the mass of the shepherds to recall the shepherds who came to see Jesus in the gospel of St Luke.

The novena before Christmas originated in Spain and spread to other countries like Bolivia, Mexico, etc. it had nothing to do with the night mass until it got to the Philippines.
The Simbang Gabi originated in the early days of Spanish rule over the Philippines as a practical compromise for farmers, who began work before sunrise to avoid the noonday heat out in the fields. It began in 1669. Priests began to say Mass in the early mornings instead of the evening novenas more common in the rest of the Hispanic world. This cherished Christmas custom eventually became a distinct feature of Philippine culture and became a symbol of sharing. Wikipedia
Click to expand...
 
MikkiD1, was this meant for the Vatican II thread? I think it posted in the wrong thread, this is about the Filipino custom of Misa de Gallo…
 
OK so heres the story of how it became a tradition in the Philippines.

Back then masses would be celebrated around 5-6pm but the Spanish priest saw little attendance. Back then farmers would usually wake up around 4 am to water all the crops so the priests thought “wouldn’t it be a great idea if we moved the mass from 5pm to early by early VERY early morning so the farmers could come and attend mass?” Thus started the tradition of the Simbang Gabi/Misa de Gallo/Rooster’s Mass. Because it dark and very early the churches would be lit by a lantern called a parol and the farmers would follow the sound of the bells and the lights of the patrol.

And after every mass people would go the fields and to their jobs. Miss de Gallo starts 16 to 24 of december. People would usually eat rice desserts like bibingka and many more. There’s actually a song about this called “Kampana ng Simbahan” I hope you can find an English translation of that song
 
That is similar to the town near where my husband grew up. They are the ones that have the 3 AM Christmas Mass, but they also have a 4 AM Sunday Mass every week. The town is full of bakers and they go to Mass before they open their shops. Many of the children walk to my husbands town every week for the noon Mass instead of going to the “bakers mass” with their parents. In turn, many of the people in my husbands town walk to their town for the 3 AM misa de gallo on Christmas! My husband says that the roosters would start crowing just as mass was letting out and that is where he guessed the name came from.
 
At my little parish in the Southern US, we are having the Simbang Gabi! We are having the Masses in the evening (after sundown) and afterword there’s a potluck dinner. The Philippine community from much of our diocese has shown up. Part of the reason we are hosting is because one of our Deacons is Philippine.
 
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