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Filipino Christmas on Canvas
Christmas in the Philippines is the most celebrated and festive season of the year, its unofficial duration lasting approximately three months. It begins in September as stores play an endless stream of Christmas songs and deck themselves, quite literally to the rafters, with festive trim. Bazaars overflowing with potential gift items mushroom in busy urban centers. The run-up to Christmas is briefly interrupted as establishments go Gothic for Halloween, but it quickly resumes right after All Soul’s Day. By December, the entire nation then goes into an accelerated mode of revelry and merriment.
The country observes many rituals for Christmas, among them the Simbang Gabi, pre-dawn masses held for nine straight days. A novena for the Blessed Mother, which begins December 16 as early as 4:00 AM, culminates in the Misa de Gallo (mass of the rooster) on Christmas eve. Shortly after the mass, families - and by this we mean the hyper-extended Filipino Family - gather in their homes to celebrate Noche Buena and feast on various traditional delicacies like keso de bola, puto bumbong, or a drink of salabat or hot chocolate.
It’s but natural that many Filipino artist find inspiration in the intensely festive season, made merrier by the symbols of Christ’s nativity that abound. For instance, Christmas star lanterns, or parols, in its myriad forms - from the simple to the theatrical - represent the star that guided the three wise men to Bethlehem, where the infant Jesus Christ was born in a manger.
For all its religious symbols, the holidays are largely about family and reinforcing relationships, from those at home to those in the wider community, an occasion immortalized by many a Filipino palette. |
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