St. Thomas Aquinas Church to hold Simbang Gabi at Charlotte, North Carolina

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

The St.Thomas Aquinas Fil-American community is inviting everyone to attend the Simbang Gabi (Midnight Mass) to be held at the St.Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church here in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 11 at 7 PM.

Lota Mascarenas, a devout Catholic and a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas (STA) Fil-American community said Fr. Patrick Winslow will be the main celebrator with Fathers Matthew Kauth and Jason Christian.   

She said this is the seventh year that Fil-American Catholics of St. Thomas will attend the midnight Mass which is a venerable Christmas tradition back in the Philippines. 

Tom Savoy will be the musical director and he'll be assisted by Joie Arrojado and Sr. Zeny Mofada. As in previous Masses, Mascarenas said a Filipino priest will officiate the activity. 

Last year it was Maryland-based Fr. Leo Patalinghug, Mascarenas said. She said the choir will be composed of Filipinos singing classic Filipino Christmas songs like Halina Jesus (Come, Jesus), Emmanuel, Tinapay na Buhay (Living Bread), Tanging Alay (Sole Dedication) and Sa Yo Lamang (Only for You) as well as Pasko Na (It's Christmas).

The Simbang Gabi at St. Thomas Catholic Church had been an annual staple for Fil-American Catholics in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. It is part of the Misa de Aguinaldo and by tradition begins on Dec. 16 and ends on Dec. 24.

The Mass is held at 4 a.m in the Philippines. There is a well-known belief by Filipinos that a devotee who completed all nine days of the Simbang Gabi will be granted his or her request as part of a novena. 

This centuries-old custom is still popular to this day. Jesett Kelly, a Fil-Am born and raised in Libungan town, North Cotabatao province in the Philippines and a parishioner of St. Thomas said that attending the Simbang Gabi Mass with husband Raymund and son JR make her complete.

“Morag naa ko sa ato (It feels like I'm back home). I miss it,” she said. Jesett said she and her family would finish the nine-day novena even if it was cold waking up in the morning. 

Another Fil-Am who requested anonymity said she attends the annual Simbang Gabi because she missed listening to the songs in Tagalog. “I just want to listen to the songs and shed tears of joy,” she said.

The St. Thomas Fil-Am community church began serving the Catholic community of Charlotte and the surrounding areas of northeast Mecklenburg and southern Cabarrus counties in 1978 and is proud of their diverse parishioners.

The church also hosts the annual multi-cultural festival attended by different international Catholics in the area.

After Mass, the congregation will be invited to partake of classic Filipino Christmas delicacies like bibingka, (rice cake cooked on a clay stove) and puto bumbong (purple-colored rice pastry, seasoned with grated coconut and brown sugar) and chocolate made from local cacao beans and salabat (ginger tea).

Mascarenas said singing  caroling songs will be held afterward. In its flyers posted online, the St. Thomas Aquinas parish church is also asking their parishioners to bring Filipino dishes. 

You can see it here in this link. Hope to see all of you there!

(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines  is now employed  teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.mindanaodailynews.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)