The Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Multicultural Ministry (OMM) and its Filipino Ministry will hold a Simbang Gabi Christmas Mass at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at St. Margaret Mary Church, 7813 Shelbyville Road.
The service, for Filipino Catholics, means “night of worship” (it is pronounced “seem-bahng gab-bee.”) It is the Filipino way of “preparing for the great feast of Christmas,” a news release from OMM said.
Filipinos attend nine days of devotional Masses leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. According to the release, Simbang Gabi developed under the Spanish rule of the Philippines.
The faithful wake early in the morning to celebrate Mass at dawn. After the Mass, they share rice delicacies on the church grounds.
For additional information, call OMM at 636-0296.
