Island's Filipino community celebrates Simbang Gabi for the first time on P.E.I.
A Philippine tradition is being celebrated in two P.E.I. communities for the first time this year.
Simbang Gabi is a nine-day celebration of the harvest that's observed by Catholics in the Philippines.
The series of night masses is a centuries-old tradition that most Filipinos leave behind when they move to Canada.
Such was the case for Raymundo Yu, who has been living in P.E.I. for over three decades.
But starting Wednesday evening, he and members of the Island's Filipino community began observing Simbang Gabi in Charlottetown for the first time.
"It's really very important. [In the Philippines] we do it at four o'clock in the morning, and when you go there the church is really full," Yu said.
The first of the nine masses took place Wednesday evening at St. Dunstan's Basilica. They'll continue each night until Dec. 21.
'We've been doing this for years'
After living on the Island for 30 years, the idea to organize Charlottetown's first Simbang Gabi celebrations formed in Yu's mind after attending a recent Knights of Columbus meeting.
The guest speaker was a Filipino man from Nevada, who spoke of similar masses taking place in the U.S. and in other Canadian provinces.
"Then I called my sister in Windsor and she said, 'Oh we've been doing this for years,'" Yu said with a laugh. "So I said, "Oh, OK.'"
It's fate and maybe God that said, 'This is the time for you to do this.' — Ferdinand Maramag
Through the organizing committee, he met a new friend in Ferdinand Maramag, who moved to P.E.I. from Qatar back in August.
It will be Moramag's first Christmas on the Island, and he feels fortunate to continue the Simbang Gabi tradition in his new home.
"It's fate and maybe God that said, 'This is the time for you to do this.' It's like home away from home," he said. "I'm sure most of the Filipinos, especially the Catholics, will always remember this event and relate this to what they were doing when they were back home."
The masses will also be celebrated for the first time in western P.E.I.
Three congregations from that area are coming together to hold Simbang Gabi at Sacred Heart in Alberton.
