Christmas Diary – December 24, 1999

December 24, 1999
Friday 

 

Dear Christmas Diary,

It’s Christmas eve and I am so happy because I was able to complete the 9-day midnight mass novena. It was fulfilling and I believe it is worth the effort even if my wish will not come true. I did not attend a single party this year but I feel like I have been to one every day since Dec.16 because of the mass. 

I am thankful to the parish priest who clearly took an effort to make each mass special. Also, since it is the last day of the novena, the choir is excellent. The priest repeated the homily about salvation but I don’t mind. After the mass, people loudly sang 'Christmas in our Hearts' again in unison, almost deafening. I think no one left until the song was over. The church even prepared a simple yet hearty breakfast. I did not see it buy they say the church prepared pandesal, pansit, goto, champorado, coffee, and tea. Typical Filipino breakfast, I must say. No trace of Christmas food. Many people stayed for it but the majority including my Mom and I just went straight home.

At work, the crowd is gone at the department store. I feel like I kind of miss them. They are now in the supermarket area buying stuff for the Noche Buena perhaps. The mall opened at 9am today but will close early at 7pm. Everyone seems to be in a joyous mood today at work as we all await the closing time. Our supervisor also gave everyone a gift and I appreciate it. 

I am a bit hesitant about working today because I feel Christmas already. At work, I think I will always remember how everyone silently say ‘yes’ when it was announced that it is 30 minutes before closing time. After that, we greeted each other ‘Merry Christmas’ then hurriedly prepare to go home to catch the Noche Buena feast. As usual, the traffic was bad but I got home at around 8pm. 

My mom is done cooking our Christmas feast so I had a quick bite before preparing for the 9pm Christmas mass (misa de gallo). There are more people in the church as expected and the priest said that at 12 pm today, the doors of the St. Peter’s Basilica will be opened to greet the start of the Jubilee year. He reminds us to open our hearts to goodness too. After the mass, we were all surprised when the lights suddenly went out. Then we realized that it is part of a celebration prepared by young people at the Church for the jubilee year. It was a pantomime presentation complete with special lighting effects with the jubilee song playing in the background. It was beautiful so it received a loud applause.

At home, my brother is asleep but we woke him up so we can all share the Noche Buena feast. I am tired, hungry, and happy. We silently ate together, just the three of us while watching TV. It was a simple and quiet celebration but very much enough.