Commercially, Christmas starts early December

Filipinos believe that we have the longest Christmas celebration in the world. This is not true at all. Christmastide here officially starts on December 16 with the novenary Masses known as simbang gabi and ended on the Feast of the Epiphany, or the manifestation of the baby Jesus to the Wise Men from the East, which later were said to be Three Kings and given the names of Gaspar, Melchor and Balthazar. Now, the church calendar ends it on the first Sunday of January that does not fall on a New Year so even the song Twelve Days of Christmas is a thing of the past because Christmastide can end as early as January 1 or last to January 8. We live in a changing world and even religious customs that we observed since birth now change with the times.

What we want to show is that Filipinos do not have the longest Christmas celebration. The two countries were we acquired most of our Christmas customs – Spain and Mexico – have longer Christmas celebrations than we do. In Spain, Christmastide starts on December 8, which is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. And in Mexico, the Christmas celebration extends up to February 2nd, which is the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, the day when all the candles that will be needed in the church for the coming year are consecrated as symbols of Christ who is referred to as the"light of the world" and a "light to lighten the Gentiles." So compared to Spain and Mexico, our Christmas celebration is not only short but even got shorter when the feast of the Three Kings became a movable feast.

But the biggest change in our traditional Christmas celebration happened when the Americans came and introduced Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. During the Spanish times, the main Christmas symbol was the Nativity scene which was displayed on Christmas Eve with the figures of the Three Magis added on the day of the Epiphany. Now Christmas gifts are not associated with the Three Wise Men but to Santa Claus. In Manila, only the Casino Español ends the Christmas season with three of its members portraying the Three Kings riding on horses in Manila to distribute gifts to the poor. It is all that remains of an ancient tradition that was with us from the start of our Christianization.

It was on May 9, 1969 that the Vatican officially announced that 33 saints were being removed from the Calendarum Romanum. Among them were the Three Magis mentioned in the Bible and Saint Nicholas. Can it be mere coincidence that four of the saints disowned by the church had direct associations with Christmas, the feast that marks the Nativity of Christ? Christmas is actually a misnomer. What does it mean? Christmas should be officially called The Nativity.