Christmas Midnight Mass

Failure to travel to Malawi right at the start of our office break was a positive thing eventually because I was able to experience Christmas in Zambia. I was wondering when I learned that mass starts at 7.30 in the evening which was quite early compared with the one I usually have at 10.30 or so in the Philippines. Fortunately, I was able to cook the food for Noche Buena late in the afternoon since there was nothing to keep me busy anyways. Besides, I anticipated power cut and if it happened during evening Christmas meal would be spoiled. I was with two other Filipino volunteers to celebrate it with. We started off to church at 7.30 anticipating that mass would start late as usual. However, we did not foresee that walking would be difficult since the road from my place was not flat but rather bumpy and clayish. Apart from this, it was dark and we were really groping on our way to the church. Because of these unanticipated situations, we arrived late for the mass and we have to squeeze ourselves in the available seats which were at the men’s side. Culturally, men and women have separate sides inside the church. They cannot sit together. On this occasion we were excused probably because we were “mzungus”. Initially, I was comfortably seated which lasted for less than 30 minutes. People became busy when the stage play started reenacting Christmas Day from annunciation to the birth of Jesus Christ. The skit took sometime to finish. People keep on moving alternately sitting and standing in order to watch the performance. At this point, I failed to bear the heat and lack of air. I stood up by the door to inhale cool air outside the church. It relieved me but I was not able to find a seat so I have to stand up during the entire performance that lasted for a long time. I have observed that people were excitedly watching the play and whenever there is opportunity for dancing, it was lovely to see them swaying their body and moving their arms as a form of praise. This is another practice I find different the way it is done in the Philippines because Filipinos don’t dance during masses. One striking observation I had during the mass was people’s enthusiasm when a thanksgiving song was sung by the choir. Almost everyone stood up to praise through singing and dancing. It was a very lively celebration although it lasted for almost 5 hours.

After the mass, I went closer to the altar to see the “belen”. I felt sorry that baby Jesus in the manger was a makeshift cloth shaped like a baby. I wished I would have the opportunity to go home during my two-month stay in Zambia so I could bring an image of the baby Jesus that Mchini Parish can put in their “belen” in December. It was humbling on the other hand, that efforts were exerted in order to show to people the importance of the celebration. I was also amazed at the decorations inside the church using rolls of tissue papers. Christmas greetings were exchanged then afterwards; we proceeded to the Fathers’ House for a drink as well as to get a ride since all of us moved together to my house for the noche Buena.