Bishop Jaime Soto will preside at Masses at various parishes during December for the Simbang Gabi Christmas celebration.
Bishop Soto will preside at a Mass on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7:15 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church, located at 307 Montrose Dr. in Folsom. St. John the Baptist Parish is holding a nine-day nightly celebration of Masses Dec. 15-23 in preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. For more information about the schedule at St. John the Baptist Parish, visit https://www.folsomcatholic.org/
Bishop Soto will also preside at Mass for Simbang Gabi at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Our Lady of Grace Church, located at 911 Park Blvd. in West Sacramento. The Mass will be followed by potluck fellowship in the parish hall. Our Lady of Grace Parish is holding a nine-day 5:30 a.m. daily celebration of Masses Dec. 16-24 in preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. For more information about the Masses, visit http://www.westsacolg.com/
Bishop Soto will preside at Mass for Simbang Gabi on Friday, Dec. 20 at 5:30 a.m. at St. Maria Goretti Church, located at 8700 Bradshaw Road in Elk Grove. St. Maria Goretti Parish is holding a nine-day morning celebration of Masses at 5:30 a.m. Dec. 16-24 in preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. For more information about the Masses, visit http://www.smgcc.net
Bishop Soto will preside at Mass for Simbang Gabi on Monday, Dec. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Spirit Church, located at 1050 North Texas St. in Fairfield. For more information about Simbang Gabi at Holy Spirit Parish, call the parish office at 707-425-3138 or visit http://www.holyspiritfairfield.org/
Simbang Gabi (Filipino for "Night Mass") is the Filipino tradition of a nine-day novena of Masses preceding Christmas Eve, and is observed in many individual parishes in the diocese. The Simbang Gabi Masses in the Philippines are held daily from December 16–24 and occur at different times ranging from as early as 3:00 am to 5:00 am. This tradition was introduced by the Spanish friars to allow the farmers to hear Mass before going to the fields early in the morning.
Over the years, evening Masses were introduced to accommodate the schedules of faithful who could not attend morning celebrations. The Christmas Eve Mass is called Misa de Gallo, Spanish for "rooster's Mass."