Celebrating Panunuluyan

Apart from displaying colorful parols and munching on puto bumbong and bibingka, Filipinos have another tradition during the Yule season.

Christmas Eve in the Philippines begins with a pre-dawn Mass known as Misa de Gallo (Rooster’s Mass) and preceded by a Panunuluyan, a reenactment of Joseph and Mary’s search for a suitable place to give birth to Jesus.

Panunuluyan is similar to Mexico’s “posadas,” also a dramatic version of the holy couple’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

In the local landscape, Mary and Joseph are depicted walking desperately looking for a place where they can stay for the night. 

They would seek help from families, knocking at each doorstep, begging for a shelter, but would be turned down until they reach a barn where animals are being fed.

Some interpretations of the reenactment would include modern songs or adapt present situations to make the story of Christmas more relatable.

In some parishes, the characters of Mary and Joseph would walk in the streets to knock at selected houses to ask for shelter, but would be rejected each time. 

Homeowners would often request that their homes be visited to represent the innkeepers who cannot provide lodging for the couple. 

In this Filipinos’ live adaptation of St. Francis’ Belen, the journey of Mary and Joseph would end at the Church for the Christmas Eve Mass and at the singing of the “Gloria,” the Baby Jesus would be brought to the Belen.

The birth of Jesus in the Church is announced by the ringing of bells, signaling the beginning of Christmas.