How we spent Christmas 2016

During Christmas season, I always listen to our family's one and only Christmas CD, Peter Carrol Singers and Orchestra. I am already very familiar with each and every song in that CD because I have been listening to it for about a decade already, hehehe! I love all the songs, but one song whose lyrics I really like is "The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year". It tells about everybody's excitement when Christmas arrives since it is "the most wonderful day of the year". Yes, very true. Even non-Catholics are excited for Christmas because we have been celebrating it for centuries. Christmas is a part of everybody's childhood and has been celebrated by our ancestors. In my opinion, as long as these non-Catholics feel the excitement that we Catholics have whenever the Christmas Season arrives, then they do affirm that there is only one true religion, and that is the Roman Catholic faith.

Whenever September comes, we usually hear fellow Filipinos say that it is already the beginning of the Christmas Season. September ushers in the so-called "Ber Months" (September, October, November, and December). But for Traditional Catholics, the beginning of Christmas really begins on the first Sunday of Advent and ends on the second of February the following year. Interesting, right? =)

My sisters-in-law, Jennifer and Jessica, invited us to have our Christmas celebrated in Light Residences in Mandalúyong City, our first time to spend Christmas in a condominium. We went there on the night of December 23 so that the kids could go swimming the following morning and spend more time with their aunties. All of us enjoyed our time in the swimming pools, with all the fun, pictures, and chit-chats attached to it, yehey! It's been a while since we have not had any swimming galore. The last time was last summer in Burot Beach. Though the water is cold in the swimming pool and a typhoon was coming, it was still tolerable. we care about our swimming time and the excitement it gives us that we should swim not only during summer because we can do it even during the rainy or cold season. Because, as I have said before, summer never ends, at least for me and my family, hehehe! ☺☺

Brunch time after swimming! My sister-in-law Jennifer's pancakes are the best ones I've ever tasted!

Noche Buena was very great too, with all of us enjoying our simple feast together. Plus the surprise gifts of my hubby's sisters for our family. There was also white wine and, of course, Daddy Pepe's favorite: Cerveza Negra! And we noticed that Junífera Clarita was fond of grapes! She almost ate up all of the grapes on the table, hahaha! It was a night of wonder! Very wonderful, indeed! ❤ =)

The next day, we attended our very first Traditional Christmas Day Mass at the side chapel of the Most Holy Redeemer Parish. Father Jojo Zerrudo was the celebrant. I was actually teary eyed when I saw him walking on the nave towards the altar at the beginning of the Holy Mass, maybe because he was the priest who officiated our Mozarabic wedding three years ago as well as having baptized Junífera Clarita last year.

We attended our first Traditional Latin Christmas Mass at the Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Quezon City officiated by Fr. Jojo Zerrudo.

Father Jojo's sermon discussed about choosing the light who is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, of course. I can't forget those words which he said, that "when the light comes, then there is no darkness",  "where there is light, there is life", and "everything that lives wants to remain alive". To read the full text of Fr. Jojo's Christmas Day sermon, click here.

After Mass, we all went back to the condo and stayed there for another night. The kids swam again that night (the typhoon didn't hit Metro Manila that hard). And we still had more white wine, cerveza negra, and other goodies to feast on. ☺☺

We had our Christmas Day at Light Residences, and Fr. Jojo's sermon was all about the light... is it just a coincidence, or was there a hidden message for us? No family is perfect, not even ours. Each family goes through a phase of darkness. Every family has its struggles. We had experienced that throughout the whole year. Does this mean that light is upon us? Hopefully, in GOD's time, and with His guidance. We hope that this is the light that we have been waiting for: a light of true joy, contentment, satisfaction, and a way to further learn God's teachings. ¡Feliz Navidad! =) =)

—Yeyette—

Please click here for the photo album and also here for our Christmas Day Latin Mass,  and don't forget to LIKE US on Facebook! ¡Gracias! =)