To all my friends

Hello friends! I hope this year 2010 will give us joy, peace, more blessings and good health. My new year resolution is to be a good boy, be honest, humble, have patient and obey my father. I wish that our family with be together again.

Happy Holidays

Hi to my friends online good morning to all of you there. Happy Holidays! May your home be filled with love, comfort and laughter. Thank you for the friendship, tags, comment and for the visit. Best wishes for the holiday seasons and a happy new year.

Advent

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming") is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, in other words, the period immediately preceding Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western Christian year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches begin the year on 1 September. The progression of Advent may be marked with an Advent calendar reckoning Advent to start on 1 December, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they await the second coming of Christ.

Misa de Gallo

Traditionally, Christmas Day is ushered by the nine-day dawn masses that known as the Misa de Gallo (Rooster's Mass) in the traditional Spanish, and these masses are also more popularly known in Filipino as Simbang Gabi, or "Night Mass". The Simbang Gabi is the most important Filipino Christmas tradition.
These nine dawn Masses are also considered as novena by catholic and aglipayan faithfuls. This practice of performing nine days of private or public devotion to obtain special graces. In some parishes, the Simbang gabi begins as early as four in the morning. Going to mass this early for nine consecutive days is meant to show the churchgoer's devotion to his faith and heighten anticipation for the Nativity of the Lord. In traditional Filipino belief, however, completing the novena is also supposed to mean that God would grant the devotee's special wish or favor.

After hearing Mass, Filipino families partake of traditional Philippine Christmas delicacies, either during breakfast at home or immediately outside the church, where they are sold. Vendors offer a wealth of native delicacies, including bibingka or rice flour and egg based cake, cooked using coals on top and under, puto bumbong or purple sticky rice delicacy which is steamed in bamboo tubes, with brown sugar and coconut shavings as condiments, salabat or hot ginger tea and tsokolate or what we called thick Spanish cocoa.

Christmas In The Philippines

When I was in the Philippines, children love to celebrate Christmas with the traditional Christmas caroling --going from house to house singing Christmas carols. Makeshift instruments include tambourines made with tansans (aluminum bottle caps) strung on a piece of wire. With the traditional chant of "Namamasko po!", these carolers wait expectantly for the owner of the house to reward them with coins. After being rewarded, the carolers thank the owner by singing thank you.

Provincial Meet 2007

November 25-29 was the schedule of Provincial Meet 2007 of Compostela Valley Province. It's the time where pupils of ages 8-12 years old from public and private schools displayed their talents and skills with regards to their respective sports. The following are the competing events during the provincial meet 2007. Athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, chess, soccer, gymnastics, karatedo, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and volleyball. The competing teams are the Unit 1 Compostela, New Bataan, Maragusan- Unit 2 Maco, mabini, Pantukan - Unit 3 Laak, Monkayo, Montevista - Unit 4 - Nabunturan east and west, Mawab.