Christmas in the Philippines!

For those of you who like to drive around looking at Christmas lights, perhaps you should plan to look a little farther next year. Filipinos love Christmas and they really love lights. The traditional holiday decoration in the Philippines is a Parol. All through the Christmas season, star-shaped lanterns can be found hanging outside homes and along the streets of cities and small provincial towns, farms and fishing villages. Parols were traditionally made from simple materials like bamboo sticks, Japanese rice paper, crepe paper, and a candle or coconut oil-lamp for illumination. Modern parols can be made from paper or plastic with a single buld or strands of Christmas tree lights inside. Around Manila, we see many parols made of Capiz shell. The parol is a recognizable symbol to all Filipinos and represents the star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to Jesus. The parol is a tradition from l0ng ago when the Philippines was controled by the Spanish. It was originally intended as an important part of the 9-day Misas de Aguinaldo or Gift Masses that happen early each morning until Christmas Eve. After coming home from Mass, instead of putting the lantern away in the house, Filipinos would proudly hang it outside the window. At night, they would illuminate their parols to display their art. They would then walk around and see each others' work. While celebrating Christmas here begins with the -ber months--meaning decorations and Christmas music begin showing up in September, the holidays are officially celebrated beginning the 16th of December. People all over the Philippines woke up at 4 am this morning to go to Mass and begin the 9 day Misas de Aguinaldo.


A Parol made from Capiz shells













Plastic Parols for sale in Manila












If you would like more info about Parols or think it would be fun to make one for yourself (what a great homeschool project!) or would like some great coloring sheets of parols in the Philippines, you can find it at the following website: http://www.myparol.com/myparol/index.html