COMMUNITY TRADITION These handcrafted lanterns made by villagers for the “lubenas Simbang Bengi” (Christmas Masses) procession in Magalang, Pampanga, have been featured in a procession before the start of the nine-day Christmas Masses attended by Filipinos in Milan, Italy, in two cathedrals there starting Dec. 15. —Photos by Tonette T. Orejas and Consul General Elmer G. Cato
MAGALANG, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Picture this Christmas lantern: a meter in diameter, made out of paper and is adorned with two rings and a smaller star at the center. Then the outward rays are embellished with gold paper cutouts. Finally, the entire piece is encircled by four successive levels of intricate designs looking like “callado” (needle work embroidery) but on white paper.
Multiply these lanterns by 12 and feature them in a procession, with a bigger cross-shaped lantern at the lead. Some villages make fish-shaped lanterns to complete the ensemble representing Jesus Christ and the 12 Apostles as fishers of Christians.
“Lubenas” is how this parade of handcrafted and hand-carried lanterns is called in Magalang town in Pampanga province. Held at every start of the nine-day “Simbang Gabi” in the villages and parishes, it culminates at the grounds of the mother parish of San Bartolome, illuminating it on Christmas Eve in another tradition called “maytinis.”
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This traditional parade made it to the Filipino community in Milan in Italy for the first time, specifically at the Basilica di Sto. Stefano Maggiore, at the start of the Christmas dawn Masses on Dec. 15.
“Priceless were the smiles etched in the faces of our ‘kababayan’ (compatriots) here in Milan when we brought in the Lubenas lanterns from our hometown of Magalang in Pampanga during our first Simbang Gabi this evening. A number came to us after the Mass to thank us for bringing the lanterns that they said somehow brought them home,” Consul General Elmer Cato shared on his Facebook page. A video showed the unlit lubenas leading the Mass processional minus the singing of the “Dios te Salve, Maria.”
At exit, the lanterns, now lit by batteries, lined up at the cathedral’s façade.
The lubenas next appeared in the Duomo di Milano where the Filipino community gathered for the second Simbang Gabi. Msgr. Franco Agnesi, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Milan, and Filipino chaplains led by Don Sonny de Armas, head of the Pastoral Council for Filipino Catholic Migrants concelebrated the Mass at the Basilica of the Nativity of St. Mary, Cato said.
“The annual Simbang Gabi at the Duomo is a special gesture by the Archdiocese of Milan in recognition of the invaluable role of the Filipino diaspora in Italy in helping spread and preserve the Catholic faith,” he added.
At the request of Cato, the Magalang local government shipped the lanterns made by Rene Calma.
Revival
As then consul general of New York, Cato brought in a 2.43-meter (8 feet) in diameter “parul” (lantern) commissioned by the Pampanga provincial government to fourth-generation lantern maker Eric Quiwa so that kababayans there could get a feel of Filipino Christmas.
Magalang’s sending of the lubenas to Milan came eight years after Mayor Ma. Lourdes Lacson and Fr. Ronnie Cao revived the tradition in 2016 in its waning years, getting a presidential award for preserving cultural heritage in 2018.
Last Dec. 13, the lubenas saw seven Catholic parishes and 26 barangays in tandem again. Called “Ing Banal a batuin ning Magalang: Lubenas ning Pasko (The Holy Star of Magalang: Lanterns of Christmas),” the lubenas consisted of 416 lanterns in all.
As it was in olden times, the devotees walked, prayed, sang and danced slowly along the “paglimbunan” (procession route) from the San Bartolome parish Church to the town hall.
9-day prayer
“A grand parade as an introduction [to the lubenas]” was how Fr. Dino Pineda, the vicar forane of the St. John the Beloved, called the event that was held in time for the 161st founding year of Magalang.
The parishes of the Good Shepherd, Holy Rosary, San Ildefonso, Divine Healer, The Lord’s Epiphany, Holy Eucharist and San Bartolome participated in the lubenas.
According to Pineda, the lubenas (considered to be a folk derivative of the word novena or nine-day prayer) traditionally begins on Dec. 16 in the villages before the Mass is celebrated.
“The Simbang Gabi is not part of Advent but the procession is a liturgy,” he explained.
Behind the images, the devotees sang the “goso” (a hymn for the village patron saint), recited the Holy Rosary, sang the “Dios Te Salve, Maria” after each mystery of the Rosary, and sang the “Virgin Divino” for homes with a sick family member.
The young people of the town have also been active in the lubenas, having been instructed to the activity by their elders.
Parents have been bringing their children to the lubenas, exposing them to tradition.
Lorraine Nacpil, 16, said she learned by heart the “Dios Te Salve, Maria” as a form of praise.
Albert Garbo, 18, in a separate interview, said he had been carrying the lanterns as a form of sacrifice and to ask for God’s guidance in his studies.
Lloyd Lacson, the village chief of Sta. Lucia, said the barangay managed to pool P30,000 from residents and received P26,000 as subsidy from the local government to be able to mount the lubenas.
SYMBOLS “Lubenas” lanterns represent the 12 apostles while the cross-shaped one symbolizes Jesus Christ. These are all carried by hands and followed by devotees who recite the rosary and sing “Dios te Salve, Maria” on the way to the church for the Christmas dawn Mass. —Tonette T. Orejas
Origin
On Christmas Eve, the lubenas in the villages, with the images of their patron saints at the end, all converge in the San Bartolome Parish Church in San Pedro.
There was no record when the lubenas actually began but it was believed to have been brought to the town by Augustinian priests who served in Bacolor town in southern Pampanga prior to their posting in Magalang. Historical papers compiled in 1952 and in the care of the Holy Angel University’s Center for Kapampangan Studies also included accounts of lubenas.
Over the decades, the procession went inactive a number of times, the longest of which came after Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991, when big landowners who lost or sold properties due the eruption stopped supporting the activity.
It was halted anew at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and resumed in 2022 when restrictions began to ease.
At the Friday parade, several devotees were seen walking barefoot as an act of penance or sacrifice.
Among those who watched the almost two-hour parade was Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco. The Cultural Center of the Philippines also sent the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra that played old and modern Christmas carols during the event.
The best lubenas also received prizes, with Barangay San Jose having entered the local Hall of Fame for winning three times in a row. Barangays Sta. Maria, Sta. Lucia, San Isidro and San Ildefonso won the second to fifth places, respectively.
“The local government and the vicariate need to continue doing together the lubenas. Not only is it a cultural heritage. The act of making lanterns together fosters unity among the residents,” Lacson said.
The lubenas made its first globe-trotting step that for the San Fernando giant lanterns began in 1979 in Hawaii.