Simbang Gabi ("Night Mass"; Spanish: Misa de Gallo, "Rooster's Mass", or Misa de Aguinaldo, "Gift Mass") is a novena of dawn Masses from 16 December to Christmas Eve.
The Simbang Gabi is practised mainly by Catholic and Aglipayans, with some Evangelical Christian and independent Protestant churches having adopted the practise of having pre-Christmas dawn services. Attending the Masses is meant to show devotion to God and heightened anticipation for Christ's birth, and folk belief holds that God grants the special wish of a devotee that hears all nine Masses.
Morning observance of Simbang Gabi begins as early as 03:00 PST, while in some parishes, anticipated Masses begin the previous evening at 20:00 PST. After hearing Mass, Catholic families buy traditional Filipino holiday fare for breakfast outside the church and eat it either within the church precincts or at home. Vendors offer many native delicacies, including bibingka (rice flour and egg-based cake, cooked using coal burners above and under); puto bumbong (a purple, sticky rice delicacy steamed in bamboo tubes, buttered then sprinkled with brown sugar and shredded dried coconut meat).
Drinks include coffee, salabat (a ginger infusion) and tsokolate (thick, Spanish-style hot chocolate). Some Aglipayan churches invite the congregation to partake of the "painit" (literally, "heater"), a post-Mass snack of mostly rice pastries served with coffee or cocoa at the house of the Mass sponsor.