A Touch of Home : Religion: A growing number of Catholic parishes are offering pre-Christmas evening Masses to appeal to Filipino American worshipers.

Five Decembers ago, about 18 parishes in the large Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese held services for Filipino Americans yearning for a semblance of the pre-Christmas Masses and festivities so traditional in the Philippines.

This year, about 70 parishes scheduled at least one evening Mass during the period, enabling Catholics of Filipino heritage in many regions to attend nine straight Masses through Friday--and the numbers promise to grow in coming years.

For the second-largest ethnic group in the archdiocese, an estimated 425,000 Filipino Catholics, the evening Masses are a touch of homeland--not only because of the festive trappings but also because prayers are offered and hymns sung in the main Filipino dialect of Tagalog--and other dialects--at this time of year.

In contrast to the Spanish-language Masses scheduled at many parishes, no regular Masses are said in Tagalog because English is commonly understood and spoken by immigrant Filipinos.

Indeed, natives of the Philippines tend to be loyal Sunday worshipers, but officials of the archdiocese’s Filipino Pastoral Ministry are convinced that by offering more Simbang Gabi (sim-BAHNG-gahbee, meaning “worship evening”) services, more Filipino parishioners will feel their culture is respected.

In the Philippines, these rites are held at dawn, thus its name there, Misa de Gallo , or the “Rooster Mass.”

But Father Loreto (Mac) Gonzales, director of the Filipino Pastoral Ministry, and other organizers of the celebration said that the change to evening services in this country has been accepted because of the convenience.

The steady expansion of the Christmastime celebrations in parishes gives Gonzales hope that Filipinos will be convinced the church is not trying to force them into cultural conformity, he said.

“It is the entering point for a Filipino immigrant to become a member and active in a parish,” said Gonzales, who is also a parish priest in Artesia.

At St. Genevieve Parish in Panorama City, for instance, more than 1,100 Filipino Catholics filled the pews on the first night of Simbang Gabi .

Sharing space with green Christmas wreaths on the walls of St. Genevieve’s cavernous sanctuary were white and yellow Filipino karols , five-pointed stars with two streamers hanging down. In keeping with tradition, they will stay up through Jan. 6, said Msgr. Charles Hill, the pastor.

“We want a blending of both cultures and traditions,” said Hill in his homily.

“What a strange world we live in,” the priest continued. “Half of the people who come here are Filipino, and who do we get assigned here as an associate priest but Father Michael Une from Nigeria.”

As Une smiled, laughter and applause broke out in the pews.

“We have something to give one another,” said Hill, addressing the parishioners. “I thank you for the gift of yourself.”

During the Mass, Hill read certain portions in Tagalog. Other dialects were spoken for eight other short prayers recited by selected parishioners.

Rebecca Ciriaco of Van Nuys, an active parishioner who has lived in the United States for 21 years, said after the Mass that Filipino Catholics hope that the increasing number of Simbang Gabi events will become “a window for other parishioners to see Filipino spirituality.”

“We do not want to be assimilated but integrated into the parish,” Ciriaco said, indicating that Filipino beliefs and culture would suffer in assimilation.

Each evening service is followed by singing and socializing at the parish hall with traditional Filipino Christmastime dishes.

A large karol and a long bamboo crucifix that were carried into St. Genevieve’s church during the service’s opening procession were to be taken to other churches in the San Fernando Valley on the schedule filling out the novena, or nine-day cycle of Masses.

The cycle in the Valley ends with Simbang Gabi Masses 7 p.m. tonight at St. Finbar, 2010 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, and Our Lady of Peace, 15444 Nordhoff Ave., North Hills.

Four parishes in Central Los Angeles--St. Basil, St. Columban, Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Kevin--will complete their full slate of nine Masses on Christmas Eve.

Parishes in Canyon Country, Palmdale and Lancaster each held one holiday Mass this year. Two or three will be added there next year and about 10 more overall, Father Gonzales said.