Mass heralds traditional Filipino Advent novena

An entrance procession with flowers that would be placed at the cathedral Advent wreath opened the 12th annual Simbang Gabi Commissioning Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral Dec. 10. Almost 1,000 worshippers including children made up the assembly. Parols, or traditional lanterns mostly star-shaped to evoke the Star of Bethlehem, led processions into the service. More than 50 parishes in the archdiocese will host Simbang Gabi early morning novena Masses Dec. 15-24. A video of the Mass and a list of participating parishes may be found at https://sfarchdiocese.org/events/. (Photos by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)