MABALACAT, Pampanga—If you miss the pastorella (Latin hymns) you used to hear when you were younger or simply want to get a unique kind of Christmas Masses, Mabalacat is the place for you.
Pastorella has become almost extinct in Pampanga since four decades ago when Vatican II prescribed the use of local dialects in religious rites.
In this town, however, it has strongly lived on, especially at the Our Lady of Divine Grace Parish.
Robby Tantingco, a resident of this town and executive director of the Holy Angel University’s Center of Kapampangan Studies, said the pastorella is how the locals call the Misa de Pastores.
It is held in honor of the shepherds that kept vigil during the birth of Jesus Christ, said Arwin Paul Lingat, a member of the parish’s liturgy committee. Lingat also works as a researcher for the center.
“The songs were eventually named as such by the folks here,” Lingat added.
In the Mass, the repertoire included the Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy, which is in Greek), Gloria (Glory to God in the Highest), Credo (Apostle’s Creed), Sanctus (Holy) and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
The rest of the songs were in Filipino and in English.
Pampanga Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the Archdiocese of San Fernando “tolerates the Latin hymns for as long as the songs for the entrance, communion and recessional were in Filipino, Kapampangan or English [so they could be sung by the entire congregation].”
“It is basically the charm of the songs that makes the people listen to them,” David explained.
A lot of preparations are poured by the Our Lady of Parish Choir into the singing. Rehearsals are held daily and an organist, two violinists, a flutist and a choir master accompany the 20 singers, aged 15 to 38. This meant that the tradition has been passed on to the younger generations.
Their training for singing the Latin hymns starts early, said Sheena Len Policarpio, 20. She was nine years old when she joined the chorale and was taught the hymns when she was 12.
“On Christmas Eve, all of our three choirs (Mabalacat Parish Choir and Early Morning Choir) are combined for the pastorella. We would all be more than 50 [singers] by then,” said Policarpio.
ORAL TRADITION
The pastorella exists to this day as part of the town’s oral tradition, Tantingco noted.
Its roots stemmed from several possibilities. It could have been introduced by the Augustinian Recoletos, native clergy or by musical composers among lay people.
Pablo Palma, a laity composer from Bacolor, for one, composed the Stabat Mater in four versions. The current musical sheets in Mabalacat bore no name of their composers, however.
“What is known is that Alejandro de Leon of Angeles City, our previous choir master, rearranged the compositions in 1972 [to provide more instrumentations and give the choir some rest in between the singing], said Bonifacio Gaña, 38. He has been a member of the choir for 21 years.
It also persisted because elder musicians were not selfish. Their likes, known only by their nicknames as Apung (Elder) Pacing, Totang, Dodie, Sendong and Carting trained second-liners including the current organist, Carla Castro. The present choir master is Dr. Reggie Layug.
The archdiocese has no definitive document either on its beginnings or in which towns it is currently practiced, said Fr. Oliver Yalung, head of the liturgy commission.
Prof. Lino Dizon of the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies, which has been writing on the missions of the Recoletos (calced or shod friars) in Mabalacat and Tarlac’s Bamban and Concepcion towns, has no available archival documents on the role of that religious order in the pastorella.
Their penchant for music is indicated through Fr. Diego Cera who, some months after his assignment here in 1797, created the world-famous bamboo organ in Las Piñas.
It cannot also be said though that the pastorella was mainly a legacy of the Recoletos who served this northern Pampanga town uninterrupted from 1725 to 1898.
“Years ago, the pastorella was sang in Augustinian (discalced or barefoot missionaries) territories like San Fernando and Bacolor,” Tantingco recalled.
ALSO IN STA. RITA
Pastorella has also been a tradition in the western town of Sta. Rita because the old singers are still around, according to Recy Pineda, one of the musical directors of the ArtiSta. Rita.
“It never stopped being sung by the old tiples (singers) and now with commentators and lectors,” she said.
Old folks in Betis keep the pastorella alive on selected occasions.
What was certain was that Latin, the language used in Holy Masses before 1965, was the medium through which the hymns evolved, it was learned.
To Tantingco, the aim was clear. “The friars possibly used it as a technique to keep the faithful awake during dawn Masses,” he said.
Tantingco recalled that in his younger years that the pastorella was done in “very operatic” style.
“It seemed like you were watching an Italian opera,” he added.
DOUBLE
SACRIFICES
What makes Mabalacat’s pastorella unique is that it is preceded by the lubena (a corruption of the word novena). These are hand-held lanterns accompanying the processions of the patron saints of villages during simbang bengi (night Masses).
“So the Catholics here double their sleep deprivation by staying up late for lubena and waking up early for the dawn mass. I think it is a flesh mortification in preparation for the Feast of Nativity,” said Tantingco.
The parish priest, Ignacio “Chito” Carlos, wants to add a new feature to the pastorella. “Aside from hearing the Latin hymns, I want our parishioners to appreciate these through dances,” the priest said.
His stint has seen the church in real Christmas mood. Lanterns made of papel de japon or capiz festooned the church interiors. An advent wreath and a manger grace both sides of the altar.
Carmelita Garcia-Flake, 74, regards herself as the lone surviving tiple in her batch. Coming from the US last year, she sat at the choir loft and observed: “They do not sing the pastorella with much passion.”
Her batch, she said, learned the pastorella from Fr. Victor Serrano, a native of Mabalacat.
Music composer Cris Cadiang, a resigned priest, said that based on choir groups that he has been in contact with, the pastorella is “alive” in Mabalacat, Barangay Balibago in Angeles City and Sta. Rita.
To him, that means that out of the more than 90 parishes in Pampanga, only three continue with the pastorella.
“There has to be a study on the status of Latin hymns, the role of Latin in the Vatican II liturgy vis-à-vis the instruction to explore vernacular languages with regard to music, and the context is Christmas,” Cadiang said.
Garcia-Flake recalled that in older times, violins, cello, accordion and tambourine accompanied the pastorella.
The musicians then, she added, belonged to prominent clans in the town.
Pastorella has become almost extinct in Pampanga since four decades ago when Vatican II prescribed the use of local dialects in religious rites.
In this town, however, it has strongly lived on, especially at the Our Lady of Divine Grace Parish.
Robby Tantingco, a resident of this town and executive director of the Holy Angel University’s Center of Kapampangan Studies, said the pastorella is how the locals call the Misa de Pastores.
It is held in honor of the shepherds that kept vigil during the birth of Jesus Christ, said Arwin Paul Lingat, a member of the parish’s liturgy committee. Lingat also works as a researcher for the center.
“The songs were eventually named as such by the folks here,” Lingat added.
In the Mass, the repertoire included the Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy, which is in Greek), Gloria (Glory to God in the Highest), Credo (Apostle’s Creed), Sanctus (Holy) and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
The rest of the songs were in Filipino and in English.
Pampanga Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the Archdiocese of San Fernando “tolerates the Latin hymns for as long as the songs for the entrance, communion and recessional were in Filipino, Kapampangan or English [so they could be sung by the entire congregation].”
“It is basically the charm of the songs that makes the people listen to them,” David explained.
A lot of preparations are poured by the Our Lady of Parish Choir into the singing. Rehearsals are held daily and an organist, two violinists, a flutist and a choir master accompany the 20 singers, aged 15 to 38. This meant that the tradition has been passed on to the younger generations.
Their training for singing the Latin hymns starts early, said Sheena Len Policarpio, 20. She was nine years old when she joined the chorale and was taught the hymns when she was 12.
“On Christmas Eve, all of our three choirs (Mabalacat Parish Choir and Early Morning Choir) are combined for the pastorella. We would all be more than 50 [singers] by then,” said Policarpio.
ORAL TRADITION
The pastorella exists to this day as part of the town’s oral tradition, Tantingco noted.
Its roots stemmed from several possibilities. It could have been introduced by the Augustinian Recoletos, native clergy or by musical composers among lay people.
Pablo Palma, a laity composer from Bacolor, for one, composed the Stabat Mater in four versions. The current musical sheets in Mabalacat bore no name of their composers, however.
“What is known is that Alejandro de Leon of Angeles City, our previous choir master, rearranged the compositions in 1972 [to provide more instrumentations and give the choir some rest in between the singing], said Bonifacio Gaña, 38. He has been a member of the choir for 21 years.
It also persisted because elder musicians were not selfish. Their likes, known only by their nicknames as Apung (Elder) Pacing, Totang, Dodie, Sendong and Carting trained second-liners including the current organist, Carla Castro. The present choir master is Dr. Reggie Layug.
The archdiocese has no definitive document either on its beginnings or in which towns it is currently practiced, said Fr. Oliver Yalung, head of the liturgy commission.
Prof. Lino Dizon of the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies, which has been writing on the missions of the Recoletos (calced or shod friars) in Mabalacat and Tarlac’s Bamban and Concepcion towns, has no available archival documents on the role of that religious order in the pastorella.
Their penchant for music is indicated through Fr. Diego Cera who, some months after his assignment here in 1797, created the world-famous bamboo organ in Las Piñas.
It cannot also be said though that the pastorella was mainly a legacy of the Recoletos who served this northern Pampanga town uninterrupted from 1725 to 1898.
“Years ago, the pastorella was sang in Augustinian (discalced or barefoot missionaries) territories like San Fernando and Bacolor,” Tantingco recalled.
ALSO IN STA. RITA
Pastorella has also been a tradition in the western town of Sta. Rita because the old singers are still around, according to Recy Pineda, one of the musical directors of the ArtiSta. Rita.
“It never stopped being sung by the old tiples (singers) and now with commentators and lectors,” she said.
Old folks in Betis keep the pastorella alive on selected occasions.
What was certain was that Latin, the language used in Holy Masses before 1965, was the medium through which the hymns evolved, it was learned.
To Tantingco, the aim was clear. “The friars possibly used it as a technique to keep the faithful awake during dawn Masses,” he said.
Tantingco recalled that in his younger years that the pastorella was done in “very operatic” style.
“It seemed like you were watching an Italian opera,” he added.
DOUBLE
SACRIFICES
What makes Mabalacat’s pastorella unique is that it is preceded by the lubena (a corruption of the word novena). These are hand-held lanterns accompanying the processions of the patron saints of villages during simbang bengi (night Masses).
“So the Catholics here double their sleep deprivation by staying up late for lubena and waking up early for the dawn mass. I think it is a flesh mortification in preparation for the Feast of Nativity,” said Tantingco.
The parish priest, Ignacio “Chito” Carlos, wants to add a new feature to the pastorella. “Aside from hearing the Latin hymns, I want our parishioners to appreciate these through dances,” the priest said.
His stint has seen the church in real Christmas mood. Lanterns made of papel de japon or capiz festooned the church interiors. An advent wreath and a manger grace both sides of the altar.
Carmelita Garcia-Flake, 74, regards herself as the lone surviving tiple in her batch. Coming from the US last year, she sat at the choir loft and observed: “They do not sing the pastorella with much passion.”
Her batch, she said, learned the pastorella from Fr. Victor Serrano, a native of Mabalacat.
Music composer Cris Cadiang, a resigned priest, said that based on choir groups that he has been in contact with, the pastorella is “alive” in Mabalacat, Barangay Balibago in Angeles City and Sta. Rita.
To him, that means that out of the more than 90 parishes in Pampanga, only three continue with the pastorella.
“There has to be a study on the status of Latin hymns, the role of Latin in the Vatican II liturgy vis-à-vis the instruction to explore vernacular languages with regard to music, and the context is Christmas,” Cadiang said.
Garcia-Flake recalled that in older times, violins, cello, accordion and tambourine accompanied the pastorella.
The musicians then, she added, belonged to prominent clans in the town.
