is also a wish "May you live!". Whosoever says it wishes upon you a

great gift of a long, full, and meaningful life. It is both a blessing

and a lusty cheer. "Mabuhay" (ma-boo-high) is such a large word with

varied meanings in English and lends itself to a number of secondary

uses: welcome, congratulations, thanks, godspeed, hello, good luck,

cheers, prosit, sante, viva, and many other expresssions of good will.

All these are part of life, but it is the gift of life that makes them

possible. "Mabuhay" is an invocation and a celebration of life itself.