Santo Niño de Cebu - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Santo Niño de Cebú ("Holy Child of Cebu

Cebu

Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...

") is a Roman Catholic figure of the Child Jesus

Child Jesus

The Child Jesus represents Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time, and that of most Christian cultures until recent centuries.The Child Jesus is frequently depicted in art, from around the third or fourth century...

highly similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague

Infant Jesus of Prague

Infant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue of infant Jesus located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague.- History :Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena...

. Like the image's counterpart in Prague, the figure is clothed in expensive textile robes mostly donations from fervent devotees in the Philippines and abroad. The statue is permanently housed at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu City

Cebu City

The City of Cebu is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines, the second most significant metropolitan centre in the Philippines and known as the oldest settlement established by the Spaniards in the country.The city is located on the eastern shore of Cebu and was...

History

In April 1521, Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

explorer Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....

, in the service of Charles I

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, arrived in Cebu during his voyage to find a westward route to the Indies

Indies

The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...

. He persuaded Rajah Humabon

Rajah Humabon

Rajah Humabon was the Rajah of Cebu at the time of Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in the Philippines in 1521. There is no official record of his existence before the Spanish arrival, but extensive narration by Italian historian Antonio Pigafetta was made on Humabon and the...

and his wife Humamay, to pledge their allegiance with Spain. They were later baptized into the Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

faith, taking the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

names Carlos and Juana. Magellan presented the Santo Niño to the newly-baptised Queen Juana as a symbol of the alliance. To her husband Carlos, Magellan presented the bust of the "Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the , when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his Crucifixion. The original Greek is Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος . The King James Version translates the phrase...

", or the depiction of Christ before Pontius Pilate. He gave an image of Our Lady to the natives who were later baptised with their rulers. However, Magellan died later on April 27, 1521 in the battle that took place in Mactan, leaving the image behind. After initial efforts by the natives to destroy it, as legends say, it endured and prevailed to become a pagan idol. The Cebuanos revered the image of the Santo Niño as Bathala, and most probably anointed the image with oil or offered sacrifices to it while invoking for its assistance.

Writer Nick Joaquin

Nick Joaquín

Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila...

in his 1980 paper delivered before the Cebuanos, talked about the 44 years after the Magellan's men left and before the next Spanish expedition came under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Joaquin said that “during that strange interlude… the wondrous miracle happened: we accepted the Santo Niño as part of our land, part of our culture, part of our history. During those 44 years when the Cross had vanished from our land, the Sto. Niño kept us faithful to him”. It is such a symbol of Philippine history “because it came with Magellan, became a native pagan idol, was reestablished as a Christian icon by Legazpi, and has become so Filipino that native legends annul its European origin by declaring it to have arisen in this land and to have been of this land since time immemorial."

During this interlude, the image became part of the natives' life, and this is probably why when asked about the Image, as it was found in 1565 by the Legazpi expedition in a burned house, the natives refused to relate it to the gift of Magellan, and said it was there since ancient times. Writer Dr. Resil Mojares, also in a 1980 paper, said that this claim that the image was native and ancient was probably because the native were afraid to admit that it was a Spanish gift lest it be taken back by the Spaniards. The natives’ version of the origin of the Santo Niño is in the “Agipo” (stump or driftwood) legend about the magical driftwood caught in the fishhook of an ancient native fisherman. Everytime he threw it away, it reappeared until decided to keep it. Then the fish catch became so plentiful for the fisherman that day. The agipo, brought to the settlement, would later manifest its powers to the people, guarding the people’s harvest, protecting them from pestilence. Mojares says this legend would only be natural to the folk mind. “The folk mind cannot completely conceive of a God that is manufactured in a workshop somewhere in a country called Belgium but it can believe that a God can rise out of the sea and bring on the rains by being submerged again in it.”

Many years later in 1565, Juan de Camus, a mariner of the second generation of Spanish Colonial campaign under Don Miguel Lopez de Legazpi found inside a pine box an unscathed Image of the Santo Niño. The adorable image believed to be of Belgian origin stands roughly at 30.48cm tall, wearing a loose velvet vestment, a gilded neck chain and a woolen red hood. It is carved from wood and coated with paint. The image holds a golden ball, a replica of the world in the left hand, and the right hand is slightly raised as a gesture of blessing.

Deeply impressed by this discovery, Camus presented the Image to Legazpi and the Augustinian priests. They were so humbled by the significance of the finding of the image that in solemnity, the image was carried in a procession to a provisional chapel. Legazpi then ordered the creation of the Confraternity of the Santo Niño de Cebu with Fr. Andres de Urdaneta as its head. A devotee of the Child Jesus himself, Legazpi installed a festivity in commemoration of the finding of the Holy Image. Although the celebration still survives until today, Pope Innocent XIII moved the celebration to the Third Sunday of January so as not to conflict with the 40-day celebration of Easter.

Presently, the image is dressed like a royalty with its ornate decorations, including a sash adorned with old Castilian coins and a Toison de Oro (Golden Fleece) with a ram pendant reputedly given by King Charles III in the 17th century, the image now stands in grandeur that continues to captivate the hearts and souls of his fervent devotees.

Stories of the Miracles of the Señor Santo Niño spread like wildfire in the Seas, placing Cebu as the Cradle of the Santo Niño devotion in the Philippines. His devotion spanned to the nearby island-provinces of the Visayas, then advanced to the north to as far as the Ilocandia and reached down south in Mindanao.

The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño built on the very same spot where the image was found on April 28, 1565, housed the statuette of the Santo Niño. Originally made out of bamboo and mangrove palm, the Santo Niño Church developed into a fortress where ardent devotees from all walks converge for thanksgiving or supplication to the Child Jesus, whom they have venerated through the centuries. With the increasing number of devotees flocking the Church of Santo Niño, Pope Paul VI elevated its rank as minor basilica with all rights and privileges accruing to such conferment for the Quadricentennial celebration of Christianity in the Philippines.

Numerous miracles have been wrought by the power of the Santo Niño. It is said that a voluminous book is needed to contain all the attestations and testimonials of the goodness and mercy of the Infant Jesus of Cebu. Considered as the prime of all Christian relics in the Philippines, the image of the Infant Jesus continues to shine as the lodestar that attracts the hearts of the Filipino people.

Meanwhile, the Visayans continue to manifest affection with the Santo Niño, who, not only during his feast day, but all year round.

Feast

The Fiesta Señor celebration starts on the Thursday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Each year, the celebration starts with a procession called the Walk with Jesus and ends with the Walk with Mary, wherein the image of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu, in full regalia, is carried in procession on the streets of Cebu at dawn. On the last day of the novena, the images of Señor Santo Niño de Cebu, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu, and the Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo

, is motorcaded to the National Shrine of Saint Joseph in Mandaue City for the traditional "traslacion", which means 'to transfer'. The images shall then be sent back to the Basilica on the eve of the feast of Señor Santo Niño de Cebu through a well-attended fluvial procession at Mactan Channel. Upon arrival at the Basilica, a high mass commemorating the first baptism shall take place. After which a long grand solemn foot procession, usually attended by more than a million devotees of the Santo Niño starts in a route that changes every year.

Pontifical masses, officiated mostly by Cebuano bishops are celebrated during the feast proper. The Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

approved special liturgical texts for use during the local Feast

Calendar of saints

The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...

of the Santo Niño in the Philippines, set on the third Sunday of January. The festival that follows is known as the Sinulog, which combines the festivities and religious devotion of the Cebuano people.

Patron Saint issue

The Santo Niño was once considered the patron of Cebu. However, the Santo Niño as a representation of the Child Jesus, can not be considered as patron or intercessor to God in behalf of the Cebuanos. The Catholic Church in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

sets the Holy Child as an example of humility, and as a celebration of the Incarnation. Many Cebuanos do not consider the Christmas season over until the Feast of the Santo Niño.

In 2002, the Archbishop of Cebu, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, D.D., declared the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, under the title of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu (Our Lady of Guadalupe of Cebu) as the official queen and patroness of Cebu. This declaration upsets some of the devotees of Santo Niño, who felt the demotion of the Holy Child. However, the declaration is consistent with Catholic thought requiring a patron be a human saint who has gone to his or her heavenly reward and who prays to God on behalf of the living, rather than the divine being himself.

The move of Cardinal Vidal was to actually install a patron saint for Cebu, when before there was none. But then, Jesus, being the second person of the Holy Trinity, with his true nature of being a true man (and a true God), a mediator to the Father here on earth as manifested by his earthly life, Santo Niño can still be considered as our patron (not patron saint) with Mother Mary (also given the special task as Mediatrix) to our Father in heaven.

Popular devotion

The devotion to the Santo Niño de Cebu started the long line of devotions to the Child Jesus in the Philippines. From Cebu, the Augustinians brought the devotion to Manila, Iloilo, Laguna and Tacloban. In Bohol, a profound devotion thrives with five municipalities adhering to the patronage of the Child Jesus. Moreover, the image of the Child Jesus always adorn the altars of houses, business establishments and even in public utility vehicles in the region. Truly as it has been said, devotion to the Santo Niño de Cebu is popular in the Visayas as it is throughout the country.

One of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

's Polish parishes

Polish Cathedral style

The Polish Cathedral architectural style is a North American genre of Catholic church architecture found throughout the Great Lakes and Middle Atlantic regions as well as in parts of New England...

, St. Wenceslaus Roman Catholic Church

St. Wenceslaus in Chicago

St. Wenceslaus - historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located in, Chicago, Illinois.One of the many Polish churches visible from the Kennedy Expressway, it is, along with St. Hyacinth Basilica, one of two monumental religious edifices that dominates the Avondale skyline...

, has a statue of Santo Niño de Cebú in one of its side altars.

External links

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