Santo Niño
From Freepedia
- For other meanings, see Santo Niño (disambiguation)
Santo Niño de Cebú is a representation of the Child Jesus, somewhat related to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Santo Niño de Cebu literally means holy child of Cebu. The image was brought on Ferdinand Magellan's expedition and in 1521, was given to the Queen of Cebu, who was later baptized into the Catholic faith along with her husband, Rajah Humabon, and their people. After the Cebuanos turned against the Spaniards, the Spaniards burned a good part of Cebu, and the image was caught in the blaze.
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Miraculous Image
In 1565 with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Miguel López de Legazpi, the image was found relatively unscathed. The image was quickly acknowledged as miraculous, and a church was later constructed on the site of the discovery. Today, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is an important historical and religious landmark in Cebu, with devotees forming long queues to pay their respects to the Holy Child. Mexico has the Santo Niño de Atocha.
Feast
The Holy See has approved special liturgical texts for use during the local Feast 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 street gaiety and religious piety of the Cebuano people.
Patron Saint
The Santo Niño was long considered to be the patron "saint" of Cebu. However, the Santo Niño is a representation of Jesus Christ as a child. The Catholic Church in the Philippines 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, which always falls on the third Sunday of January.
With this in mind, in 2002, Cebu Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Vidal declared Jesus' mother Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the principal patroness of Cebu. This upset some Santo Niño devotees, who felt that the declaration "demoted" the Holy Child. However, Catholic thought requires that a patron saint be a human saint who has gone to his or her heavenly reward, who prays to God on behalf of the living.
Since the Holy Child is a representation of Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, he cannot, as God, be considered a patron. In that sense, Cardinal Vidal's move was to actually install a patron saint for Cebu, when before there was none. He did not, however, abolish the feast or the traditional street celebrations.
Myths and Lore
When the Santo Niño was found by Legazpi and his men, the image was so burnt that it was hardly recognizable amongst the many collection of native pagan idols. It seemed that the native Cebuanos were not fully Christianized and continued to believe in their pagan gods, recognizing the Santo Niño only as another "anito" (idol).
Even so, many myths and folklore surround the image as brought on by the superstitious beliefs of the people. Local helpers at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño have reported that the Santo Niño sometimes disappeared from its glass case at night only to return with grass stains on its clothes. This sparked speculations that the Santo Niño took long walks at night. There were never any official accounts of these stories and they were often dismissed as local superstitions but this did not lessen the number of devotees to the Santo Niño.
To date, the Santo Niño is still considered miraculous by the Cebuanos.
External links
See also:
- Santo Niño de Cebú (Photographs and article)
