My Simple Crib

The Santo Niño de Cebú (“Holy Child of Cebu”) is a Roman Catholic figure of the Child Jesus highly similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague. 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 the oldest Catholic relic in the Philippines and permanently housed since 1565 at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu City, Cebu. In April 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of Charles I of Spain, arrived in Cebu during his voyage to find a westward route to the Indies. He persuaded Rajah Humabon and his wife Hara Amihan, to pledge their allegiance with Spain.

They were later baptized into the Catholic faith, taking the Christian names Carlos and Juana. Magellan presented the Santo Niño to the newly-baptized Queen Juana as a symbol of the alliance. To her husband Carlos, Magellan presented the bust of the “Ecce Homo”, or the depiction of Christ before Pontius Pilate.  He gave an image of Our Lady to the natives who were later baptized with their rulers. However, Magellan died later on April 27, 1521 in the battle that took place in Mactan.

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.

The Cebuano natives revered the Image of Santo Niño as Bathala. They most probably blessed the image with oil or offered sacrifices to the Santo Niño while invoking for His assistance in times of difficulties, reliefs in their necessities or consolations in their adversities. Presently dressed in 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 have come to pay homage to a Gift, so simple yet profound.

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 Cebuano’s. The Catholic Church in the Philippines sets the Holy Child as an example of humility, and as a celebration of the Incarnation. Many Cebuano’s 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 a divine being himself.

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, the move of Cardinal Vidal was to actually install a patron saint for Cebu, when before there was none.

source:  Wikipedia