Santo Niño Jesus de Cebu a toda Filipinas

The Holy Child Jesus; of Cebu and throughout the Philippines, there is no other fitting title to an exhibit being done now at the Basilica del Santo Niño Museum than this one which Santo Niño devotee and exhibit co-organizer Louie Nacorda says must be spearheaded in Cebu City where the devotion t the Holy Child took root and spread throughout the archipelago.

The devotion to the Santo Niño is so popular in the country than in the altars in almost every Catholic home there is at least a picture or an image of the Holy Child Jesus being venerated in different titles.

Opened to the public last Wednesday, January 10, the exhibition, the first of its kind to be held in Basilica del Santo Niño Museum, gathers around the different titles of the Holy Child from all over the Philippines and even those from overseas. This exhibit was conceived by Fr. Domingo Besares, OSA, who is the curator of the museum.

From Cebu

The image of the Santo Niño as we all know was a gift of the explorer Ferdinand Magellan to Queen Juana, the wife of Rajah Humabon of Cebu , on the day of her baptism on April 14, 1521.

The same image was discovered by a soldier named Juan de Camus of the Legazpi expedition on April 28, 1565 , inside a wooden chest in one of the natives' burned huts. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi even mentioned the finding the image in his letter to King Philip II of Spain ; “one of the soldiers went into a large and well built house of an Indian, where he found an image of the holy child Jesus (who most holy name I pray may be universally worshiped.) This was kept in its cradle, all gilded as it was brought from España…” The Spaniards then took the rediscovery of the image as the heavenly sign and the rest became history. From that time on, the devotion to the Holy Child spread from Cebu throughout the Philippine archipelago.

Throughout the Philippines

It is indeed fitting that the Basilica del Santo Niño is hosting such an exhibit within its own grounds after all, the devotion is where it all started.

The exhibit is presented in a historical timeline. A replica of the Santo Niño de Cebu made by Bantayanon priest-artist Fr. Dodong Desuyo precedes the other Holy Child images being venerated in three other areas in the country. The Augustinian missionaries brought the devotion to Manila in 1572. Fr. Pedro Galende in his book Angels in Stone mentions that Tondo, the old Kingdom of Rajah Lakandula was placed was placed under the protection of the Santo Niño de Cebu . The Santo Niño de Tondo, says Nacorda, wears royal 15 th century traveling attire, capped with bonnet. The beautiful ivory image on display is owned by Manila-based couple Marcial and Nena Bernales. Yet another highly venerated image of the Holy Child is the one found on an opened book, wearing sandals instead of boots and casually dressed without a capeÂ… Instead of an imperial crown, the head wears“tres potencies” or the three rays representing the fullness of the godhead in the person of Jesus. “The particular image is venerated by Mr. Nacorda.

The Santo Niño han Tacloban is another highly venerated image. It has a very interesting story. It can not now be ascertained as to when the image was first venerated but in 1888, it was sent to Manila for repairs. On its way back to Tacloban, the ship where it was on board caught fire and the crate where the image was kept was jettisoned. For that year, Tacloban celebrated its feast day without its beloved image. To cut our story short, the crate was finished out off Mindoro and people from Tacloban chartered a motor launch to fetch their beloved Santo Ni ño. On June 30, 1889 , the Santo Niño was jubilantly welcomed back in Tacloban, which to this day is still being commemorated in that city. The ivory image on display is venerated by William and Naomi Medici.

Personal Devotions

Aside from images being venerated abroad like the Holy Infant of Prague , the Divino Niño de Atocha of Mexico , the Divino Niño de Bogota , the Santo Niño del Remedio of Madrid , there are also images of personal devotions on exhibit.

The personal devotion would just give a hint on how Filipinos give honor to the Christ Child. We have seen quite a lot of Santo Niño in different titles. One of the famous devotees was the late Senator Robert Barbers who when he was still a police general had an image of the Holy Child don a police uniform. There is such an ad vocation as Santo Niñong Palaboy which is dedicated to the country's many street urchins. There is one dedicated to the Holy Eucharist, another dedicated to the Church, particularly, the clergy who has been hounded by different kinds of controversies lately.

Another curios image is an all-black image owned by devotee and businessman Ernesto Chua, whom he has aptly called Santo Niño de Paciencia. It is dedicated to meekness and patience. The story goes that Chua was given a half-finished image made from kamagong by a sculptor-friend. He wanted it finished by the same friend but he did not touch it for many years, until it literally took more than 20 years before the image took its form today.