VIVA PIT SENOR! VIVA SENOR SANTO NINO!

Being named after the Holy Image of the Infant Jesus is a great blessing to me. Outpouring of graces, blessings, guidance and protection from the Most High has been my strength and my family’s as well to carry on with life and spiritual living. Witnessing the magnanimous expression of faith in Cebu for the celebration of Sinulog festival in honor of SEÑOR SANTO NIÑO DE CEBU is not a usual privilege for me. But my unwavering faith to the Holy Infant Jesus never waned. A kind of faith built through strong family relations and deep spiritual foundation, which was handed from generation to generation. On my part, my Aunt, the Health & Fitness, Personality Enhancement, Leadership Excellence, and Spiritual Wellness guru, Professor Espie Chinel Aparis, shared to me the manifestations of miracles from Señor Santo Niño de Cebu to all my families and loved ones.
Once again, for the second time in my earthly life, I was able to attend Sinulog 2011 focusing more importantly on the celebration of the very inspiring devotion to Señor Santo Niño de Cebu. The first time was in the year 2008, which was my thanksgiving for a successful nursing board exam.
This year, during our arrival in Cebu City, we were met with continuous rainshowers. We headed first to DOTC Regional Office (beside the Malacañang in the South) to drop our things, where we were welcomed by the Regional Director himself, Mr. Geoffrey Rodriguez, who happened to be a close relative of ours, who also has an awesome devotion to Señor Santo Niño. He arranged us to join him in his house-hopping spree among his staff for the fiesta celebration, which we failed to join. Because we were stuck at the Basilica del Santo Niño de Cebu due to the heavy rains. However, we were so blessed to have attended two Holy Masses for a day. Incidentally, a Mindanao Bishop, Bishop Patricio Alo was the presider of the second mass we have attended.
Going back to the main reason of the celebration, allow me to share with you the historical background of the SANTO NIÑO DE CEBU, as told by Rev. Fr. Restituto Suarez, O.S.A. and the Augustinian Fathers in Cebu City: On April 28, 1565, Juan Camus, a sailor in Legaspi’s fleet, found a modest house of the then village of Cebu the Image of Santo Niño which at the time all agreed had been brought from Europe. Deeply impressed by this finding and aware of its significance, Legaspi ordered an official inquiry conducted; the document, drawn on May 16 of the same year and still extant in the archives of the Santo Niño Convent of Cebu, tells us from the testimony of eyewitnesses that the Image was found inside a small pine box, preserved in almost perfect condition; it had on a little shirt and a cap; two of its right hand’s fingers were raised in a gesture of blessing, while the left hand held a globe symbolizing the world.
In a solemn procession, the Image was carried to the provisional Church the Augustinian Fathers were using at the time; later, another Church was built on the exact location where the Image had been found: this is the site of the Santo Niño Church where the Augustinians have cared for the Image and the Filipino people have venerated it through the centuries.
As earlier authenticated entry in the Journal of Pigafetta, clerk in the Magellan expedition, explains the origin of Santo Niño: on the day Queen Juana was baptized by Father Pedro Valderrama, chaplain of that expedition, Pigafetta himself presented her with the Image.
During the last World War, a bomb fell inside the Church, but the Image was found unscathed. It was one of the numberless miracles and powers attributed to the Holy Image.
In 1965, the interior of the historic church was renovated for the observance of the Fourth Centenary of the Christianization of the Philippines held in Cebu City. It was during this centennial celebration that the church, on April 1, 1965, was elevated to the rand of Basilica Minore by the Sacred Congregation of Rites with all the rights and privileges accruing to such title.
With the full cooperation and support of the Filipino people and sanctioned by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Augustinian Fathers have built a marble chapel inside the Basilica. Construction of the chapel started in August 1975. This fitting shrine of Santo Niño now serves as the center of devotion of Catholic Philippines. Here the miraculous Image of the comforter of the first missionaries and now Patron of the Philippines is being honored and venerated.
To preserve our religious and cultural heritage, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos has, since August 1, 1973, declared the Basilica and Convent of Santo Niño as National Shrine together with other historical places in the Philippines.
To date, more and more people are gaining their faith to the revered Señor Santo Niño de Cebu. The last time I was in Cebu for the Sinulog celebration, a million devotees was reported to have flocked to Cebu to visit Señor Santo Niño. But this year, 3.5 million devotees were reported present in Cebu to shout their faith out loud saying: VIVA PIT SEÑOR! VIVA SEÑOR SANTO NIÑO!