19/01/2025
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟗 | 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐄Ñ𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎. 𝐍𝐈Ñ𝐎
The Santo Niño de Cebu is a one-foot-long wooden image of a baby Jesus standing, portrayed as a child-king. He holds in his left hand a globe and on his right, a sceptre. He wears a combination of red and gold vestments, a golden crown, golden boots and has golden gloves on his hands. Most of the precious gems he wears today are donations of devotees and patrons of its Basilica.
The image throughout the centuries has experienced some accidents and deformations. In the late 19th century, for example, an Augustinian painted him black, thus, the Santo Niño once became black. Convent fires and wars, although generally spared the image, nevertheless slightly affected it.
The feast of the Santo Niño falls on every third Sunday of January. Previously it was every April 28, the day of its discovery in a box by Juan Camus, one of Legazpi’s soldiers. The reason for the transfer of its feast was the former date’s proximity to Easter Sunday. Its transfer to January aptly positions it for its thematic celebration given its nearness to the Christmas season. It was Pope Innocent XIII who granted the request and, at the same time approved, the liturgy proper to the celebration of the Santo Niño devotion. (As to the exact date of the transfer of the feast, there is no record, but certainly it was during the same pontificate.)
Regarding the basilica of the Santo Niño, it was only in 1735 when the first stone was laid down to build the concrete church that is still standing today. Prior to it, the church housing the historic image was generally constructed from humble and light materials. In 1965, during the centenary celebration of the Christianisation of the Philippines, Cardinal Hildebrando Antoniutti, Papal Legate to the Philippines, conferred upon the church the title of Basilica Minore, a special privilege granted to the Augustinian Order by Pope Paul VI. A few years later, the former President Ferdinand Marcos declared the Santo Niño Basilica a national shrine because of its historical significance.
(excerpt from the article of Fr. Ericson Borre, OSA)
