Updated:2025-01-17 03:03 Views:135
STO NIÑO composite image from Inquirer/CDN Digital file photos
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines, for decades, has been the stronghold of Catholicism in Asia, with almost 80 percent of the population identifying themselves as Roman Catholic.
Since the arrival of the conquistadores in 1521 and Spain’s presence that lasted for over 300 years, the Philippines has always cherished the “gift of faith” it received over 500 years ago.
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FEATURED STORIES NEWSINFO DFA to tackle WPS row at Bilateral Consultation Mechanism in Xiamen NEWSINFO A first: Comelec discards 6M ballots costing P132M NEWSINFO Mall guard sacked for destroying young girl’s sampaguita for saleBut integral to the spread of Christianity was the Santo Niño, and as pointed out in 2015 by Pope Francis, “the image of the [Santo Niño] accompanied the spread of the Gospel in [the] country from the beginning.”
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan/INQUIRER.net
As he prayed, “may the Santo Niño continue to bless the Philippines and to sustain the Christians of this great nation in their vocation to be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and in the whole world.”
Humpert, who has been raising sheep in northwestern Germany’s Marienmuenster since 1986 in a bid to save endangered breeds, has since lost 140 of her 500 sheep.
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Article continues after this advertisementThe Philippines has a special privilege to reserve the third Sunday of the first month of the year to celebrate the child Jesus—the Santo Niño, which is one of the first religious images to reach the country.
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As the devotion grew through the years, countless images have been produced, with a lot of churches eventually constructed and dedicated to the child Jesus, who is depicted as a child-king.
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This year, as the church is set to celebrate the Santo Niño once again on Sunday, Jan. 19, INQUIRER.net traces the origins of the three oldest images of the child Jesus in the Philippines.
Santo Niño de Cebu: 1521It is believed that the Sto. Niño de Cebu was brought by Ferdinand Magellan from Spain in 1521, and is said to be a product of Flanders in Belgium, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) said.
Based on the account of Magellan’s chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, an image of the Holy Child was given to Hara Amihan, the wife of Rajah Humabon of Cebu, as she was baptized and given the name Juana.
The CCP stated that Juana was brought to tears as she held the image, leaping and dancing the sulog, or dance of the tides, marking the “warm reception and love the Filipinos have since accorded the Santo Niño.”
But with the death of Magellan, the conquistadores left Cebu.
It took almost 45 years before the Spaniards, led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, reached the island again, and in 1565, the kaplag, or “providential finding,” of the image of the Santo Niño de Cebu took place.
From that year on, the Augustinians, who were with Legazpi, brought the devotion to the Santo Niño to other parts of the Philippines such as Manila and Iloilo, where the second and third oldest images of the child Jesus can still be seen.
Santo Niño de Tondo: 1572According to the Catholic page Theotokos, there were a few records about the arrival of the image of the Child Jesus in Tondo, Manila, but it is widely believed that the Santo Niño was brought by a merchant from Acapulco, Mexico.
wheel of fortune slot machineThe image was later entrusted to the Archbishop of Manila and was eventually turned over in a church built by the Augustinians in the former seat of the ancient Kingdom of Rajah Lakandula for public veneration.
It has been there since 1572.
But on July 14, 1972, the image was “sacrilegiously stolen.” A few days later, the dismembered parts of the Santo Niño were recovered and presented in Malacañang, where it was ordered repaired.
Historian Ambeth Ocampo said that a thanksgiving Mass was held in Malacañang, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reading the Epistle in English and Filipino, on Aug. 2, 1972.
Over 2,000 people escorted the image back to Tondo.
Santo Niño de Arevalo: 1581A few years younger than the Santo Niño de Cebu and Santo Niño de Tondo, the image of the child Jesus in Arevalo, Iloilo City is the third oldest in the Philippines, having been brought to the district in 1581.
It is believed that the image arrived when the La Villa Rica de Arevalo, which is now the Villa Arevalo, was established as a Spanish settlement and as the center of the province of Oton.
The Augustinians believed that the image of the child Jesus is “instrumental” in spreading the message of God’s love. It was initially kept at a small chapel, but is now revered at its church, which has been declared as an archdiocesan shrine.
As stated by the Jaro Archdiocesan Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education, the image was once “divested” of its regal emblems by thieves who broke into the church and took its golden orb, crown, scepter, boots, and vestments.
Heavy rains took place after the incident, and only stopped when the stolen regalia were replaced with ones made of brass.
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