The Devotion of the Santo Niño in the Philippines

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the abstract and full-text of the lecture delivered at the at the Sala Brazo of the Museum of São Roque on December 14, 2021, as a side event to the exhibition “O Menino Jesus de Cebu, um ícone da cultura e da história das Filipinas” (Santo Niño de Cebu: An Icon of Philippine culture and history). For more information about the lecture, you can read the article by clicking this link.

Introduction

Since the devotion to the Santo Niño is a broad topic to be discussed, I opted to talk about how the devotion to the Santo Niño is being celebrated today and just a little historical background of its origin. The devotion to the Santo Niño de Cebu has both its religious and secular aspects. But again, I would limit my talk to the religious aspect of the devotion.

The devotion to the Santo Niño has spread outside the boundaries of Cebu and the Philippines, and we could say that its devotion is spread by the Filipino Catholic devotees. Although, there in Philippines we don’t clearly distinguish the peculiarities among the various icons of the Santo Niño; they represent the same entity, the baby Jesus.

The Santo 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.)

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 Sto. Niño Basilica a national shrine because of its historical significance.

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.

The Augustinian Friars

Now, when it comes to its custodians, (that is we, the Augustinians), our connection to the image was only established when Legazpi turned over the image to the friars who accompanied him in his expedition. Legazpi commissioned to build a house and convent for the friars where the image was to be kept. From that moment on, the Augustinian friars became actively and directly involved in the devotion to the holy child. Many of the friars including the first bishop of Cebu, Pedro Agurto, were devotees of the Sto. Niño. For 500 years the Sto. Niño remained in Cebu and has the Augustinian fathers as its custodians. Aside from the Sto. Niño de Cebu, the Augustinian friars propagated the devotion to other places, thus the establishment of the churches in honor of the Holy Child like the Santo Niño de Tondo, de Arevalo, Tacloban, and Pandacan.

The Peoples’ Devotion

Every day, you would find devotees of the Holy Child flock the basilica church and premises. Their devotions take many forms. First, many of the devotees would go straight to fall in line (linya sa hawok), even for hours, just to see the image. They would touch the glass case that enshrines the image; some would wipe it with their handkerchiefs, then some would kiss the relic of the holy cross located in front of the image. After which some would proceed to the church and attend the Mass. Other devotees would go to the dagkutanan (candle area) to pray and light their candles there. (The candles are just openly placed in the vicinity for all to use for free. Donations however are welcomed which can be dropped in the donation boxes located also within the area.) People would pray silently in front of their lighted candles. At the end of their prayers, they would stretch their palms over the fire of the candle, feeling the warmth of the flame and make the sign of the cross using that same hand.

linya sa hawok – fall in line to see the image

dagkutanan – candle area

Others have the option to avail the sinulog prayer offered by the tig sinulog. The tig sinulog are women in red skirts and yellow blouses who sell candles and dance the traditional sinulog as a form of prayer and worship to the Godchild. While dancing with the candles in their hand, they enchant prayers or a prayer request on the devotees behalf. (They are only allowed to accept prayer petitions for the living). After the prayers, the devotees who buy the candles take them outside of the church and the plaza gates, and usually leave them unburned/unlit at the foot or within the enclosure of the Magellan’s cross, or burn them in improvised grates in the street. Before leaving the basilica complex, the devotees would usually wave their hand in front of the church and even from afar, to bid farewell to the holy child.

Mass and Novena

The Gozoz is sung in all Masses throughout the novenario. Peculiar to this song which every devotee of the Sto. Niño de Cebu knows is the raising and waving of hands during its chorus. The Gozoz contains a historical and devotional encounter between the Sto. Niño and the Cebuanos.

The Novena to the Sto. Niño is usually incorporated within the Eucharistic celebration although it could still be recited outside the Mass either individually or collectively. The oldest extant copy of the Sto. Niño novena can be found in the provincial archive of the Augustinians in Valladolid, Spain and it is dated way back to 1788, and they are available in both Spanish and Cebuano. The English version, that is widely used today only became available during the post American period in the Philippines.

Regarding the Mass, the calendar program for the feast of the Santo Niño that we see today only started in 2004. Before 2004, apart from the novena, they also had a triduum which included the feast day itself. Thus, there was a novena and then a triduum, making it a 12-day celebration. At the present, what is left are the Novena Masses. There are 11 masses held each day, allocating an hour and a half for each Mass. On Novena days, the 5:30 and the 7 o`clock Masses in the afternoon and evening, respectively, have the traditional dance every day. For the rest of the year, the devotion falls every Friday.

In the liturgy of the Mass, particularly during the offertory, the Gozoz is sung in all Masses throughout the novenario. Peculiar to this song which every devotee of the Sto. Niño de Cebu knows is the raising and waving of hands during its chorus. The Gozoz contains a historical and devotional encounter between the Sto. Niño and the Cebuanos. In 2007, the community of friars of the Basilica del Sto. Niño organized a song composition contest known as the Huniño (songs about the devotion to the Holy Child), aiming to have more songs that can be aptly used during liturgical celebrations related to the Holy Child.

Sinulog Dance

Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Niño. The dance moves two steps forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums. This movement resembles the flowing water’s current (Sulog) of what was known as Cebu’s Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, it’s Sinulog.

History has few versions of the sinulog dance. First, they say, that it is not farfetched to conjecture that the early Filipinos danced before their deities. Thus, when Christianity became the religion of the natives, the dancing remained an essential element of their worship. Another is that it originated like a moro-moro dance, a battle dance between Christian and Muslim fighters. This version is portrayed by Nanay Titang Diolas’ version, the family who performs at the basilica every year. They claim to have the original version of the sinulog and it has been passed on from one generation to another. Another version is that of the tig sinulog or the women who dance in front of the church. Another is the traditional dance offered by the devotees, that is, when pilgrims would perform it en masse inside the basilica within or after the mass. And the last form is the sinulog free version as they call it, a rendition by any cultural group or dance troupe in honor of the Sto. Niño.

In general, Sinulog is a dance ritual in honor of the miraculous image of the Santo Niño. The dance moves two steps forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums. This movement resembles the flowing water’s current (Sulog) of what was known as Cebu’s Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, it’s Sinulog.

During the 12-day-long celebration, other activities that involves the Sto. Niño are the following: walk with Jesus which serves as the opening salvo of the novena. It is like a 2-kilometre procession from Fuente Osmeña to the basilica. The night before that, the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu is already brought to the Guadalupe Shrine in Cebu where it stays overnight and then brought to the Fuente Osmeña for the procession the following day. On the Friday before the feast, a procession also coming from the Guadalupe Church goes toward the Sto. Niño Basilica and ultimately proceeds to the Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue. Thus, creating a portrait of the holy family. Another is the grand procession or the solemn procession during the visperas of the feast, which changes its route every year and is participated in by a sea of people, roughly a million people and sometimes even more.

The cofradia del Sto. Niño de Cebu, certainly the oldest cofradia in Asia, had Legaspi as the first hermano mayor.

One of the many highlights during the celebration is the fluvial procession, a re-enactment of the arrival of the Sto. Niño to the shores of Cebu. Previously coming from a port in Mandaue, and lately transferred to a port in Mactan to expand the inclusion of the devotion, it is participated in by the main ship (commissioned or selected by the Augustinian fathers) where the Sto. Niño is on board and then surrounded by hundreds of smaller boats owned by the devotees. The procession is followed by the re-enactment of the baptism of Carlos and Juana, the rulers of Cebu. This portion is important because it revives the memory of the giving of the Sto. Niño to Juana after her baptism as a gift received from Ferdinand Magellan.

Making a little rewind when it comes to the historical beginning of the devotion, in the 16th century, when Legazpi entrusted the image of the Sto. Niño to the Augustinians, they held a little procession from the place where it was found to its shrine. The cofradia del Sto. Niño de Cebu, certainly the oldest cofradia in Asia, had Legaspi as the first hermano mayor. The primary role of the hermano and hermana mayor, aside from being the sponsor during the feasts, is the propagation of the devotions to the Holy Child. These days the hermano and hermana mayor are installed every August 28, in preparation for the upcoming feast.

The cofradia del Sto. Niño de Cebu has its membership worldwide and is still growing, although there are hundreds of organized groups dedicated to the devotion of the Sto. Niño. The same with the devotion in Cebu, other groups in different circumscriptions also adopted and synchronized its activity with Cebu. Moreover, others celebrate the feast on other dates so as not to compete with Cebu, especially in in the Philippines.

Another peculiar character of the devotion to the Sto. Niño de Cebu is the chant praise which is Pit Señor or the shortened form of “sangpit sa señor” which means to call upon the Lord

Another peculiar character of the devotion to the Sto. Niño de Cebu is the chant praise which is Pit Señor or the shortened form of “sangpit sa señor” which means to call upon the Lord. During the traditional dance, when the intercessory chant is performed, in which all the petitions from all sectors of the society are said or sung out, the people would reply, “pit señor!” at the same time raising up their right hands. One would also notice that many of the devotees would carry their own image and they dance with it respectfully and religiously.

Conclusion

Most of the practices that we see today only started in early 1980’s. What was originally a quiet devotion to the Holy Child has turned into a great festival; as they call it, the mother of all festivals in the Philippines. The devotion is growing stronger each day if we only look at the pilgrims that visit the basilica each year.

The devotion to the Sto. Niño is not a strange celebration for the Filipinos especially for the Cebuanos, since it’s a combination of old and new, of foreign and local, of religious and secular, and of thanksgiving and petition. Many of its peculiarities are but part of the local traditions or what we call in the church inculturation. The Filipino spirituality is akin to the celebration of the Sinulog not because of its pageantry but because of the image of the Sto. Niño image itself. Although the celebration is evolving continually, one thing remains the same, it is a celebration in honour of the little King of Cebu.

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