Ferdinand Magellan landed in the Philippines in 1521. Magellan tried to win the trust of Rajah Humabon, a chief in Cebu. Humabon's wife, known as Queen Juana of Cebu, was very interested in a small statue of the child Jesus, or Santo Nino, that Magellan owned. Magellan gave it to her as a gift. Magellan offered to fight Humabon's rival tribe a group under Lapu Lapu. However, he did not consider the tides so the island of Mactan was out of reach by the Spanish naval guns. Therefore, his troops had to wade through the muddy land and were severely defeated. Magellan was killed during the battle.
In 1565, Miguel Lopes de Legazpi was sent by the Spanish to colonise and Christianise the Philippines. One of the Spanish soldiers found the statue of the Holy Child. It is stated that in the 44 years between the death of Magellan and the arrival of Legazpi the locals still continued to dance the Sinulog in honour of the Santo Nino rather than their pagan idols. The statue is therefore used to show the natives strong Christian faith.
The statue that was found in 1565 is now in the Santo Nino Church (also known as the Basilica of San Augustin) in Cebu City. It is debatable whether it is the same statue given by Magellan as the image is just of the child Jesus rather than Mary with the child Jesus in her arms which is described by Magellan's chronicler Pigafetta. Nevertheless, the statue of Santo Nino is used to represent the fact that the Philippines has been a Christian nation since 1521 and is still venerated today.
The feast of Santo Nino, the Infant Jesus or Sinulog, occurs on the third Sunday of January, so this year the 16th. In the 1980s the feast of Sinulog was turned into a huge commerical event that attracts many local and foreign visitors every year. There are predictions of 2 million people visiting Cebu City for Sinulog this year. There is both a religious element and a cultural element to the celebrations with a fluvial parade, novena masses, a grand parade and fireworks.
To visit the official site of the Sinulog click here: www.sinulog.ph
This morning the people of Pasil met at the church at 4:30am to parade with the marching band to Santo Nino Church. Mass was celebrated at 5:30 am and Fr. Andy, the Parish Rector, was a co-celebrant. The Basilica was extremely full with many carrying statues of the Santo Nino and singing the prayer Pit Senyor in honour of Santo Nino.
To read about the procession and the mass in the local newspaper click here: www.sunstar.com.ph/thousands-join-procession