| #6 | Liturgy Notes |
Jan. 2004 |
| In every need let us come to you with humble
trust: In all our doubts, perplexities, and temptations, In disappointments, troubles, and sorrows, When others fail us, when our heart is cast down by failure, when we are ill, and our head and hands cannot work, when we are lonely, when we feel impatient, and our cross irritates us, Always, always, in spite of weakness, falls, and shortcomings of every kind, Santo Niņo, help us! Prayer to the Holy Child Jesus |
In the Philippines, devotion to the infant Christ continues well beyond Christmastide with the special celebration of the Santo Niņo, the Holy Child, during the week following the Baptism of the Lord. In the Philippines, devotion to the Santo Niņo is more than a religious practice; it has profound historical and cultural meanings as well.
The story of the Santo Niņo in the Philippines begins on the island of Cebu. Queen Juana of Cebu resisted the efforts of Spanish missionaries to convert her to the Christian faith. But their gift of a statue of the Child Jesus touched her heart. This image of a vulnerable God — a child and yet a king, strength in weakness — did what all their words could not. Moved to tears by their gift, Juana asked for baptism.
|
But not all the native peoples accepted the rule and religion of the invaders. In 1521, King Lapu-Lapu of Mactan challenged the invaders in battle, and Magellan was killed. Without his leadership, the Spaniards soon lost their grip on the islands. The native peoples destroyed all signs of the invaders and their faith, including (it was thought) the image of the Child Jesus that had been given to Queen Juana.
More than 40 years later, the Spaniard Legazpi led a new expedition to the Philippines. They found the town of Cebu nearly razed by fire. But amid the ruins, they discovered a wooden box, and inside they found Queen Juana’s statue of the Child Jesus, miraculously intact. Spaniards and natives alike took this as a sign. They built the first Catholic church in the Philippines on the spot where the image was discovered, and dedicated it to the Santo Niņo, the Holy Child. From that time on, the finding of the image has been celebrated in the Philippines with a great annual festival, which includes not only a solemn liturgy, but dancing and feasting as well.
It was at one of these celebrations, in 1567, that the first mixed race marriage in the Philippines took place, when a niece of the native king married a Greek carpenter, a member of Legazpi’s crew. This marriage — which held profound political significance for the islands, and ushered in a new era of friendship between the races — is reenacted each year as part of the Santo Niņo celebration in Cebu City, which thus becomes a celebration of the gift of faith and an ongoing prayer for tolerance and understanding among peoples.
While the Santo Niņo de Cebu — characteristically garbed in red and gold — is the most popular image of the Child Jesus in the Philippines, there are many others, including Santo Niņo de Tondo, Santo Niņo de Padacan, as well as the Infant of Prague. In fact, there are about 150 different images of the Child Jesus, each with its own history and associated traditions. Though the images are many, there is one Christ, who came among us to bring the light and love of God to people of race, nation, and tongue. May our celebration of the Santo Niņo bring us to greater oneness in the Christ, who calls all of us to become as little children, and so enter the kingdom of God!
Adapted from Noemi Castillo
Director of Ethnic Ministries, Archdiocese of San Francisco
Return to the Liturgy Update page
