Filipinos are said to have the longest Christmas season in the world. It begins in September when Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts” can be heard in malls. This may not be a subliminal trigger to buy or plan to buy Christmas gifts but the season runs through all the “ber” months with its peak on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.
One would think that we would find respite from four months of Christmas in January, but it seems the infant born in the manger matures quickly and transforms into a suffering adult in the Nazareno de Quiapo celebrated on Jan. 9, then he becomes a toddler again on the third Sunday of January when he is venerated as the Santo Niño de Tondo, Santo Niño de Pandacan, Santo Niño de Praga, Santo Niño de Cebu, etc. There is a Santo Niño for every imaginable profession: policeman, fireman, paramedic, nurse, teacher, doctor, baker, cigarette vendor, and, believe it or not, one that endorses Jollibee burgers!
The venerated image of the Santo Niño de Cebu is the oldest Christian relic in the Philippines. That is if one believes the long history that connects two stories. The first story has Ferdinand Magellan presenting the image of the Santo Niño to the Queen of Cebu as a baptismal present in 1521. Rajah Humabon’s wife was given the name Juana, in honor of Juana of Castile (1479-1555), daughter of the celebrated Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. All would have been well except that Juana has come down in history as “Juana la Loca” or Joanna the Mad. The second story has Miguel Lopez de Legazpi being presented with the image in 1565. Legazpi presumed this image was the same one given to Humabon’s Queen in 1521. He took it as a good omen and ordered a church built on the spot where it was found and that the city be dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.
Before attending Mass at San Agustin Church in Intramuros last Jan. 1, I made my way to the small chapel by the main altar where an effigy of Legazpi lies over an empty tomb. It is said that Legazpi’s tomb was desecrated during the British Occupation from 1762 to 1964, his ashes thrown to the winds. That visit led to my re-reading Legazpi’s early reports to the Spanish king regarding his far-flung overseas possession and came upon two texts referring to the Santo Niño.
The first account describes the resistance of the Cebuanos, including a description of their weapons, “long sharp iron lances, throwing sticks, shields, small daggers, wooden corselets, corded breastplates, a few bows and arrows, and culverins.” Followed by a note on the burning of houses in the city that he attributed to a shot from their vessels or even natives leaving them with nothing to pillage.
Then in one of the houses that remained standing after the fire: “There was found a marvelous thing, namely, a child Jesus like those of Flanders, in its little pine cradle and its little loose shirt, such as come from those parts, and a little velvet hat, like those of Flanders—and all so well-preserved that only the little cross, which is generally upon the globe that he holds in his hands, was missing … [When Legazpi] saw it, he fell on his knees, receiving it with great devotion. He took it in his hands and kissed its feet, and raising his eyes to heaven, he said: ‘Lord, thou art powerful to punish the offenses, committed in this island against thy majesty, and to found herein thy house, and holy Church, where thy most glorious name shall be praised and magnified. I supplicate thee that thou enlighten and guide me, so that all that we do here may be to thy glory and honor, and the exaltation of thy holy Catholic faith.’
“And he ordered that this sacred image be placed with all reverence in the first church that should be founded and that the church be called Nombre de Jesus (Name of Jesus). It gave great happiness and inspiration to all to see such an auspicious beginning, for of a truth it seemed a work of God to have preserved so completely this image among infidels for such a long time; and an auspicious augury in the part where the settlement was to be made.”
On May 8, the fort (that would later develop into the present Fort San Pedro) was commenced, Legazpi breaking the first ground, and “dedicating it to the most blessed name of Jesus … The sites for the Spanish quarters and the church were chosen, and the town was called San Miguel, because [it] was founded on the day of this saint’s apparition.”
It is reported:
“In this town when we entered we found therein a child Jesus. A sailor named Mermeo found it. It was in a wretched little house and was covered with a white cloth in its cradle, and its little bonnet quite in order. The tip of its nose was rubbed off somewhat, and the skin was coming off the face. The friars took it and carried it in procession on a feast day, from the house where it was found to the church that they had built.”
How the image survived to our day is worth another column but the above texts provide us with a description of the Santo Niño de Cebu in 1565.
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu