After a series of damaging weather disturbances, we have only our faith and spirit of cooperation to rely on to help our country get back on its feet and move forward.
One of the most popular sites for expression of this shared faith is the Basilica Del Santo Nino in Cebu City. This 274-year old church houses a half-a-millennium-old image of the Infant Jesus given to Queen Juana by the first Spaniards to land on the shores of the Philippines. Every January, the city converts itself into a massive staging area of various devotional activities expressed through song and dance, punctuated by shouts of "Viva! Santo Nino!"
The image itself is quite diminutive; it doesn't look an inch taller than one foot. However, that it survived being burned in a fire and helped spare the island of Cebu from war and natural disasters over the centuries have made it bigger in the eyes of locals and devotees.
These locals and devotees of the Infant Jesus in Cebu have a special way of bidding Him farewell before they leave His presence in the Basilica: with one arm outstretched to the air, palm facing the image, they would wave this arm ever so gently from side to side, as if to catch His attention, to feel His blessings even if afar and take these home with them, with an unspoken promise to come back and visit His home again...
view from the Pilgrim Center, Basilica Del Santo Nino De Cebu, Cebu City, October 2009, using a digicam.
An excellent choice for this week's theme. Happy weekend
ReplyDeletebeautiful picture, spread with a light
ReplyDeleteSto. Nino is the revered patron of Cebu and every January the whole province explodes in the Sinulog celebration...
ReplyDelete