Walk with Jesus kicks off Sinulog rites

THERE will be minor changes in religious activities during the Sinulog later this month.

Augustinian priests Ramon Cañon and Jonas Mejares, the Basilica del Sto. Niño rector, will preside over the Misa de Traslacion and the reenactment of the first mass and baptism, respectively.

There will also be no environment mass, which focuses on and is aimed at disseminating Catholic teaching on caring for the environment.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Journeying together in faith with the Sto. Niño.”

Feast schedule

The religious activities will begin on Jan. 10 with the traditional Walk with Jesus foot procession from the Fuente Osmeña to the Basilica.

The mass at the Pilgrim Center will be followed by a mass presided by Father Mejares and the installation of the hermana and hermano mayores.

The Misa de Traslacion is held every Friday before the Sto. Niño feast day, after which a motorcade takes the image of the Sto. Niño, the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Ecce Homo (image of the suffering Christ) to the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City.

The Sto. Niño image stays at the shrine overnight and is taken to the Ouano Wharf at dawn for the fluvial procession that takes it back to the Basilica for the reenactment of the first mass and first baptism at the Pilgrim Center.

The reenactment focuses on the mass celebrated after the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, when the original images of the Sto. Niño and Virgin Mary were given by Ferdinand Magellan and Augustinian missionaries to Cebu’s King Humabon and Queen Humahay.

Hourly masses

Humabon and Humamay were baptized and were later known as Carlo and Juana.

For many years, these masses were celebrated by Msgr. Cristobal Garcia, then Archdiocesan Commission on Worship chairman. He has been on leave from his pastoral duties since July pending an investigation conducted by the Vatican City.

There will also be hourly masses during the novena at the Pilgrim Center.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma is scheduled to preside over the pontifical mass on the feast day.