Sto. Niño de Arevalo to welcome Sto. Niño de Cebu

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

AFTER weeks of negotiation, the image of the Sto. Niño de Arevalo will welcome the arrival of the image of Sto. Niño de Cebu in Iloilo City on January 19, Thursday, to grace the annual Dinagyang Festival.

San Jose parish priest Fr. Achilles Secio OSA said the parish of La Villa Rica de Arevalo approved the plan of meeting the image of the Cebu patron at the Iloilo port terminal. A procession to San Jose Church will follow.

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The image will then be brought in a motorcade to St. Therese MTC in Magdalo La Paz and then to a pilgrim visit in Cofradia del Señor Santo Niño de Cebu Oton chapter in Trapiche Oton, Iloilo.

The Sto. Niño de Cebu image will lead a fluvial procession on January 20, along the Iloilo River followed by a procession back to the church.

A nine-day novena in honor of the Sto. Niño starts on January 11 until January 22, 2012.

The Sto. Niño de Arevalo Parish is home to the third oldest Santo Niño image in the Philippines. The second oldest is in Luzon while the oldest is in Cebu.

The Cebu wooden image was made by Flemish artisans and brought to Cebu by adventurer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Just like the Magellan cross, Magellan gave the image of the Santo Niño to Queen Juana as a baptismal gift.

Cebuanos attributed many miracles to the Sto. Niño image. In 1556, Cebu was ravaged by a big fire. In one of the burned houses, a Spaniard found the image unscathed. Since then, the miraculous image has been treated by the Cebuanos as a patron saint.