STO. NINO

IMAGE

The image of the Santo Niño is the oldest religious image in the Philippines. The wooden image, made by Flemish artisans, was brought to the island by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, just like the Magellan cross. Magellan gave the image of the Santo Niño to Queen Juana as a baptismal gift.

Forty-four years later, in 1565, Cebu was for a big part destroyed by a fire. The fire was set on purpose by the Spaniards as a punishment for hostile activities of the Cebuanos. In one of the burned houses, a Spanish soldier found the image of Santo Niño. Remarkably unscathed! Since then, the miraculous image has been treated by the Cebuanos as its patron.

At present, the miraculous image is kept in the Parish convent, and only a replica, adorned with gold and precious stones and enshrined in glass, is hold inside the Basilica Minor del Santo.

CHURCH

The church was built near the place where the Santo Niño was found in the burned house. On this place the Spaniards built a church three times.

The first two times the church was built out of wood and nipa. Every time it was burned down. The construction of the present church dates from 1735.

In 1965 the church was given the title of "Basilica Minor del Santo Niño".

SINULOG

The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest, most distinguished and most colorful festivals in the Philippines. The major festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus. It is fundamentally a dance ritual which recalls the Filipino people's pagan past and their embrace of Christianity.

INFANT JESUS OF PRAGUE

Infant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue of the infant Jesus located in the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Malá Strana, Prague.

Its earliest history can be traced back to the year 1628 when a small, 48 centimeters in height, exquisite statue of wax Infant Jesus was brought into Bohemia by Polyxena von Lobkowitz. This princess had been given the statue as a wedding gift by her mother, Maria Manriquez de Lara of Spain, and the statue was given to the Discalced Carmelites in Prague. The statue was set upon the oratory of the monastery of Our Lady of Victory, Prague.

The center of devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague is at the Benedictine church of San Beda in Mendiola.

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