Sto. Niño image brought to San Nicolas church
TRASLACION
Cheers, fireworks, pealing church bells and a sinulog dance yesterday greeted the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu when it arrived at the San Nicolas de Tolentino parish in Cebu City.
The traslacion or transfer of the image from the Basilica del Sto. Niño was one of the planned activities in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Kaplag.
The replica image will stay at the archdiocesan shrine of San Nicolas until Sunday morning.
During the Spanish period, San Nicolas, one of the oldest parishes, covered most of present day Cebu City. The parish celebrates the Kaplag every year.
A long-held community belief that the original icon of the Sto. Niño was recovered from a burnt hut in this locale by Spanish mariner Juan Camus on April 28, 1565 is “partly true,” said Fr. Jonas Mejares, rector of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño.
“The exact site where the image was found is actually the place where the basilica now stands. When the image was recovered, that area was under the jurisdiction of San Nicolas,” Mejares explained.
He said the National Historical Commission of the Philippines already established that the icon was found at the site where the basilica was constructed.
An engraved marker at the basilica’s entrance reminds devotees that this was where the image was recovered 450 years ago.
Yesterday, Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Adelito Abella, parish priest of the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church.
At 10 a.m. Sunday, the image will be brought to the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City prior to a fluvial procession the next day.
On Monday, April 27 at 3 p.m., a grand reenactment of the arrival of the Sto. Niño, and the Kaplag will be portrayed in three different locations in Cebu City.
It will end with a Mass presided by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at 6:30 p.m. at the basilica’s pilgrim center.
On Tuesday, April 28, a solemn foot procession along downtown Cebu City will precede a Pontifical Mass to be officiated by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.
On this day, Cebuanos will celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Kaplag or the finding of the Sto. Niño inside a wooden box amid the ruins of a partially burnt hut in Cebu City.
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