Test of Faith. From early morning to evening, people line up in sitio Seabreeze, barangay Mactan, waiting for their turn to see a Sto. Niño icon that caused a sensation after three children said the icon ‘talked’ to them when they found it on the seashore of Lapu-Lapu City. (CDN PHOTO / NORMAN V. MENDOZA)
Four-year-old KJ became an instant celebrity along with two of his playmates aged 3 and 6 with their account of a “talking” Sto. Niño icon they found on the seashore in Lapu-Lapu City.
But in a moment of candor, the little boy told Fr. Benjie Balsamo, parish priest of barangay Mactan, that they just made up the story.
The admission, recorded on video, was made when Fr. Balsamo visited the neighborhood to speak with the three children and their parents on Friday.
The children couldn’t sit still. They ran around the room playing. The priest had a hard time getting their attention.
When he got the chance to speak to KJ, he asked the boy if the Sto. Nino image really spoke to him.
“Ni-istorya si Sto. Niño nimo? (Did Sto. Niño talk to you?)” asked the priest.
KJ shook his head and said “Wa. Namakak ra mi, (No. We just lied about it).”
Then the boy dashed away to resume playing.
Fr. Balsamo said he couldn’t converse longer with the children to clarify what KJ said or understand the reason the children had to lie.
He said he still has to ask the parents as well but the initial findings of his inquiry will be submitted to the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Thousands of pious Catholics and curiousity seekers line up outside to see the Sto. Niño icon, now placed in a glass urn on a small makeshift altar outside the house.
People come early in the morning up to the evening, convinced that a “miracle” took place.
They say fervent prayers, leave flowers and drop coin donations in a tub nearby for what sitio Seabreeze residents say would go to building a chapel.
The sensation started after 3-year-old Neñil brought home a Sto. Niño icon he said he found on the shore last January 24. He said he picked it up, thinking it was a doll and was surprsised when it “spoke” to him. He returned with two young playmates who gave similar accounts.
Their parents later placed it in an altar outside , which has steadily drawn hundreds of visitors.
Fr. Balsamo invited the children and their parents to the convent of Sto. Niño parish a few meters from the children’s home.
Psychologist Mary Jone Delgado, in an interview, said that it is natural for children to lie.
Children as young as 3 already develop a conscience or super ego, and are capable of telling a lie to avoid punishment or to please a parent or people around them.
Stress
A child may also change his statement as a result of stress, she sadded. The children have received so much public atention they are no longer free to do what they want, so it order to regain that freedom, children may decide to tell something different.
Delgado suggested that the children undergo play therapy under professional guidance to be relieved from the stress and be able to clearly tell the truth.
While it is natural for children to lie, the stress ththey are now not free to do what they want to do. In order to get that freedom, the kids have decided to tell differently.
Delgado said that the kids should undergo a play therapy first for them to be relieved from stress and to be able to clearly tell the truth.
The revelation may not make any difference to devotees like 68-year-old Carmen Rusco, who stood in line for four hours, to make her second visit to the “talking” Sto. Nino on dispaly. She said the boy’s admission did not change the strength of her faith in the Sto. Niño.