Reenactment of first baptism and wedding to be held outside the Mass

FIRST BAPTISM REENACTMENT/JAN. 14, 2017: Fr. Pacifico "Jun" Nojara , Jr. lead the reenactment of the first mass and baptism in Sto Niño pilgrim center.(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MEDOZA)

 

For the first time in several years, the reenactment of the first baptism and wedding in Filipino soil will be held outside the Mass which takes place after the fluvial procession of the Sto. Niño on Jan. 20, 2018.

“We’ll have the Mass first and then followed by the reenactment of the first baptism and wedding,” said Fr. Noel Cogasa, OSA, who is in charge of the liturgical celebrations in the basilica, in a press conference at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño’s convent sala on Thursday.

“We found it proper not to hold any reenactments during the Eucharistic celebration. We will have the twin reenactments immediately after the Mass,” he added.

In previous years, the reenactment of the first baptism and wedding would take place after the homily.

As is in many years, lawyer Pat Acabodillo will be on top of the reenactment of the first baptism when Cebu’s Rajah Humabon, Hara Humamay, and about 800 natives were baptized by Father Pedro Valderama in 1521.

After the baptism, Humamay, who received the Christian name Juana, received as gift the image of the Sto. Niño from Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Humabon, who was baptized as Carlos, got a bust of the suffering Jesus Christ known as the “Ecce Homo,” while the natives received an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The reenactment at the basilica will also include the wedding of Don Andres de Calapata and Princess Isabel, the first couple to be wed in Christian rites in the Philippines.

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