Sto. Nino de Cebu sails down Mactan Channel, arrives in Cebu City

The sun shone early morning today as the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu sailed down the Mactan Channel on board a yacht alongside a group of vessels.

Firecrackers were set off after the MV Santo Niño de Cebu, a galleon replica, bearing the image of the Child Jesus left the Ouano Wharf in Mandaue City at exactly 6 a.m.

Clad in black liturgical vestments, about 10 Augustinian priests led by Fr. Jonas Mejares, rector of the Basilica del Santo Niño, escorted the image during the fluvial procession in celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Kaplag or the recovery of the historic icon and the arrival of the Augustinian missionaries in the Philippines. Men dressed as Spanish soldiers together with this year’s fiesta Hermano and Hermana Mayor Dr. Jose Enrique De Las Peñas and his wife Jill accompanied the image of the child Jesus on board the vessel.

The image traveled by sea for an hour and a half voyage to Pier 1 in Cebu City. As the yacht carrying the image of Santo Niño passed by ports and ships sounded their horns as a sign of respect for the image of the child Jesus.

Over 20 sea vessels and tugboats, most of which are owned by the Philippine Coast Guard, joined the sea procession. It was preceded by a 4 a.m. Mass presided over by Fr. Mejares at the National Shrine of St. Joseph where the image of the Santo Niño stayed overnight. After the Eucharistic procession, the icon was carried in a procession to the Ouano Wharf.

While the number of participants were fewer than the annual fluvial procession every January, the event went on smoothly. When the image of the Santo Niño arrived at Pier 1, two Sinulog dance groups in costumes–the Cofradia del Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe contingent–paid homage to the child Jesus. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella welcomed the arrival of the image at Pier 1.

A foot procession from the Cebu port area brought the image to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño for a Mass presided over by Fr. Eusebio Berdon, the prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of the Santo Niño de Cebu. Unlike the celebrations during the feast of the child Jesus every January, no reenactment was held during the Mass.

The grand reenactment of the Christianization of the Philippines, which began in Cebu City, will be held at 3 p.m. this afternoon. Nipa huts and other indigenous props have turned a part of modern Cebu City into a pre-hispanic village as over 300 local actors and actresses relive the history of the Sto. Niño de Cebu–the country’s oldest religious icon.

The grand reenactment supervised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines will be held in three separate locations in downtown Cebu City. Huge LED screens have been mounted at the Basilica del Sto. Niño where the reenactment will culminate. Roads around the centuries-old church and the adjacent Cebu City Hall have been closed to traffic. Cebuano choreographer Val Sandiego, Palanca Award winning playwright Floy Quintos, and Trina Cayabyab–the daughter of renowned composer Ryan Cayabyab have joined forces to present the Christianization of the Philippines that began in Cebu City.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will preside over the 5:30 p.m. Mass which will follow after grand reenactment. He will be joined by several visiting bishops and priests from different dioceses in the country.