Traslacion kicks off at 7 a.m. tomorrow

Traslacion route

By 7 a.m. the traslacion or ritual transfer of the Sto. Niño will have a motorcade from the Sto. Niño Basilica that will pass major thoroughfares in Cebu City, where devotees lining the streets can cause some traffic.

Instead of a direct route to Mandaue City, it will pass through more Cebu City streets.

At the boundary separating the two cities, Mandaue residents will receive the icons of the Holy Child and his mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and escort them for an overnight stay at the National Shrine of St. Joseph.

“The traslacion will start earlier this year. This is in response to the perennial problem of delayed arrival at St. Joseph’s National Shrine due to the growing number of devotees that slows down the motorcade both in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue,” said lawyer Paulino Yabao, the Fiesta Señor 2014 adviser.

The schedule is an hour and a half earlier than in previous years.

The Misa de Traslacion, which used to take place at 7 a.m. will be held at 5:30 a.m. at the basilica right after the “Walk with Mary” dawn procession from Fuente Osmeña.

Traffic is expected to snarl when the motorcade passes.

ROUTE

The traslacion will start in the Basilica to D. Jakosalem Street, turn right to General Maxilom Avenue, left to Gorordo Avenue, right to Archbishop Reyes Avenue, and right again to Juan Luna Avenue (San Jose dela Montaña) and then left to MJ Cuenco Avenue.

The shrine’s priest Msgr. Daniel Sanico will officiate the Mass.

Devotees usually wait by the roadside, sometimes waving flaglets as the religious images pass by.

“Traslacion is a Spanish work which means “to transfer.”

The advice of Cebu Integrated Traffic Operations Management operations chief Joy Tumulak is for the commuters and motorists to plan their schedules for Friday.

“They should either leave their houses before the motorcade or after it ends,” he said.