CEBU, Philippines - On April 28, the Basilica del Santo Niño will once again celebrate the finding of the four-century-old image of Señor Santo Niño. It will be preceded by a three-day spiritual preparation. On April 26, the image of the Señor Santo Niño will be brought to San Nicolas Parish, being the first parish administered by the Agustinian Friars. On April 27 the image will be brought to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. In the evening, the finals of the “Huniño,” a songwriting contest in honor of the Señor Santo Niño will be held at 8:00 p.m. On the 28th of April, the image will be brought back to the Basilica where a Solemn High Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 in the morning. On the same date, the Archdiocese of Cebu will commemorate its 75th anniversary. There will be a Pontifical Mass at 4 p.m. to be concelebrated by bishops and clergy. In the evening, there will be a testimonial dinner tendered by the Archdiocese.
Where was the image of Señor Santo Niño found? According to history, the image was found in a trunk in a burnt nipa hut by one of the soldiers of General Legaspi. Can we pinpoint the location where the image was found? Yes, we can pinpoint it.
According to an old historian, Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A, in his book Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas (Conquest of the Philippine Islands) written in 1698, “The place where the house stood where the miraculous image of the sacred and prodigious Child was discovered was signaled out as the church and convent of our father Saint Augustine. The governor donated to our religious a spacious site for the monastery and land for its erection. The church was not begun where it is at present located, but in another place wherein the most holy image was placed in solemn pomp and procession with everybody in the camp. Once situated on the altar, decorated as decently as possible, everybody adored it, and the confraternity was established with Governor Miguel Lopez de Legaspi as rector and superior brother, together with the maestre de campo, the captains and the most illustrious members of the camp. Fray Andres de Urdaneta, the prior, celebrated Mass with all solemnity as possible, with Fray Diego de Herrera giving the sermon. The two leaders of Cebu, with more than 30 natives, who had come to speak to the governor about the restitution of the Holy Child and the peace they wanted to establish, having arrived before the Mass began and having witnessed the sumptuous cult and reverence that the Spaniards had on the sacred image, were absorbed and struck with awe. More so, when they were allowed to enter the church and found themselves present at Mass and during the sermon, admiring all the new ceremonies made to the same Child Jesus they revered as a prize inherited from their elders for all their remedies. And since they were unaware of where and at what time the divine Child reached their possession, it seems that, as in other images, this was brought by angels to such a remote region, as proven by the fact that the natives called it in their language “image miraculously come.”
Therefore, it is clear that a church was built at the place where the miraculous image was found and this is the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. This church was called for several centuries the church of Saint Augustine, for it was administered by the Order of St. Augustine or Augustinian Friars.
The devotion of the Catholic faithful to Señor Santo Niño de Cebu has tremendously grown and spread since 1965 when the Fourth Centennial of the Evangelization of the Philippines was pompously celebrated. It was an international celebration. The writer was a witness to this event.