Sinug, not Sinulog

The most-awaited religious feast by the God-loving Cebuanos, the Feast of their beloved Señor Sto. Niño, the Patron of Cebu, will be celebrated in a few days. In fact, the nine-day novena mass will begin tomorrow, the 11th of January.

Every true-blooded Cebuano should be very grateful that they have their eternal Protector and Defender, the Holy Child Jesus.

Recently, so many calamities befell our neighboring provinces, the flooding in Legaspi, Albay, the tragic store fire in Ormoc City, the frequent fires in Manila, yet Cebu has been spared of the pain and anguish by the protective and caring hands of the Child Jesus.

My brother Eddie and I share a strong devotion to the Señor Sto. Niño since we were young, being sacristans at the Basilica during the Japanese occupation. My late Lola Andrea, the mother and inventor of the genuine Cebuano tableya, also told my brother Eddie and myself the many miracles of the Señor Sto. Niño. Both of us also witnessed one of the Child Jesus' miracles when, immediately after World War II, when the Americans came to Cebu, we saw a bomb that did not explode just above the main altar of the Church. Had that bomb exploded, the original Sto. Niño would have vanished from our very own eyes. It took almost a day for the American bomb experts to detonate the bomb.

In the excitement of the coming festivities, there is a need to remind Cebuanos that the most meaningful event for all Roman Catholics is not the mardi gras which is the Sinulog. The principal focus should be the spiritual celebration of the Feast of Señor Sto. Niño.

There is an ocean of difference between SINUG and SINULOG.

SINUG is the Cebuano way of either thanking the Señor Sto. Niño for all the favors He has bestowed upon our families, or asking for His help and assistance. In SINUG, the dance is done by making one step forward and two steps backward, with the dancers holding candles that are not lighted. In fact, as far as I can remember, the original SINUG dancers who performed during the annual Señor St. Niño procession came from the San Nicolas District, composed of young boys carrying sticks dancing the one step forward, two steps backward SINUG steps to the beat of a drum.

It is truly lamentable that the Sinulog or mardi gras copied and used the wrong dance sequence performed by a group of Manila dancers who had no basic knowledge and information of what the real SINUG means, and thus, blindly followed that wrong dance of carrying the image of Señor Sto. Niño with their bare hands, moving up and down, left, right or twirling in circles.

Señor Sto. Niño should not be carried with bare hands but should be placed on the altar to be worshipped, to be prayed to, and to whom the SINUG is lovingly offered.

This erroneous practice has been going on annually for so long a time without our SINULOG committee noticing it, maybe because of lack of understanding and appreciation of the historical and religious underpinnings of the Feast of Señor Sto. Niño.

There is urgent need to emphasize for all God-fearing Cebaunos to forever remember with sincere gratefulness and with fervent prayers their lifelong devotion to the Dear Patron of Cebu, Señor Sto. Niño.

The Holy Child should be the real and only center of the celebrations during His feast day, not the mardi gras, not the Sinulog.

Let us pray and hope that the commercialism of the mardi gras or Sinulog will not be our focus for this year's celebration of the Feast of Señor Sto. Niño. Let us hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds and hearts of every true-blooded Cebuano that the most important event for the month of January '07 is not the 12th ASEAN Summit, nor the mardi gras or Sinulog, but the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Child, Señor Sto. Niño.

Happy Pit Señor!