Triduum for Santo Cristo de Limpia's feast starts

CEBU, Philippines - The triduum for the feast of the Santo Cristo de Limpia started yesterday, September 13, at the Basilica del Sto. Niño.

The Santo Cristo de Limpia, or the Holy Christ of Agony, is that big cross hanging on the left side of the Basilica. The devotion to the Santo Kristo de Limpia in Cebu started in the 1900s when Don Juan Rivera and Doña Andrea Rivera, parents of the late Inday Pining Gullas, donated the image to the Basilica’s Augustinian fathers.

Dr. Jose “Dodong” Gullas shared that the image is made of hardwood that his Lolo Juan “scouted for and imported from Spain.” Gullas, who has continued the tradition of celebrating the feast of the Santo Cristo de Limpia started by his maternal grandparents, said in his book entitled To Never Forget, a Memoir, that the donation of the image to the Basilica is his maternal grandparents’ expression of “their great love for God by never forgetting to return some of the blessings they received.”

The Santo Cristo de Limpia originated from a small village called Limpias in Covadonga in Asturias, Spain. The name “Limpia” comes from the thermal waters known as the Waters of Limpias. The village is small, about 1,200 residents, and it is here where the Church of St. Peter was built.

The image depicts Christ in agony looking towards the heavens. It is said that depending on what angle you look from, the expression of Jesus as depicted in the image is not only of pain, but also of prayer and contemplation.

Fr. Rudy Bugna, OSA will celebrate a Holy Mass at 5 p.m. at the Basilica del Santo Niño tomorrow, September 15, to commemorate the feast. – QSB (FREEMAN)