The eternally youthful saint

The third Sunday of January is marked nationwide by fiestas dedicated to the Santo Nino. The Santo Niño of course is the Peter Pan saint; eternally young, cherubic and innocent. And the various legends and stories surrounding the Santo Nino in the Philippines reflect a measure of the inherent mischievousness of youth.

The Santo Niño of Pandacan is purported to be of Mexican origin because of its dusky shade and vaguely Aztec-like figure — similar to the Quiapo Nazareno and the Lady of Antipolo (Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje). The story goes that the image was found in a “pandan-ful area”; the decision was made by the church authorities to move the image to Sampaloc. But, the Holy Child had other ideas and kept appearing in Pandacan, when he then promptly would be moved back to Sampaloc. Only to reappear in Pandacan. The Santo Niño won the argument, the devotion in the town started and Pandacan flourished.

In Cebu, the Santo Niño is well known as a prankster. This story comes from the book Philippine Folk Literature by Damiana L Eugenio, as related by Mrs. Concepcion Briones: “A peddler of fish, most often of the tasty danggit…was in the habit of passing by San Agustin Church in the early morning, and he usually found a short, very dark, curly-haired boy asking to buy some fish. Often the boy would tell the peddler: ‘Our prior is sleeping, so just come back for the payment of the fish later on.’

Later in the day, the peddler would come back to the church to ask for the payment and the good Fathers would shake their heads. ‘Nobody here among us, or our boys, has bought any fish from you.’ But when the peddler insisted, the sacristan-mayor would go up to the glass case of the Santo Nino at the main altar and there would find a fresh string of danggit lying at the foot of the image!

The priests usually paid the peddler with a smile and indulgently chuckled over the pranks of their naughty ‘Black Child.’” Among the other stories, is that every so often the Santo Niño would disappear for an evening, only to return with grass-stains or water marks on his clothing — mementoes from his nocturnal walks. And of course, in 1942 the legend goes that a dark, curly-haired boy even tried to enlist in the US Army to defend Cebu.

Devotion to the Santo Niño is the oldest in the Philippines and one of the most popular. As a matter of fact, the discovery of the Santo Niño in 1565 was taken by Don Miguel de Legazpi and Fray Andres de Urdaneta to be a sign, blessing the colonization and Catholization of the Philippines. Looking back, the Santo Niño has become the most prominent example of how Catholicism was accepted, adjusted and eventually Filipinized. As Nick Joaquin wrote: “The Santo Nino makes so perfect a symbol of Philippine Christianity because it came with Magellan, became a pagan idol, was reestablished by Legazpi, and has become so native that native legends annul its European origin by declaring it to have arisen in this land…One legend has it falling from the sky; another has it rising from the sea; but both sea and sky are Philippine…”

During the Christianization process of the country we Filipinized Catholicism. Pre-Hispanic customs and rituals exist all around: in the ritual dance of Obando, in the tatarin of Manila, the turumba of Pakil, among so many more. And yes, in the Santo Niño: the Holy Child that pre-figured the rise of Catholicism in the country and a saint that became such an integral part of the spiritual and cultural fabric of the Philippines that we have adopted him as one of our own. Viva Santo Nino!