Sto. Niño de Cebu

[Dennis J. Bermejo]

 

Original image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

Published by Knight Carl

Above: The image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu, the very same image left by Ferdinand Magellan 487 years ago. (Photo credits: Trizer Dale Mansueto)

Many are attracted to the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu. From the native queen of Cebu, baptized Juana with the coming of the Spaniards, to the students and workers of today, devotees have lined up before the Basilica del Sto. Niño, praying before the image that shaped the history of Cebu since Ferdinand Magellan landed on the isles more than 480 years ago.

 

For all this fervor, many still wonder whether the image enshrined at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño is the original one brought by Magellan.

According to accounts, Magellan gave the image to Juana after the natives were baptized. Magellan was later killed while battling Lapu-Lapu and his men in Mactan.

 

Another Spanish expedition, under the leadership of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, returned to Cebu in 1565.

 

After pillaging and razing a village, Legazpi’s soldiers found in a house spared in the fire an image of the child Jesus, similar in looks to the made-in-Flanders statue that Legazpi believed was given by Magellan more than 40 years earlier to the wife of the chieftain of Cebu. A church was then ordered built on the spot where the image was found. This church was elevated to the rank of a basilica during the 1965 celebration of the 4th centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines.

 

Extant pre-World War II photos show a black Sto. Niño de Cebu. The Flanders creation Legazpi described should logically have Caucasian features. Adding to the mystery are local legends of a black Niño.

 

Where is this black image now? For a Jan. 12 forum at Casa Gorordo, heritage worker Ernesto Chua interviewed various personalities, partly to ascertain if the image venerated at the Basilica shrine is the original one.

 

Chua’s research revealed that during the colonial period, the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu was painted black. Many parts of the country venerate darkly hued icons, such as the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, Our Lady of Good Voyage in Antipolo, and the Virgen de la Regla in Lapu-Lapu City. Even in Europe, dark Marian images are venerated. Yet there are no conclusive findings accounting for the dark Sto. Niño de Cebu.

 

In her book published by the University of San Carlos, Rosa Tenazas recounted that Fr. Leandro Moran, OSA, told her that it was a certain prior of the convent of the Santisimo Nombre de Jesus who painted the image black in the early 19th century. Was this done to draw the image closer to the people? This is one of the many speculations fueling a need for a scholarly study.

 

During World War II, a bomb fell on the Sto. Niño church (now the Basilica) but did not explode. The image was found, unscathed, hanging near the altar.

 

The Augustinians brought the image to the convent of the Redemptorists for safekeeping. An Augustinian priest asked a Belgian nun of St. Theresa’s College to wipe clean the face of the image. According to Chua’s research, part of the black paint was scraped off, revealing the original fair complexion. When the image was returned to the church after the war, the Augustinians commissioned anthropologist Dr. Mimi Trosdal to restore the image to its original color. A camarera (caretaker) appointed to change the vestments and clean the icon, Trosdal told Chua she scraped off the black paint of the Sto. Niño de Cebu and restored it between 1948 and 1949.

 

There is no doubt that the image enshrined at a chapel at the left side of the Basilica (if one is facing the main altar) is indeed the original image that Magellan brought with him in his expedition and gave to the wife of Rajah Humabon, the king of Cebu.

 

Because of the original icon’s antiquity, only replicas are used during the fluvial parade and the foot procession held a day before the Sinulog Mardi Gras. Security comes to play also as the original image is adorned with precious stones and jewelry.

 

Below: The image was painted black at some point in time but eventually scraped off. (Alex Castro and Joel Olivares)

Below: The Sto.Niño de Cebu during a photo shoot at the library of the monastery. (Bernardo Arellano III)