Senyor Sto. Nino: Once a pagan idol, commence of the conquest thru Catholicsm
The Sto. Nino relic has baffling origins as to whether it is the same statuette given to couple's Humabon and his wife by Magellan in the first weeks of his arrival to the image found beneath the ashes of a burned village 44 years later in Cebu.
Senor Sto. Nino, the image of the child Jesus, has been revered by countless devotees and has upheld strong Catholic faith of Filipinos for centuries.
Together with the wooden cross used in the first mass celebrated in the archipelago, Sto. Nino is the oldest known religious relic recorded in Philippine History since Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish fleet first set foot in Homonhon, southern Leyte, in March 17, 1521.
After a few days, Magellan met friendly natives in Limasawa where he became good friends with Rajah Kolambo who in turn, introduce him to a brother- Rajah Humabon of Cebu.
Humabon and his wife were baptized after befriending Magellan and received as a gift the Sto. Nino image. The event chronicled by expedition clerk Antonio Pigaffeta said Humabon's wife was given three choices, among them; the cross, the images of the blessed virgin and that of the child Jesus.
The wife, who was given Christian name “Juana” (but in other historical account, she was named “Lisbetia” ) chose the statuette of the child Jesus.
Pigaffeta handed the image telling Humabon's wife to venerate the image in place of her pagan idol as it is “a remembrance from the son of God.” The wife promised to hold the Sto. Nino image very dearly.
Humabon became the King's representative in Cebu though during that time he has a conflict with Lapu-lapu, a rival chieftain.
The newfound alliance has convinced Magellan to assault Lapu-lapu's turf in Mactan on April 27, barely 41 days passed since his recorded arrival. Magellan was killed in the battle.
The defeated Spaniards sailed back to Europe but the story of Sto Nino did not stopped there.
Accounts bared that following the departure of the Spaniards, the natives venerated the Sto. Nino like “Bathala” in their pagan ritual of dancing before his image. From thereon the practice has survived time and is now being practiced during festivities in honor of Sto. Nino in various parts of the country.
At this juncture, history lost track of Humabon and his wife.
It was said that the natives have already learned to accept Sto. Nino as their own, stating its origin that the image suddenly sprouted out from the earth. The natives have attributed to their newfound God the miracles taking place in their tribe.
There were no record of the lost 44 years of Sto. Nino until the arrival in Cebu of another Spanish fleet whose mission is to colonize the archipelago in February 13, 1565. The Spanish armada was under the command of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.
Legaspi made brief social contacts with the natives and was said to have brought down some articles from the ship. But in the next following days, Legaspi suddenly found himself being resisted by the natives thinking that the Spaniards have returned to exact vengeance to Magellan's death.
Legaspi left Cebu and sought alliance with friendly natives in nearby islands of Leyte and Bohol. After consolidating his forces in April 27 of the same year, Legaspi sailed back to Cebu and attacked the villages hostile to his coming.
At the aftermath of the attack, one soldier; Juan Camus claimed to have retrieved among the fire-razed houses a wooden pine box containing an unscathed image of Sto. Nino believed to have originated in Belgium.
Believing that the discovery was a miracle, the image was used to persuade the natives embrace Christianity which has given the Spaniards leeway to “pacify” the occupied territories.
From thereon, it is believed that the newfound image in Cebu and the relic given by Magellan to Humabon's wife 44 years earlier were one and the same.
Camus was said to have presented the image to Augustinian fathers who in turn established the confraternity of Sto. Nino de Cebu with Father Andres de Urdeneta as its head.
A church was built for Sto. Nino in the vicinity where the image was found. This church later became Basilica Minore de Sto. Nino.
Legaspi initiated a festivity to commemorate the finding of the Holy Image. So as not to conflict with the 40-day celebration of Easter, Pope Innocent XIII moved the celebration from April 27 to every third Sunday of January.
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