PHILIPPINES Devotees Pray To Santo Nino, Dance To Mark Feast Day

PHILIPPINES Devotees Pray To Santo Nino, Dance To Mark Feast Day
By John Francis Lagman
January 21, 2009

MANILA (UCAN) -- Erwin Gadia, 13, had one prayer to the Santo Nino (Holy Child) on the eve of the popular annual feast, "I wish all my goods sell." He sells colorful balloons at 25 pesos (US$0.53) each outside Santo Nino de Tondo Church. On a good day, he can earn 300 pesos, but some days he makes only a third of that. Whatever he earns, he gives half to his mother. He is third in a family of 12 children; dropped out of school after graduating from sixth grade "to help care for younger siblings." He starts work at 4 a.m., blowing up 100 balloons, and gets home around 6 p.m., "ready for sleep."

On the day before the Santo Nino fiesta, he looked forward to eating adobo, a local stew of chicken and pork.
Some people living near the church, however, had no feast to look forward to.
Augustinian priests brought the ivory image of the Santo Nino to the country from Acapulco, Mexico, in 1572. The present church reportedly traces its origins to a structure built in the 1800s, after the original convent and church were damaged by wars and an earthquake. Stories of miracles occurring in the midst of wars and natural disasters have surrounded the church and Santo Nino image. During World War II (1939-1945), when its roof was reportedly set on fire, the parish priest was said to have safely evacuated people from the church while carrying the image.
On Jan. 18, Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila, who lives in the parish, led the 6 p.m. feast day Mass. He told UCA News before the Mass, "I do not know whether the image of Santo Nino in Tondo is miraculous or not, but people flocking around it shows it promotes their devotion."
The bishop wondered whether this reflects their hope of sharing in the Child Jesus' "greatness despite being small." This is the message of the Gospel, that "the great ones are not the rich or powerful, but the lowly people," he added. "I hope we 'great' and 'powerful' people also take the challenge to be great in God's eyes by humbling ourselves, by attending to small people, the poor, homeless, children and powerless," the prelate said.
He noted that the parishioners, who are "mostly very poor," are also "very religious." They place religious statues at street corners, organize processions frequently and flock to church with their children for Friday novena Masses.
The previous day, some devotees danced down Tondo's streets waving statues of the Santo Nino. In the bishop's view, they were praying by "using body language to express themselves to God."

In our country, the feast of the Sto. Niño is one of the most celebrated. Street dancing and merrymaking mark this event. The dance steps tell of how we became a Catholic nation, our struggles as a community, our religiosity and our thanksgiving for a successful undertaking, be it in harvest, in business, even in battle.

We are also reminded of our responsibility to take care of one another, especially, those who are small, the weak and the poor, the homeless and the powerless.

May our faith be like the faith of a child – trusting, humble, innocent, pure – for the kingdom of God belongs to such as them.

May our religiosity not stop in the streets when we dance but be attuned and live our lives according to the Father’s will.

With Commentary by Ma. Rosario R. Tejada