Upcoming Events
Come Celebrate the Feast of Santo Niño!
Saturday, Jan. 18 at 11am in the Cathedral
The Cathedral Filipino Network invites you to come celebrate the Feast Day of Santo Niño Mass on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 11 am, followed by a reception in the Parish Center.
What is Santo Niño? In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail to find new trade routes for Spain and circumnavigate the globe. Joining him were missionaries whose purpose was to spread Christianity. In 1521, they arrived in the Philippines and when Queen Juana of Cebu and her husband, Rajah Humabon, along with their subjects, converted to Christianity, Magellan present a statue of the Santo Niño (“Holy Child” in Spanish), to the queen. The gifting is often depicted as a great moment of cultural and religious exchange, as it was the introduction of Catholicism to the Philippines.
To many Filipinos, the Santo Niño is considered miraculous due to numerous accounts of miracles attributed to the image of the child Jesus.
On Jan. 19, 2015, Pope Francis endorsed the image and called the Santo Niño the Protector of the Philippines, during his pastoral and state visit. Annually, up to 3 million devotees flock to Cebu City to observe the Feast Day, which is on the third Sunday of January, and participate in the nine-day Sinulog festival and celebratory prayer dance mixed with indigenous and Christian elements.
