By Kathleen Bell
This little statue has been my favorite since I found it three years ago. It came to me in a jumbled box lot from an estate sale. Look at it closely and it is a reassembled puzzle glued together after a bad break. The neck and the base and back have been repaired. The statue was quite dark with dirt when I found it, but has been cleaned just this side of falling apart. It is Portuguese and the eyes are made of glass, giving it a kind and sympathetic countenance. It sits on top of my desk in my writing space in the basement.
Alas, not for me the window view for writing. I do best in my spot underneath the living room, where I can hear the children going about their treks, their games, their cooking. It was many years before I grabbed onto the notion of a place of my own to write. I do it best right here, where disturbance is minimal.
This little statue reminds me of my nephew Jimmy, who looked a lot like this when he was a tiny boy. It’s a sweet religious image. So approachable. Since I understand children, it is so easy for me to pray wrapped in this devotion. I just talk and tell Jesus what I need and I pray for my family, my friends, one by one. It’s conversational and very Filipino. It comes from the heart and not from the detached intellect. It’s a conversation, not a meditation. It’s full of pleas and please. Talking to children is easy, they listen with their big eyes. I become an asking child when I pray to the Santo Niño.
The devotion to the Holy Child was brought to the Philippines in the 1500’s. As is so typical in these stories of religious devotion in the Philippines, the people were in a state of expectation for the Holy Child as he was prefigured in their animist religion. When Magellan arrived, things began peacefully. The Queen of Cebu, Ratu Humanay, was very touched when encountering the Santo Niño statue that Magellan brought with him. She asked to be baptized.
People oftentime think that the Santo Niño de Cebu devotion is the same as the Infant of Prague. The Filipino devotion has an earlier history since Magellan landed in 1521 and the devotion was revived when Legazpi arrived in 1565.
Magellan was killed by Lapu-lapu and the remains of the Spanish fleet hobbled back to Spain. The crew of 250 was reduced to 8. It took some years for the Spanish king to put the Philippines back on its immediate agenda. {Read more…}
“The Santo Nno of Cebu has always been compared with the Infant Jesus of Prague, but there are differences between the two symbols. The Santo Nino of Cebu is has a crown, an orb, and a scepter - all symbols of authority, It is also has metal boots,which makes it look like a soldier. While the Infant of Prague: Athough it has royal vestures it does not have any military trapppings: no boots To say that the Santo Nino has become a part of Filipino iconography is an understatement. From the dancing festivals of the Ati-Ati-han, Sinulog, Mascara, and Dinagyang - where the dancers covered in soot parade around the street carrying the image of the Santo Nino accompanied by loud drum beats and shouts of hala bira and Viva Senor Santo Nino - to the near ubiquitous presence of a Santo Nino in the home; one can feel, hear, and see the presence of Senor Santo Nino. It also has an impressive array of clothes: The Santo Nino may come dressed in the traditional imperial-military regalia or in the dress of a farmer or a cop or even dressed in green clothes -so much green that it becomes painful to the eyes Yes, the Santo Nino given by Ferdinand Magallen has become part of Filipino culture. For more than three hundred years the Filipinos have been carrying and dancing with Senor Santo Nino. There more places, buildings, churches, and people named after the Santo Nino than Magellan 
