From the respected “Ang Frayle” blog here is Agostinong Pinoy’s take on the subject:
“The Sto. Nino de Cebu devotion isn’t growing outside of Cebu inspite of the work of the friars of St. Augustine for the following reasons:
1. The image continues to be called Sto. Nino de Cebu. The fact is unfortunate because the image is tied to an island and to a particular ethnic group. It should be called Sto. Nino de las Islas Filipinas or the reference “de Cebu” should be dropped.
2. Despite the rich theological resource provided by the devotion to the image itself, it is not incorporated in preaching. The devotion has three focal points:
- the Incarnation
- the Christianization of the Philippines
- “becoming a child” Spirituality
All the above is set aside in favor of the pomp and funfare associated with the feast of the Sto. Nino. The fact that the feast is celebrated in proximity to the Christmas season should be used as an occassion for reflecting on the Principle of the Incarnation, according to which God acts in human history with the cooperation of men and women who give Him — as Mary did — their humanity so as to give flesh to His Word. The constant reminder that the faith came to us from Europe should be a means for us Filipinos to appreciate the term “Catholic”, that is, “spread throughout the world” and the faith that is proclaimed universally. Finally, the ati-features of the image of the Holy Child should also be used as a launch pad for a communal reflection on “God Wants To Be Filipino, Too.”
Read more here.
From Father Andy Rivera, OSA (Basilica del Santo Nino de Cebu….
i respect the personal observation of whoever wrote the article “why the devotion is not growing - outside Cebu”! i believe, however, that his/her facts are purely non-reflective of the totality of our devotion to the sto. nino!
1st, If we believe that there is such a thing as “scandal of particularity”, then we have to admit “the divine plan or purpose” of any particular human events in history! why Nazareth & not - say - alaska? where this Jesus whom we come to believe as the manifestation of God should have been born? there, cold & polar bears are perhaps the only threats for the baby to survive & not the Roman empire! the birth of this Jesus could have spared the lives of those innocent babies ordered killed (Mt. 2:16-18)! Oh, by the way, the killing was prophesied by Jeremiah, there was no UN then, to protect human rights! Oh, if only Jesus was born today, CNN or BBC could have covered the labor of Mary - at least today we have the technology for good documentations, all we need is capture the events of Jesus on video & thats it! Now, who’s work is this, isn’t this for us a “scandal?” Particularity helps us understand our world! In the same way, why de cebu & not Sto. Nino de las Islas Filipinas? It may help (as speculated by the article) spread the devotion worldwide, but again why this particular country - Philippines?
God entered into human history, that is, a world with space & time! As understood clearly who this Sto. Nino is, as the image of the incarnate Word, de Cebu is just proper since it was in this particular island in the Philippines that the image was brought as a gift & become an icon of history, culture & religiousity of this particular ethnic group in de las islas Filipinas who are proudly called the Cebuanos! (by the way, i’m not creating biases here, i was born in San ildefonso, Bulacan)
2nd, Homilies are methods! God does not totaly depend on priests’ homilies, niether, the devotion to the Sto Nino! I believe that during feast days & even novena masses during Fridays, homilies are all devoted to the Sto. Nino as - the Incarnation, the understanding of Christianization of the Philippines & what are its implications, & “becoming a child” Spirituality, etc.etc… The members of the clergy here in the Archdiocese of Cebu can speak well on topics for majority of them are devoted to the Sto. Nino!
3rd, is it growing? well, based on (my personal) observations, the devotion has become global! Where there is a Filipino - particularly Cebuano, Sto. Nino de Cebu is present! In other words, the devotion is all over the world not because of priests’ homilies, but these Filipinos managed to maintain their devotion to the Sto. Nino! Because of the Sto. Nino they are somehow reminded of their ethnic heritage - their history, culture & religiousity. They are christians living ordinary lives outside their homeland and they are now the ones articulating this faith experience (not the Augustinians), through the image of the Sto Nino, that God indeed is alive & has entered in space & time!
Comment by Nick Siarza — December 27, 2006 @ 8:15 am
I absolutely support all the comments of Fr Rivera.
Now, if I may suggest (and I hope some other supporters reading this will come out to speak out), I guess it will be proper and discrete that the article be removed from this website.
Reason: Without judging to the author’s intentions (which perhaps be the best of intentions to help propagate the devotion worldwide) in writing the article, I guess it comes out to be erroneous and divisive rather than constructive and unitive. Thus, if the primary aim of this website is to unite all the Santo Niño devotes worldwide, then this article should be removed.
Another observation I noticed is that the official website of the Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu is not linked up here. Let me point out the fact that, as far as I know, (please correct me if I’m wrong here) there are only two recognised shrines of the Santo Niño (Infant Jesus) by the Vatican. They are: 1) the Infant Jesus of Prague and 2) the Basilica del Santo Niño. Both of them are with full blessing from the Pope and they have some Special Liturgy approved by the Holy See. Hence, please include this site: http://www.basilicadelsantoninodecebu.org.ph/
Thank you very much.
Viva Señor Santo Niño!
Peter Zabala
Santo Niño Leicester
http://www.freewebs.com/stoninoleics
Comment by peter zabala — January 17, 2007 @ 2:08 am
Peter,
Like your opinion and Fr. Rivera’s, the above post is the author’s personal viewpoint and must be respected. Also, this post IS ONLY AN EXCERPT from the original website. Unless it crosses our guidelines on decency and respect, everyone’s opinion is welcome here and will not be removed.
Thanks for the information on the official Basilica website. Our webmaster will make the corrections shortly.
Comment by dotcom — January 20, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
can i request all the lyrics of Huni ug Halad ni Senor because i love to sing all of it. Please send it to my email
thanks
jack
Comment by Jack Tonacao — May 2, 2007 @ 1:50 am