Faith of the Filipinos

Filipinos are indeed known worldwide as peoples of deep and great faith. It is the only country in Asia where majority are Catholics. Throughout the year they manifest this kind of faith through their celebration of Advent, Lent, Easter, various “fiestas” honoring patron Saints and other significant events in the Church. And most notable and significant in this connection is that they show this extraordinary faith at the very onset of the year in January by commemorating two important events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God: the feast of the Santo Nino honoring the baby Jesus and the feast of the Black Nazarene depicting the suffering Christ carrying the cross.

Today marks the feast of the Black Nazarene, a religious statue of Jesus Christ carrying the cross to Calvary. Recorded history shows that this statue was one of the two statues made by an unidentified Mexican sculptor from pure ivory. Both statues were burnt aboard a ship during one of the Galleon Trade shipping expeditions from Mexico to Manila, Philippines in the first decade of the 1600s. The other statue was completely destroyed and this one was charred and became black. Thus from this incident arose its descriptive name “Black Nazarene.”

This remaining image is currently enshrined in a Minor Basilica located in Manila more popularly known as the Quiapo Church. It has been kept there for centuries withstanding several fires, earthquakes and wars. The present day statue is a composite of the original head and a replica body sculpted by renowned Filipino sculptor, Gener Manlaqui as commissioned by the Archdiocese of Manila. It is barefooted and in a genuflecting posture to symbolize the agony and weight of the cross and the pain Jesus Christ underwent during His Crucifixion.

Only on three dates during the year is the statue brought out of the shrine for veneration: Good Friday, New Year’s Day, and January 9 or nine days after New Year following the nine-day novena. Every Jan. 9 commemorates the image’s Translacion, a Spanish term meaning “passage or “movement” when a procession is held with the image on a wooden base (peana) being carried and brought around the streets of Manila on a carroza called the andas pulled by the namamasan (“bearers”) with two large ropes on the left and right shoulders. It is believed that the right shoulder side of the rope is more sacred because it is where Jesus bore his cross.

During the procession, marshals wearing yellow and white shirts from the Minor basilica form the honor guard for the Black Nazarene. They are the only ones allowed to ride in the Andas tasked with protecting the image from possible damage, directing the namamasan at the front and the crowd at the back, and helping devotees clamber up the Andas so they can briefly touch the image or its cross, wipe towels and handkerchiefs tossed at them on any part of the image which are believed to have acquired curative powers rubbed off from the image.

The veneration of the statue has been approved by Pope Innocent X in 1650 as sacramental and in 1880, Pope Pius VII gave the statue his Apostolic Blessing which granted plenary indulgence to those who piously pray before it.

The other feast celebrated this January is the feast of the Sto Nino of Cebu locally known as “Fiesta Senor” starting on the Thursday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany with a dawn procession wherein the replica image of the Santo Nino de Cebu is brought down and carried along the streets followed by novena masses for nine days. On the last day of the novena, another dawn procession is held wherein the image of Nuestra Senor de Guadalupe de Cebu is brought from its shrine to the Basilica Minore de Santo Nino de Cebu where it will stay for a while. Then both images are brought to the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City to reunite the Holy Family.

The day before the feast itself, the images of the Sto Nino de Cebu and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Cebu are brought back to Cebu City through a fluvial procession. Upon reaching the Basilica, a reenactment of the first mass and baptism is held followed by a solemn foot procession in the afternoon of the same day. After the solemn procession a Pontifical Mass is concelebrated by bishops and priests followed by the grand Sinulog Festival on the following Sunday. The feast officially ends on Friday after the Sinulog Festival by the traditional Hubo (“undress) a rite where the image of Santo Nino is stripped of its grand ceremonial vestments, bathed in water laced with perfume and redressed in simple robe.

The Santo Nino de Cebu is the oldest Christian image in the Philippines venerated by many Filipino Catholics who believed it to be miraculous. It was originally given in 1521 as a baptismal gift along with a Statue of our Lady and a Cross  by Ferdinand Magellan through Antonio Pigafetta who personally handed them over to Lady Humamay, the chief consort of Rajah Humabon. The image was recognized by Pope Paul VI on April 28, 1965 through a Papal Bull for the Canonical Coronation and Pontifical Mass celebrated by Papal Legate to the Philippines Ildebrando Antoniutti on the occasion of its 400th anniversary.

These two important feasts in January about the events in the life of Christ really show the strong and extraordinary Faith of the Filipinos. And this year such kind of faith will be further manifested by the coming visit of Pope Francis on Jan. 15 to 19. Indeed this will be the third time that our country will be visited by the Vicar of Christ. Pope Paul VI (now Blessed Paul VI) visited us in 1970. And last 1981 and 1995, Pope John Paul II (now St John Paul II) also visited us during the World Youth Day.

The coming visit of Pope Francis looks more significant and memorable especially because he has shown some truly refreshing traits that have mass appeal. On several occasion from the time he became a Pope he has shown a different approach in spreading the Gospel. His simplicity and humility from the time he was chosen as the Supreme Pontiff are so captivating and appealing as would further strengthen the Faith of the Filipino people and gain more believers in the Catholic Faith. In the short span since he became the head of the Church, he has conveyed the Gospel message not only by preaching but by example. He has really emulated Christ in giving preferential option for the “least, the last and the lost.”

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