Tragedy leads priest to Sto. Niño

CEBU, Philippines —  Several mysteries and wonders abound on the people’s devotion to the Santo Niño.

Many believe they were healed while others thought their prayers were granted owing to the miraculous Holy Child Jesus.

No less than the current rector of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, Fr. Pacifico Nohara, has a testimony to share which he has been keeping for years.

The 45-year-old Augustinian friar, fondly called as Fr. Jun, revealed to the media during the opening of the 454th Fiesta Señor that his fate of becoming a priest was not merely a coincidence.

Fr. Nohara never thought that a tragedy back in 1990 - when he was still a first year college - would be a turning point of his life.

His eldest brother, Jose Terlito, was involved in a car crash in Liloan town at the height of the Fiesta Señor celebration.

"We didn't know our eldest brother met an accident. We (I and family) were attending a Mass that time here at the Basilica. When we arrived in the afternoon at our home at Camotes, we saw on TV that there was a deadly car crash in Liloan and my brother was one of the victims," he said.

Fr. Nohara said his brother was rushed to the nearest hospital but because of his severed injuries, he had to be referred to Chong Hua Hospital.

That is why, he added, the pilgrimage of the Santo Niño image this year to Cebu City hospitals including Chong Hua has a significant involvement to an old event that had a huge impact on his life.

Nohara, third among four siblings, then travelled back to mainland Cebu to check on his brother who was covered in blood while lying on a bed. This made him passed out.

He woke up to nurses attending to him and just learned that his brother was already in the operating room for long hours as physicians strived to revive his life.

He quietly walked towards the hospital's chapel and upon seeing the Santo Niño image, he prayed.

"I told Him, I am asking of you to give my brother another life. That he will still live, and if he will live, he is still physically able," said Fr. Nohara.

After six hours of operation, he said the doctors did not give him and his family an assurance that his brother will still recover.

"For more than a month, he was unconscious. And then a miracle happened. He woke up," he said, adding that his brother now is in good condition and already married blessed with five children.

His brother too has become a devotee to the Santo Niño and continued the long-time tradition of the Nohara clan to visit Cebu every feast to pay homage to the Holy image.

With a life saved, another life was offered.

Fr. Nohara said he returned to the chapel to seek again the image. Right then, he decided to give his remaining life in serving God. He committed to be of service to the religious life.

He was supposed to enter the Missionary of Sacred Heart but it always remained a wonder to him that the calling led him to the Basilica and to the Augustinian Order.

For him, the Santo Niño continues to work mysteriously in his life with him being designated as the rector of the image’s sanctuary – at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.

"And now, I just didn’t know that I will be assigned as His (Santo Niño's) caretaker," said Fr. Nohara.

The Augustinian friars assigned at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, where the miraculous ancient relic has been enshrined, serve as the custodians of the Holy image.

The Augustinian fathers also spearhead the religious activities of the highly-anticipated Fiesta Señor, which is celebrated every third Sunday of January. — MBG (FREEMAN)