Sto. Niño de Arevalo in the Philippines
It’s now official. After weeks of negotiation, the image of the Sto. Niño de Arevalo will welcome the arrival in this city of the image of Sto. Niño de Cebu on Thursday, January 19 to grace the annual Dinagyang Festival.
This was announced by San Jose parish priest Fr. Achilles Secio OSA after the parish of La Villa Rica de Arevalo approved the plan of meeting the Cebu pilgrim image at the Iloilo port terminal that will be followed by a procession towards San Jose Church.
The Sto. Niño de Arevalo Parish is home to the third oldest Santo Niño figure in the Philippines. The second image is in Luzon while the first image is in Cebu and considered as the oldest religious image in the Philippines.
The Cebu wooden image was made by Flemish artisans and brought to Cebu by adventurer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. Just like the Magellan cross, Magellan gave the image of Santo Niño to Queen Juana as a baptismal gift.
Cebuanos attributed many miracles to the Sto Niño image. In 1556, Cebu was ravaged by a big fire. In one of the burned houses, a Spaniard found the image unscathed. Since then, the miraculous image has been treated by the Cebuanos as a patron saint.
Fr. Secio said the arrival of the Cebu image will be met by a welcome party of this city composed of government officials, church devotees and students with a procession up to the San Jose church and a mass. It will then be brought in a motorcade to St. Therese MTC in Magdalo La Paz and then a pilgrim visit to the Cofradia del Señor Santo Niño de Cebu Oton chapter in Trapiche Oton, Iloilo.
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