Holy Child of Cebu Balaang Bata sa Sugbo Santo Niño de Cebú Batang Banal ng Cebu |
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Image of Señor Santo Niño de Cebu
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Location | Cebu, Philippines |
Date | 21 April 1521 |
Witness |
Ferdinand Magellan Antonio Pigafetta Rajah Humabon |
Type | Wooden statue |
Holy See approval |
Pope Innocent XIII Pope Paul VI Pope John Paul II |
Shrine | Basílica Minore del Santo Niño |
Attributes | Crown, sceptre, orb, dark skin, maroon mantle, Salvator Mundi |
The Santo Niño de Cebú (Cebuano: Balaang Bata sa Sugbo, Filipino: Batang Banal ng Cebu, Spanish: Santo Niño de Cebú) is a Roman Catholic title of a statue of the Child Jesus in Cebu City of Philippines. The image is venerated as miraculous by many Filipino Catholics. It is one of the oldest Christian relics in the Philippines, originally given in 1521 as a gift by explorer Ferdinand Magellan to Rajah Humabon and his wife when he landed on the island.
The statue measures approximately twelve inches tall, is made of a dark wood in baroque style and depicts the Child Jesus as a king dressed like Spanish royalty. The expressions, accessories and hand posture of Santo Nino de Cebu are similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague now located in Czech Republic. It is believed that both statues originated from the same European source, with the devotion to Santo Nino starting earlier of the two. The statue is clothed in rich fabrics, wears jewelry such as gilded neck chain and bears imperial regalia including a gold crown, globus cruciger, and various sceptres mostly donated by devotees.
The image received papal recognition on 28 April 1965, when Pope Paul VI issued a papal bull for the Canonical Coronation of the statue and raised the church that houses it to a basilica status to mark the 400th anniversary of the first Christian mission and rediscovery of the statue in Cebu. The image has historically attracted devotional worship in Philippines, attracting devotional worship, processions and pilgrimage, with numerous Filipino pilgrims touching or kissing the foot of the statue's stand. There is an annual feast every January on the third Sunday which is marked by fiesta, sinulog dancing in the streets, and prayers to Senor Santo Nino statue.