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About Annual celebration of Sinulog Festival in Waikato-BOP-Gisborne, NZ Story Sto. Niño de Cebu (Philippines) and how the devotion started in Hamilton The image of the Santo Niño, which is kept in the Basílica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, is considered the oldest religious relic in the Philippines. This was the image that Ferdinand Magellan (a Portuguese navigator who discovered the Philippines) gave to Rajah Humabon and Rani Juana (rulers of the island of Cebu) as a gift during their baptism on 14th April 1521. Forty-four years later after the death of Magellan, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (a Spanish explorer) with Fr. Andres de Urdaneta arrived in Cebu and formally Christianized the Cebuanos on 27th April 1565. However, they found the natives hostile and set the village on fire. It was in one of the burnt houses that Juan Camus, a soldier, found the image of the Santo Niño unscathed. Since then, the miraculous image has been venerated by the Cebuanos and the Filipinos around the world. The feast of the Sto. Niño is celebrated every third Sunday of January. In Cebu, the celebration starts with a nine-day novena mass. A day before the feast day, a 7-hour procession will be held and more than a million devotees will attend it. On the feast day, Sinulog (a cultural and religious dance) parade is celebrated. The Sinulog celebration is also considered as one of the grandest and most colourful festival in the Philippines. Sinulog is a dance custom in honour of the Sto. Niño. This kind of dance (two steps forward, one step backward) has been done for centuries and even today thousands of devotees are still dancing the Sinulog. In Auckland, the devotion of the Sto. Niño has been annually celebrated for more than two decades. In 2011, then the bishop of Hamilton went to Auckland to celebrate mass in honour of the Sto. Niño. By late 2014, a small group of Filipinos led by Fr. Reno Alima met and decided that instead of going to Auckland, why not organise a nine-day novena mass in Hamilton. The plan was enthusiastically supported and by January 2015, the first novena to the Sto. Niño commenced. The novenas were held in different households and attended by at least 30 devotees. During the feast day, a holy mass was celebrated by Fr. Reno at St. Matthew’s church and was participated by at least 100 devotees. Since no image of the Sto Niño can be found in the church, several Filipinos voluntarily brought their personal icons and presented it at the altar. By 2016, the devotees in Hamilton multiplied. It was already impossible to conduct the novena at home. Hence, it was decided that the nine-day novena including the holy mass will be held at St. Matthew’s church. The priest who celebrated the entire devotion was Fr. Reno. Prior to the 2016 devotion, a metre-high image of the Sto. Nino (coming all the way from the basilica in Cebu), was brought by Fr. Reno to Hamilton. During the feast day, around 500 devotees attended the procession, the holy mass and the cultural dance at the Cathedral. A few days after the feast, the image of the Sto. Nino has visited several household devotees from Hamilton, Huntly, Morrinsville and Te Awamutu. This year, the icon had finally come home for the annual celebration. As expected there were more than 600 devotees who came from Waikato and Bay of Plenty (thus the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Sto. Niño Devotees was established). The nine-day novena mass started on the 5th of January 2017 and held at St. Matthew’s church. On the feast day (14th of January 2017), the procession and holy mass was held at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A shared lunch was held at the Gerry Sullivan Arts Centre where a two-hour cultural Sinulog dance presentations and various talent offerings participated by the devotees coming from Waikato and Bay of Plenty. It was indeed a celebration of Sinulog to the Holy Child Jesus. Viva Señor Sto. Niño. Viva Pit Señor!
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