Undressing the Santo Nino

The other great feast of January here in the Philippines is that of the Santo Nino de Cebu, which is held on the third Sunday of the month. According to legend, Fernao de Magalhaes-- otherwise known as Ferdinand Magellan-- gave to the newly-baptized queen of Cebu (who had received the name 'Juana') a small statue of the Child Jesus, who had been mesmerized by Magellan's tiny companion. The image was probably carved in Flanders, but sailed with Magellan's motley crew of Spaniards, Portuguese, and Italians-- and yes, even one boy from the Moluccas, Enrique. Magellan would later be killed, and the conquistadores went back to Spain, but the Nino endured, and was worshipped as a powerful rain god by the Cebuanos.

Forty four years later, in 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi would return to Cebu, and there he would chance again upon Magellan's little Child, who by then had become the chief god of the Cebuanos. The natives could no longer remember a time when the Child wasn't theirs and insisted that it had been in Cebu for uncounted generations. The Nino would help bridge the conquerors and the conquered, and to this day, the Child still attracts the veneration of countless millions. The cult of the Santo Nino is probably the most diffused in the Philippines, with different 'avatars' (including at least three in Manila alone) sprouting up in practically every island in the Philippines.

Above is shown the ritual of the 'Hubo', when, after the great Sinulog feast has concluded, the image of the Santo Nino de Cebu would be ceremonially undressed and bathed. Up until recently (the 1960s), this ritual was witnessed only by a handful of people, the Nino's attendants coming mostly from the upper classes of Cebu.  The statue would then receive a change of clothes, simpler this time than the elaborate garb it wore on the occasion of its feast. The priest and the congregation chant 'Christe, exaudi nos' as each item of clothing, starting with the Child's crown, is taken off, to the beating of drums. It is a ritual that recalls to mind the simplicity and humility of the Child Jesus, who hid himself as a pagan god in order that the Cebuanos, and subsequently the entire Philippine Islands, would be converted to the Faith.