"Viva Senor Santo Niño "

Catholics all over the world celebrates today, Sunday: January 16, the feast day of the child Jesus known to many as the Sto. Niño. This day is revered in most Catholic countries and no more so, thank in the Philippines.

It is that time of the year when devotees show how much they revere the Sto. Nino not only by going to different churches but also by going out to the streets where they dance and shout "Viva Senor Santo Niño." The devotion to the Sto. Niño is so popular that Filipino artists continue to create images of it, garbed in different costumes.

Perhaps the BEST destination, in the Philippines, for this SPECIAL EVENT is Cebu City - where, one of the nation's oldest and grand churches, the Santo Niño Basilica is located. Here, the Santo Niño de Cebú ("Holy Child of Cebu") is permanently housed. It is a Roman Catholic figure of the Child Jesus highly similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Like the image's counterpart in Prague, the figure is clothed in expensive textile robes mostly donations from fervent devotees in the Philippines and abroad. The statue is the oldest Catholic relic in the Philippines.

Since am in Taiwan, I am not able to trek to Cebu to enjoy the festivities and celebrate this special day - but I did manage to go to church this Sunday and, in my own way, pay respect and pray to the Sto. Niño.

NOTE: 2 Photos Above are from my first ever visit to this GREAT HISTORICAL CHURCH... dated 1999!!!