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 the Child Jesus based on a religious relic icon in Cebu City of the 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.
The Holy Child's image is liturgically celebrated during weekly Mass, novenas and Christian holidays. Along with the Black Nazarene statue of Jesus Christ, it is the most popular object of devotion in the Philippines. The Santo Niño image is replicated in many homes and business establishments, with different titles reinterpreted in various areas of the country. It is one of the most beloved and recognizable cultural icons in the Philippines, with the original permanently encased within bulletproof glass in a chapel at the Basílica Menor del Santo Niño.
(c) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Ni%C3%B1o_de_Ceb%C3%BA
