Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Why I Am Catholic

Home
Señor Santo Niño Comes To My Neck of the Woods

Señor Santo Niño Comes To My Neck of the Woods

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 6:14 pm by Frank Weathers

Señor Santo Niño Comes To My Neck of the Woods 2017-01-24T18:14:19-05:00 Frank Weathers

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In the photograph above, you see the original Señor Santo Niño statue that Ferdinand Magellan gave to the Rajah Humabon and his wife Humamay when he arrived in Cebu in the Philippines. The Rajah and his wife, see, became Catholics and allies of Spain. Sure, there was intrigue and trickery, alliances and bloodshed along the way, and in the Philippines, Magellan would lose his life.

But Magellan brought the Faith to the Philippines in 1521, and the Rajah and his wife changed their names to Carlos and Juana. On the 3rd Sunday in January, the feast celebrating this event is called Sinulog. Now I’ve been to the Philippines, but never to Cebu, and never at the time when this holiday is celebrated. Since 1980, or so, it has become a huge event, akin to the 4th of July rolled up in the Rose Bowl Parade. It looks like it would be a fantastic and unforgettable experience, comparable to what is celebrated in Malta on the Feast of the Shipwreck of St. Paul, or say the Carnival in Brazil rolled into four days instead of 46.

The many variations of Señor Santo Niño

Yesterday, in fact, the celebration rolled into the little East Tennessee town of Cleveland. As members of the Philippine American Association of East Tennessee, we got in the car and headed an hour south so we could commemorate this special feast day with the Filipino community. I reckon ya’ll had no idea Filipinos were even in Tennessee, huh? Well they are, and some of them have the surname “Weathers.”

After celebrating Mass, we celebrated Sinulog, with Novena prayers to Señor Santo Niño, and a combined Filipino-Latino potluck in the gym of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Catholic Parish. The dinner was a gastronomic tour de force of Catholic hospitality. For example, there were two of these,

And plenty of side dishes,

My wife took a little video of the Sinulog dance held in the gym. Check it out,

After that, they kicked the music up again and invited folks to dance along. How could I resist?

Tall Blurry Blogger Dances Sinulog with Señor Santo Niño

Previous Post

January 21, 2012

Tom Woods Endorses Ron Paul over Rick Santorum and says Catholics Should Too

Next Post

January 22, 2012 Would You Believe Because of Crony Capitalism? UPDATED

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog News Conversion Story Culture Learning Living Nature Prayer Uncategorized Working

Select a Month June 2016 May 2016 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The apostles drew lots to choose Matthias to replace Judas.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE