“Call for Culture Reels for Santo Nino on Social Media”-Dr. Eric B. Zerrudo NCCA Chair and Executive Director .- AS a Catholic majority nation, all month in the Gregorian calendar has festivities associated with a certain Saint or a highly revered figure in the Church so much so that as time pass, it has become part of the mainstream culture, heritage and history, much like the “Baby Jesus” or the Santo Nino.
This month of January since festivities of the Holy Child is being celebrated in all parts of the country, The National Commission for Culture and The Arts (NCCA) also staged an Art Exhibit about the miniature replica of the Child Jesus in the NCCA gallery entitled “JANUARY, MONTH OF THE HOLY CHILD” Devotion to the Holy Child in the Philippines.
The NCCA special exhibition was made possible through the participation of the following collectors and Santo Nino devotee namely; Claude Tayag, Francis Ong, Jayson Maceo, Jun Fulgencio, Anthony Agustin and Oliver Obusan.
SANTO NINO IN THE HEARTS OF THE FILIPINO
” We Collect to Share back to the community”- Francis Ong (Collector)- THIS is more or less the Santo Nino story, it was allegedly carried across the seas and arrived on Philippine shores come 1521, it was the small wooden image carried as an offering on Spaniards first encounter with our ancestors, although we had ANITO’s which was almost similar in shape and size with that of the Colonizer’s little relic, they told us that is one and the same, and the rest is history.
What began as a gift of conquest was reinvented by Filipino hands as a relic of devotion, they though of it as not too distant and was approachable faithful and tender, the Divine become small enough to hold dress and talk with.
Though it doesn’t speak or move, it then rooted in homes, chapels, city spaces and even vehicles became companion in times of hardship and silent witness to prayers, the child king was believed to intervene in the daily life of people, Filipinos dressed it with elaborate purple and gold carrying it on processions dancing with in the beat of percussion and strings.
Every January, streets decorated with elaborate colors on fiestas dedicated to the Holy Child like the SINULOG, ATI ATIHAN and DINAGYANG. The devotion became movements of the body lifting the relic and chanting VIVA PIT SENIOR and for the majority of Filipinos the devotion is not on the icon instead it reflects the Filipinos faith resilience and joy, another reason why the world tagged us as one of the happiest nations on the planet. “Ancient Wood Carved Santo Nino or istampita, home collection or made by folks originally by farmers in homes or altars” -Calude Tayag (Collector)
