The Sinulog Of Our Love

In the Philippines, many are the festivals and cultural celebrations held and dedicated to the Holy Child or Sto. Niño. The original Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, the ati-atihans in Cadiz City, in Tondo and in Nayong Pilipino in Manila; the Dinagyang in Iloilo City; and the centuries-old Sinulog in Cebu- all these are religious-cultural celebrations in honor of Sr. Sto. Niño de Cebu, observed year after year with generosity and love.

The devotion to the Sto. Niño has been practiced since the conversion of this country to the faith. This singular devotion was introduced by the Augustinians here and elsewhere. Augustinian missionaries were the ones who brought the devotion to the Sto. Niño from Cebu to Tacloban, Tondo, Pandacan and the Ilocos regions. The same devotion was brought to Aklan by the Augustinians.

During the Sinulog, the visitors are here not only to pay homage to Sto. Niño but also to witness the display of the Cebuano culture during the duration of the festival. The dances, the revelries and spontaneous shouting of “Pit Senyor” have become part of our Filipino culture, most especially the Cebuano Culture.

From the time of Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu in 1521 up to the arrival of Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565, the natives were found worshipping their anitos and personified idols with the aid of dull, staccato-like rhythmic  sounds produced by musical instruments that accompanied their bodily movements that appeared to be their dances. When the first Catholic missionaries presented the image of the Sto. Niño to the natives, the natives leapt with joy and their best in front of their new-found idol.

We Filipinos are religious in nature. Our forebears worshipped and adored many idols. The practiced idolatry prior to the advent of the faith. Our ancestors gave divine attributes to the anitos.

Today, philosophy has become the handmaid of our theology. In our acts of worship and homage, we attribute to the divine power, not to the image itself of the Sto. Niño, but to the Person it represents. Through the image, we worship the son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. We pay homage not the idol but to the One True God depicted by the idol.

The invisible God has to become visible in order that man may comprehend the invisible. God has to be born in order to become a Niño. God has to be a Niño in order to be known. There is always something in us that loves a little child. And what can be more lovable than the charming Sto. Niño?

As we leap and dance the Sinulog and voice shout Pit Senyor, let us bear in mind that ours is, indeed, a Sinulog of Love. Hala bira! Pit Senyor!

By: A. J. Galindez, Sunstar Cebu, 01-14-2007

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