By Neil Daculan \u2013 Deacon of the Archdiocese of Melbourne
\n19 January 2022<\/p>\n
December and January are very busy months for the Filipino Catholic faithful because of two (2) momentous annual celebrations: the Simbang Gabi<\/em> (dawn masses) in December and then Sto. Ni\u00f1o<\/em> in January.\u00a0 Both are votive masses for nine (9) days: votive, being that these are masses offered for a votum, <\/em>a Latin word which means \u2018special intention.\u2019\u00a0 These are also considered novena masses: the novena to the Blessed Virgin when she carried her Son in her womb; and to the Holy Child, although his account in the Gospels are quite scant, with the historical eye of Luke (2:41-52) capturing his story as the boy Jesus was \u2018seemingly\u2019 lost in the temple.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a story common among the Cebuanos that the Sto. Ni\u00f1o<\/em> (Holy Child) always gets lost.\u00a0 In the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish in Pardo (Cebu) for instance, I grew up hearing the story of a female fish vendor who sold a kilo of tulingan <\/em>(mackerel) to a little boy and the boy told the fish vendor to collect the payment from the kura paroko <\/em>(parish priest).\u00a0 True enough, the vendor went to the parish priest, only to be told that the kura<\/em> never asked anyone to buy a kilo of mackerel on his behalf.\u00a0 Upon investigation, they found out inside the church that the cheeky Sto Ni\u00f1o<\/em> was holding the plastic containing the fish.\u00a0 Apparently, it was the Sto. Ni\u00f1o <\/em>himself who bought the fish.\u00a0 Hence, every year in January, when some random boy would ask a fish vendor for a kilo of mackerel without payment, the vendors would give the boy what he asked for as a sign of offering to the Holy Child.\u00a0 Maybe, some street urchins would capitalise on this for free meal, considering the poverty in the area during those times.<\/p>\n Last 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, these celebrations were whittled down to bare minimum.\u00a0 The 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, a celebration that most Cebuanos anticipated to be grand, noisy and festive, was left either on YouTube or Zoom.\u00a0 Livestreaming masses became the in-thing and all celebratory plans \u2013 be it civic or religious \u2013 have been curtailed for fear of becoming a spreader event for the dreaded virus.\u00a0 Around that time, Philippines had had at least a million cases and thousand deaths, hospitals almost reaching its 100% capacity and crematoriums could not accommodate dead bodies to be cremated due to virus.<\/p>\n Another beautiful story unfolded in St. Agatha Parish in Cranbourne, Victoria.\u00a0 The Filipino Catholics of the parish celebrated its first Simbang Gabi <\/em>on December 2018 and this became an annual novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary.\u00a0 Flocking to the Church at 5 o\u2019clock in the morning, the parish priest Fr. Joseph Abutu, was amazed to find out on the first dawn mass in 2018 that the Church was almost full. \u00a0This went on for nine (9) mornings and finally he realised the faith of the Filipinos.<\/p>\n Fast forward in December 2020 when the pandemic was raging and Fr. Joseph could not go to Nigeria for his annual holiday and visit to his family, the kind-hearted priest revisited the \u2018whispers\u2019 among the Cebuanos about the novena to the Sto. Ni\u00f1o<\/em>.\u00a0 That \u2018whisper\u2019 gathered momentum until it eventually reached \u2018fever pitch\u2019 after the novena to the Blessed Virgin.\u00a0 Maybe the Blessed Virgin Mary planned it that way: there\u2019s no way she would let us miss the celebration for her Son, our Saviour!\u00a0 Especially in a time of need, when prayers need to be heard both in the public square and inside the churches!<\/p>\n The Cebuanos gathered and met with their parish priest: another votive novena mass was planned and a new Sinulog <\/em>Committee was born.\u00a0 This novena will be both religious and festive, drumbeats and colourful costumes, singing and waving of hands to the gozos <\/em>aptly titled Batobalani sa Gugma <\/em>(Magnet of Love).\u00a0 The original joy (gozos<\/em>) of the incarnation of the Son of God expressed in our Blessed Virgin Mary\u2019s Magnificat<\/em> (Luke 1:46-55), found its way in the popular religiosity of the Cebuanos: the novena to the Sr. Sto. Ni\u00f1o <\/em>in St. Agatha\u2019s Parish Cranbourne \u2018was made flesh\u2019 and celebrated in their midst.<\/p>\n The novena mass of the Sr. Sto. Ni\u00f1o <\/em>started on the 8th<\/sup> of January and ended on the ninth day, 16th<\/sup> January 2021.\u00a0 The Feast of the Sr. Sto. Ni\u00f1o <\/em>and the Sinulog<\/em> Festival culminated on the 17th<\/sup> of January 2021 with the holy sacrifice of the mass, procession and the usual pageantry of festivities, prepared by the indefatigable Sinulog Committee headed by Harold Mollaneda.\u00a0 Due to pandemic, IT arrangements were made to reflect the number of people allowed inside the church and during the outdoor celebrations.\u00a0 Ronan Montera made an excellent set-up of the infrastructure and trained young people how to enroll the faithful so they could join the celebrations.\u00a0 There were two (2) sets of Sinulog <\/em>dancers \u2013 offerers to the Holy Child during the celebration of the mass \u2013 composed of the mature women dancers and the kabataan <\/em>(young \u2013 below 12 years old) group.\u00a0 The drum section was formed and coordinated by Giomel Pardillo, himself a devotee from Naga (Cebu).<\/p>\n The Sto. Ni\u00f1o <\/em>story continued outside of the shores of Cebu, faced with the challenges of the pandemic.\u00a0 The Eucharistic celebration is mostly attended by Filipinos but other nationalities joined in: Samoans, Indians and Aussies alike celebrate.\u00a0 Finally, Mary\u2019s son, the child Jesus, is at the centre of the celebration!\u00a0 There were more loud cries (the Viva Pit Se\u00f1ors!<\/em>) heard in the parish than anywhere in Australia.\u00a0 This viva <\/em>reverberated more than the virus, and for nine (9) days fear dissipated in the air of prayerful cries.<\/em><\/p>\n This year 2022 has a different flavour to it.\u00a0 For one, the Sinulog Committee is headed by women of faith: Madeleine Hidalgo, herself a Cebuana and a nurse; and Beth Avila, another Cebuana and loves to sing in a mass choir.\u00a0 They faced difficult challenges since the virus has mutated into the Omicron strain, the most infectious so far.\u00a0 There were three (3) groups of dancers headed by Tulip Ramirez, Priscila Zhang and Miriam Bacolod.\u00a0 The Sinulog Queen<\/em> in 2022 was prayerfully done through draw lots and blessed by Fr. Joseph: Teresa Mabitad was chosen among several contenders.\u00a0 There was also the Kabataan <\/em>dancers, a group of young kids aged 12 and below with their own princess, Justine de la Torre.<\/p>\n COVID Infection was rampant and while the Committee hatched a plan sometime November 2021, one by one the dancers and drummers got infected and had to quarantine.\u00a0 Fr. Joseph decided to finally go to Nigeria for a much-anticipated visit to his family but Fr. Stanly Devasia, his assistant, went down badly because of the virus.\u00a0 Some families had to beg off from coming to the actual mass and settled via livestream due to the community infection.\u00a0 But there was one resolution that the community of faithful committed to: celebrate the novena mass of the Holy Child because His blessing knows no virus strain.\u00a0 There were days where no priest could celebrate the mass but somehow the hand of the Holy Child guided these priests to celebrate them for the community who thirsted more-than-anything for His blessing. \u00a0\u00a0The mass was completed for nine (9) days and we are grateful for these priests who found their way to St. Agatha Parish and preached the good news brought by the Holy Child: fathers Andrew Madry, Novie Lim, Percy Sevare OSA, Antony Rebelo, Confidence Masvosva and Michael Willemsen.\u00a0 Fr. Stanly Devasia, the Assistant Parish Priest of St. Agatha, finally recovered on the last day of the novena and presided the mass on the 9th<\/sup> day and the fiesta <\/em>mass the following day.<\/p>\n There were so many blessings to recount, like having an official photographer Van Castillo whose shots captured the beauty of the celebration, dances and prayers. \u00a0The holy sacrifice of the mass had family and company sponsors and while we did have a fellowship dinner after each mass in 2021, the 2022 is a little subdued, focusing more on prayers and the invocations of Viva Pit Se\u00f1or.\u00a0 <\/em>There are numerous people \u2013 some anonymous \u2013 that I would like to mention but I know their names are engraved in the heart of the Holy Child and his Mother.\u00a0 They have faces, names and smiles that I may not portray in this short reflection but are etched in-between these words I conjured to paint a two-edged reality of faith and challenges.<\/p>\n On days that I prayed to the Holy Child in the Church after the mass and when everyone had gone home, there was a sense of serenity in my heart.\u00a0 I know it is not pride to but joy: joy in worship and believing in people\u2019s goodness despite their own brokenness, and in mine too. \u00a0In this contemplation, I remember the words of the prophet Isaiah (9:2): \u201cthe people who walked in darkness have seen a great light\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n The Se\u00f1or Santo Ni\u00f1o <\/em>has brought the light to us here in the outskirts of Melbourne: at St. Agatha\u2019s Parish in Cranbourne, the Diocese of Sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Neil Daculan \u2013 Deacon of the Archdiocese of Melbourne 19 January 2022 December and January are very busy months for the Filipino Catholic faithful because of two (2) momentous annual celebrations: the Simbang Gabi (dawn masses) in December and then Sto. Ni\u00f1o in January.\u00a0 Both are votive masses for nine (9) days: votive, being…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":328,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinulog.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}