LOOK: Devotees ‘welcome home’ Sto. Niño de Cebu image

Devotees of the Santo Niño (Christ Child) of Cebu "welcomed home" the image of their patron following a Traslacion from the Basilica de Santo Niño to the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish in Cebu City Friday.

The San Nicolas de Tolentino parish is where the image of the Christ Child was believed found some 450 years ago, GMA Cebu's Vic Serna reported.

A photo posted by Serna showed the image being brought to the parish, with priests and devotees enduring the hot weather to get a glimpse of it.

Friday's activity is part of the 450th Kaplag, commemorating the finding of the image.

The Basilica de Santo Niño website said the Santo Niño icon of Cebu is recognized as the oldest religious relic in the Philippines, dating to the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.

While the Santo Niño image was given to Queen Juana, the Christian faith did not immediately flourish in the Philippines due to Magellan's death in battle.

Some 44 years later - on April 28, 1565, the Legazpi-Urdaneta Expedition arrived in Cebu and discovered (pagkakaplag) the same wooden image in a partially scorched hut.

At Friday's Traslacion, the image was brought to San Nicolas Parish. Devotees welcomed it at the border of Barangays Pasil and San Nicolas.

Many of the devotees then accompanied it to the church.

The devotees said they were thankful to the Santo Niño for helping them discover the humble traits of a child.

Final traslacion

On Sunday, a final Traslacion will be held after the Mass at the San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish.

The image will be brought to the St. Joseph National Shrine in Mandaue City.

On Monday, the image will be loaded on a galleon for a fluvial procession back to the basilica. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News