The Holy Child of Cebu
The oldest Christian artifact in the Philippines · Cebu · 1521
April 14, 1521: the first baptism
On April 14, 1521, Ferdinand Magellan landed in Cebu and celebrated a solemn mass on the seashore. Rajah Humabon, his wife Hara Humamay, and more than eight hundred people from the tribe agreed to be baptized that day, in an event that would mark the beginning of Christianity in the Philippine archipelago.
Magellans offered the raja three gifts: a bust of Christ as Ecce Homo, an image of the Virgin Mary and a small size of the Child Jesus. According to the chronicle of Antonio Pigafetta, it was precisely the image of Our Lady that awoke a special emotion in Queen Hara Humumay before baptism.
Forty-four years of silence
A few weeks later, Magellan died at the Battle of Mactan. The Spanish presence was interrupted. On April 28, 1565, Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition reached Cebu. While the town was being set ablaze during the fighting, a soldier, Juan Camus, found a small, intact box among the smoldering ruins. Inside was the Holy Child of Magellan: the wood uncharred, the colors vibrant, the golden crown in place.
Asia's oldest devotion
The Augustines built a church at the site of the find - the current Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebu - and placed the image there. Today, every third Sunday of January, the Drunken It calls for more than five million pilgrims in the streets of Cebu, making it one of the largest religious concentrations in Asia.
in the Pacific Islands,
May your love reach all the ends of the sea. Amen.