By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo

Bato Balani sa Gugma

There’s always a sea of people at the temple of the Basilica Del Sto. Nino in Cebu.  From the start of the novena of Nino Jesus, people flock to the church starting at dawn for the novena mass until evening.  Masses are celebrated with a gap of 30 minutes hourly until evening. Despite the waves of people entering and exiting, there is orderliness in people’s behavior. You come in with undefined joy and peace.  People are friendly and would happily offer their sears to elderly and the physically challenged. 

This is really a personal experience I had in those times when I could stand a long, long walk of the procession from Fuente Osmena to the Basilica.  People pray and sing the Bato Balani Sa Gugma with handkerchiefs waving to the carroza bearing the Holy image of the Child Jesus, encased in a fireproof, scratch proof and rubber proof glass.

People at the sidewalk stand by in reverence as they join the singing and praying of those in the procession.  They offer water to those in need of quenching their thirst. But most often, people joining the procession bring their own provision.  Transports are available only in designated places and these are properly parked. 

The icon is fully secured. The flowers cascading on the carroza, all in white, make you feel heavenly.  Orchids, liliums, tulips and what have you – all these are offered to the Child Jesus. The vestment of the Child Jesus is embroidered in gold rolls of thread embellished with precious stones. All these are truly fit to a King.

The scene at the Basilica of the Child Jesus in Cebu is in contrast to the feast of Senor Jesus Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila.  People there show their intense devotion just as people in Cebu do to the Child Jesus. But why is it that the procession in Manila shows a stampede of the Translacion?Novena for the Black Nazarene starts on New Year’s day and people from the provinces come to venerate the Black Nazarene.  Those at the Quiapo area prepare food for the fiesta, welcoming those joining the procession.  This is a tradition upheld by the residents of old Manila.

This year, the Translacion for the Black Nazaren ended at 11 o’clock the following day with one death and several injured.