Santo Niño de Arevalo - The Third Oldest image of the Holy Child in the Philippines

Santo Niño de Arevalo

The historic town of Arevalo, Iloilo, where the town is known as one of the earliest Villas established by the Spaniards in the country. Yet, only a handful of the faithful knew that the parish of Arevalo houses the third oldest image of Santo Niño in the country - the miraculous and centuries old image of Santo Niño de Arevalo.

This image of the Sto Nino De Arevalo, considered the third oldest in the Philippines after the Sto Ninos of Cebu (1521) and Tondo (1572), is venerated at the simple yet beautiful church at Villa Arevalo, Iloilo City.

The image

The centuries old image of Santo Niño de Arevalo is that of a wooden image of the Child Jesus in a kingly regalia: an embroidered set of vestments, wears a crown, holds a scepter and a globus cruciger which are diagnostic to most images of the Santo Niño in the Philippines. What was unique to this image is that the image has brown skinned yet his carved hair is that of blonde color and blue eyes.

The History

The image of Sto Nino de Arevalo was said to be brought by the Augustinians upon the establishment of La Villa Rica de Arevalo (now Villa Arevalo) as a Spanish settlement and as the capital of Oton province in 1581. The missionaries believe that the image of the Child Jesus is instrumental in spreading the message of God’s love for His people, especially the poor and needy.

Santo Niño de Arevalo

Miracles

The image may have been consecrated at the same time the new pueblo of Arevalo was established. It had survived many crises like the transfer of people to Punta de Iloilo, the Dutch and Moro raids, fires and earthquakes strong enough to topple His belfries and church.

Testimonies of miracles are well known to the people of the parish like sick people recovering from terminal diseases like cancer or serious injuries, childless couples having offspring, or saving the town from famine or lack of rain. It is also said that the Sto Nino defended the town from a Moro raid. The people, upon seeing a flotilla of Moro pirates coming, placed the image at the coast. According to the story, the pirates where stopped by a boy with a red cloak.

Even the survival of the image is considered miraculous. During World War II, the American troops burned down the municipal hall and the convent of Arevalo fearing that the Japanese may use them as their garrisons. The residents saw the fire consuming the convent but were bewildered that the fire was suddenly put out.

Another story involves the strong earthquake of 1948 in Panay. The earthquake, having a magnitude of 8.3, almost destroyed the church of Arevalo. Upon seeing their altar destroyed by the quake, they were surprised to see the Sto Nino stood still on top of flail pedestal.

Santo Niño de Arevalo Parish

The home of the Holy Child

The Arevalo Church, the home of the Image of Sto Nino De Arevalo, is placed at the middle of Plaza Villa. This is a unique feature considering almost all churches are separated from their plazas. It is of modern design since some part of the church were destroyed either by fire or by earthquakes. The image of Sto. Nino is found at the right side of the main altar, encased in glass and is flanked by angels made of wood at both sides. A convent with Spanish colonial style is at the side of the church and serves as the priests’ residence, activity hall for church organizations, and administrative office.

Vicaria of  Santo Niño de Arevalo

The Devotion 

In January, Arevalo celebrates its town fiesta in honor of the Santo Niño. The festivities take place during the month of January, the Fiesta day is held every 3rd Sunday of January. During Fiesta day households open their doors and prepare food for fiesta goers, friends, visitors and distant relatives. A fireworks display contest is one of the highlights of the celebration held on the night of the town fiesta.

However, since the Fiesta was a week prior the famous Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City,  Ironically, a different image of the Santo Niño is being celebrated. That particular festival rather celebrates the coming of the replica of Sto Nino de Cebu to Iloilo in 1968. This somehow poses a problem that could have been the cause of the faint popularity of the Sto Nino de Arevalo. Given with this situation, we should not forget the significance of the Santo Niño de Arevalo and the protection that he gave to Iloilo and hopefully, this important image of the Holy Child of Arevalo, Iloilo will be given the popular acclaim that the image deserved, just like its predecessors, that of Cebu and Tondo, Manila.

Santo Niño de Arevalo, Have mercy on us and protect us!

Reference:

Abe, Florendo, (2001), Santo Niño : the Holy Child devotion in the Philippines, Congregacion del Santisimo Nombre del Niño Jesus, Manila.
Segador, Mark (2011), Sto Nino De Arevalo of Iloilo: Miraculous, Historical But Uncelebrated, Retrieved on September 10, 2017 from http://iloiloilove.com/sto-nino-de-arevalo-iloilo-miraculous-historical-uncelebrated/.