It was a Friday and for devout pilgrims of the Sto. Niño, the Basilica is the place to be, just like in the Black Nazarene Basilica in Manila. I had to squeeze through the throng and gaze at the sea of people just outside the church participating at one of the hourly masses. After the masses are done, the number of devotees dimish and one could see some interesting rituals and practices come alive.
Cebu is the center of the Sto. Niño de Cebu devotion in the Philippines. It is perhaps the most beloved of all Catholic religious icon in the country. A 15th century image representing the baby Jesus, it was probably carved in Flanders and brought during the historic Magellan expedition in 1521, it has a long history of devotion that has a wide following both domestic and abroad.
I hate it when commuting on both sides of Cebu and Mactan and stuck in the rush hour traffic on both sides of the bridges. The slow tedium of the flow is infuriating. Couple that with the long travel time and the frequent stops of boarding and alighting passengers just adds up to the frustration. Well, I haven’t paid much attention about the ferry plying the Mactan Channel thinking that it’s old and dilapated until I was forced by necessity when I visited Cordova doing research. And oh boy, I was in for a surprise. Why didn’t I try this before?!