The Feast of the Sto Niño is observed in the Philippines on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, which falls this year on 15 January. Some time ago we received a question at forum@misyononline.com about the different kinds of statues of the Sto Niño and responded in our Forum. Here are the question and answer, slightly edited.
Hi. I am from Singapore and recently I've started the devotion to Santo Niño after I brought back a Santo Niño from Tacloban. The Holy Child is wearing a hat, carries a bag on his left hand, which is raised in blessing, and on his right hand, he carries a cross. He is dressed in green.
Below are the questions I have:
- I would like to know the name of this particular Santo Niño and its historical and cultural background.
- It seems that there are so many types of Santo Niño in the Philippines. Why is that so?
- I would also like to know how I can express my devotion to this particular Santo Niño which I brought back from Tacloban.
- How many Santo Niños can I place in my house? Can I have a collection of different Santo Niños on one altar? Will there be a conflict?
- What is the difference between a Santo Niño dressed in green and one in red? Do I need to have both on my altar only one?
Since the earliest days of Christianity artists have been depicting Jesus as a child, during his public life, on the Cross, after his Resurrection. There are no photos of Jesus so artists use their imagination.
In art galleries you will find different paintings and statues of Jesus. There is no reason why an individual cannot build a collection of artistic depictions of Jesus. So if you want to collect different versions of the Sto Niño there is nothing wrong with that.
When a devotion spreads, local artists often make a new statue or painting and this is probably the reason for the variations to be found in the Philippines and elsewhere.
I would suggest that from a devotional point of view you use only one on your altar at home, preferably an image of the Sto Niño de Cebu. There is no reason why you cannot place other versions around your house.
Devotion to the Child Jesus is not only a Filipino thing. In the home of your editor in Dublin we had an image of the Child of Prague, as did many other homes. You can read about it here. That page has a link to one about the Sto Niño de Cebu.
I will give you links to some articles on the Sto Niño that you may find helpful. One is to an entry on my personal blog, The Sleeping Santo Niño.
Here is an item in our forum from last year, Feast of Santo Niño, with links to other articles on the topic. (The links may not all work).
You can read about the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño here. The official website isn’t functioning at this time.
There is a discussion about the different colors here. I’m not sure what authority the views expressed carry. However, like the first to comment on that page I think that any idea of good luck, etc, is a distortion of proper devotion to the Child Jesus.
I hope that this helps. God bless you.