Sto. Niño church in Cebu open to pilgrims 24 hours from Jan. 5-15

SACRED RITUAL: In this Jan. 16, 2016 file photo, the centuries-old image of the Santo Niño arrives at the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City, Cebu province, on Friday after a procession marking the start of the feast of the Holy Child Jesus. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY — The Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in downtown Cebu City will be open 24 hours a day to welcome pilgrims starting January 5 until the feast day on Jan. 15.

Fr. Pacifico Nohara, OSA, the rector of the centuries-old church, is anticipating throngs of people who will attend the novena Masses and pay homage to the Child Jesus.

Except on January 5 and 13 where there are dawn processions, 11 Masses will be held at the outdoor Pilgrim Center everyday leading to the feast of the Sto. Nino.

The schedules are 4 a.m. (except on Jan. 5 and 13), 5:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 7 p.m.

Communion stations are also set up outside the basilica complex to cope with the large crowd coming for the Masses.

This way, church goers who want to  receive Holy Communion can approach the communion stations outside.

The Fiesta Senor 2017 officially starts on Thursday with the annual “Walk with Jesus,” a penitential foot procession from Fuente Osmeña to the basilica at 4:30 a.m.

The two-kilometer walk is expected to draw thousands of devotees.

Fr. Nohara, who is on his first year as rector of the basilica, will preside over the first novena Mass at 5:30 a.m. at the Pilgrim Center where this year’s fiesta Hermano and Hermana Mayores — businessman Leo Manguilimotan and wife Cristina– will be installed.

The theme for this year’s feast is “Santo Niño: Source of Communion, Protector of Creation,” which is patterned after the pastoral thrust of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the Year of the Parish, and Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si (Praise be to you) on the care of the environment.

“In a world full of strife, war and division, our faith in the Sto. Niño will hold us together. Let us pray for peace in our beloved country and for our families. The Sto. Niño is the source of communion,” said Nohara, a native of Pilar town, Camotes Island in Cebu.  SFM/rga

In this January 5, 2015, file photo, Catholics keeping a devotion to the Holy Child Jesus return to the Basilica del Santo Niño, home of the Santo Niño in Cebu City, after it reopened on Dec. 24, 2014, following a year of repair on quake-damaged parts of the church. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS