TODAY the 3rd Sunday of January is-- in the Roman Catholic national liturgical calendar of the Philippines--the Solemnity or Feast of the Santo Niño. The really international Roman Catholic missals, and of course all missals published in the Philippines, have a special page with the readings and prayers for this Mass.

Cebu City and Tondo and Pandacan in the Archdiocese of Manila have made the celebration of today’s feast a stirring, unforgettable and touristic event. But the spiritual aspects of the fiesta have not disappeared thanks to the vigilance of the parish priests, specially the Agustinian fathers, who were the very first to honor the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague in the convent of the Sto. Niño de Cebu founded by Fr. Andres de Urdaneta himself on April 28, 1565. This was the very day the Legazpi-Urdaneta expedition arrived.