Children celebrate Mission year

SAN CARLOS City, Feb. 1, 2011—The Missionary Community in San Carlos City celebrated the feast of Sto. Niño and the Holy Childhood Sunday last January 15 through a children “Sinulog” presentation.

Around 150 missionary children gathered at Balay sa Nazaret and held a procession to the chapel. The children prayed for the whole world represented by the five continents.

The children participants came from the mountains and slum areas comprising Balay sa Nazaret, Birhen sa Barangay, San Vicente, San Lorenzo, Grotto and San Juan.

“After the program, we took our snacks and proceeded to San Carlos Borromeo Cathedral with the Missionary Children to witness the ‘Sinulog’ procession and presentation,” one of the organizers said.

The word ‘Sinulog’ comes from the Cebuano adverb ‘sulog’ which roughly means "like water current movement". It describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums.

“The dance is categorized into Sinulog-based, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language,” said the organizer.

The different groups prepared their own music, costumes, props, and steps.

Aside from the celebration of the year of missions, missionary children are also active in Church activities.

On Sundays, missionary children attend catechesis where they also play, dance and sing.

During the celebration of National Bible Sunday, the children also attended the morning mass of the said event.

“In the afternoon, we went to the mountain to celebrate the National Bible Sunday in these places—Balay sa Nazaret, Birhen sa Barangay, San Vicente, San Lorenzo, Grotto and San Juan,” another organizer said.

It was followed by a procession with flowers, candles, five major colors representing five continents and the Bible.

“The missionary children placed the Bible on the altar, read the gospel, pausing for a moment of silence and shared their own prayers. The celebration was filled with children who were vibrantly singing,” she furthered. (Maria Melanie Limbaga/Jandel Posion)