Yesterday marks the first day of the 9 days novena mass for the Sinulog festival. As a devotee of Senior Sto Nino, i try my best to complete the 9 day novena yearly. Some years were successful but most years i skipped a day or two because of unforeseen events. This year, I am determined to complete the 9 consecutive days of novena.
The Basilica Del Santo Nino church is located in downtown of the City therefore, crowds are marching everywhere in the area. Downtown Cebu is the oldest City in Cebu and is best known for many tradings. On normal days, it is still crowded but more so today.
Adjacent to the church is the famous La Fortuna Bakery that sells tasty delicacies. They are well known for their hopia, a filipino cake-like pastry with beans as filling. Most tourist buy this pastry as gift to their love ones at home.
This Spanish historic alley will lead is to the church. As you know, the Philippines was conquered by the Spaniards for 333 years so its no surprise that our architectural structures are deeply influenced by it.
Located at the back of the church is the Prudential Bank and Trust Company building. I'm personally quite intrigue by this ancient building since this has already been acquired by another bank- Bank of The Philippines- thus currently none existing. If not for today, i wouldn't even know it existed.
Inside the church, thousands of people gathered to attend the novena mass. Since its a weekday, most devotees still came from work or school. After all these years, we Cebuanos remain strong in faith as we hurdle our day to day challenges in life.
That's it for today's blog. See you in my next one!
Sending some love and light
Love, Jane