Pilgrim image of Senior Sto. Niño arrives today
The liturgical committee of the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation Inc. (IDFI) will lead today the devotees in welcoming the pilgrim image of Senior Sto. Niño from Cebu. The image will arrive at 7 a.m. at the Iloilo Port Terminal.
The liturgical committee headed by Jun Rivera and officials of the city government will fetch the image from the terminal. There will be a procession from the port to the San Jose Parish Church. The arrival of the image is a way of the devotees in honoring Sr. Sto. Niño, or the child Jesus. The Dinagyang festival is a yearly festival which is in honor of Sr. Sto. Niño.
Days before the arrival of the image, novena masses were held at the San Jose Parish church wherein devotees can pray or seek petition from Sto. Niño. The novena masses started last January 14 and ends on January 22.
Meantime, the committee has also requested the assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to exercise all safety measures for the fluvial procession on Friday. The procession will start at 3 pm at the Fort San Pedro Drive Inn.
The foundation wants to avoid any untoward incident while the image is being ferried from the Fort San Pedro Drive Inn to Customs House. They decided that children aging below 11 years old must not be allowed to join in the fluvial procession.
The image will be disembarked in front of Customs House for a solemn procession until the San Jose church on Friday afternoon. There would also be blessings of children, pregnant mothers and Santo Niño images at the San Jose Parish church.