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Friars to put Ecce Homo on display

Augustinian community hopes to spread devotion to recovered image
Friars to put Ecce Homo on display
A replica of the Ecce Homo at a religious procession in Cebu
Published: August 22, 2011 07:31 AM GMT
Updated: August 22, 2011 08:14 AM GMT

Augustinian friars in Cebuprovincehave drawn up plans to spread devotion to the "Ecce Homo," an image of a suffering Christ. The sculpture depicts a tortured Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate addressing a crowd saying: "Behold the Man (Ecce Homo)." It was discovered on August 20, 1572, by a Spanish soldier in a coffin containing what is believed to be the body of Rajah Humabon, Cebu's pre-colonial leader. In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellangave an image of the child Jesus (Sto. Niño) to Hara Amihan -- Humabon's wife. The Ecce Homo was given to Humabon. Father Eusebio Berdon, head of the Augustinian community in Cebu, said the congregation will house the image in a marble niche near the Augustinian church’s entrance. "It will be bulletproof just like the one for the Sto. Niño. There will also be a plaque with a short history of the image," Fr. Berdon said. He said he will ask permission from the Archbishop of Cebu to establish a "public devotion" for the image, which was returned to Cebu from Manila last week. Fr. Asis Bajao, curator of the San Agustin museum in Intramuros, said the image was taken to Manila in 1965 during celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines. He said nobody knows why the image, with its head made of ivory and shoulders of wood, was never returned to Cebu. Fr. Berdon said the Augustinian congregation decided to ask for the return the image to Cebu to help spread devotion among Cebuanos. The Augustinian friars are also consulting with heritage experts to preserve the centuries-old image.

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