Following the surge of COVID-19 cases and the prevalence of its Omicron variant in National Capital Region, two Santo Niño churches in the city of Manila will be closed to the public for the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Child Jesus on the third Sunday of January.

The Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Niño de Tondo and Sto. Niño de Pandacan Parish had announced the postponement of all public Eucharistic celebrations on January 16, 2022, and instead, hold live online Fiesta Masses over their respective Facebook pages.

Pandacan Church will livestream its fiesta celebrations at 6:30am, 7:30am, 9:00am, 3:30pm, 5:00pm and 6:00pm via their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/stoninoparishpandacan/.

Meanwhile, Tondo Church’s Fiesta Masses will be aired live every hour in the morning starting at 5:00 until 11:00am, and from 4:00 in the afternoon to 7:00 in the evening, through their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/stoninodetondoparish/.

Prior to its feast day celebrations, the Archdiocesan Shrine will also have three (3) Masses online on January 15, 2022, Saturday at 4:00pm, 5:30pm and 7:00pm.

His Eminence, Jose F. Cardinal Advincula will preside on his first Santo Niño Fiesta Mass as Archbishop of Manila on January 15 at 5:30 in the afternoon and will be streamed live via Tondo Church’s FB page.

Both churches urged the faithful, especially the devotees of the Holy Child Jesus, to continue praying for the end of the worsening pandemic and to celebrate the feast day safely wherever they may be.

The devotion to Santo Niño de Tondo was started in 1572, almost a year after Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded Spanish Manila, while the veneration to Santo Niño de Pandacan began in the early 1600s. (Lem Leal Santiago/RCAM-AOC | Photo from Archdiocesan Shrine of Santo Nino de Tondo Facebook Page)