There is a saying that goes…”The later in life you start a family, then the better prepared you will be for the future”. In our case, we were married in 2002 and both of us not being “spring chickens” anymore; we decided to start a family right away. Since then, we had been waiting for a “date with the stork” but nothing had happened by the end of the year, so we became a little concerned.
Through the advice of family and close friends in our local prayer group, the Voice of God, we were advised to attend the 9-day novena in honour of Senor Santo Nino. Trusting our faith in God, despite many business and personal commitments at that time, we committed ourselves to finish the novena and also accepted an invitation to dance in the Sinulog Liturgical tribute to Senor Santo Nino.
We encountered many difficulties attending the 9-day novena, one problem after another, each one more difficult than the last and enough to break even the most determined novena devotee. Equipped by our faith, trust and commitment to Sto Nino, we managed to complete all nine novena masses that year. Through all of these challenges we were constantly reminded that, “The closer you come to God the more the devil will try to stop you in praising and worshipping the Lord”.
At first, we were hesitant to accept the challenge to dance before the many people attending the event but our group even showed us their prayers and support by dancing with us.
In 2003, both my husband and I joined the Liturgical dance at the Sinulog Festival and through that experience we became devotees of Senor Santo Nino. The following year, 2004, we again attended Sinulog from Sydney, Australia, but this time I was pregnant, radiant and expecting our child. And in 2005, our child, 6 months old then, had been presented and introduced before the faithful devotees. Even though we have lived in Australia for the past eight years since, we have continued to attend the Sinulog Festival regularly, this time as a family because of our bundle of joy, Maria-Teresa Angelica whom we fondly called ANGEL, the Gift of Sto Nino!
This year, 2012 Sinulog, I will again be doing the Liturgical dance together with my husband and our (now 7-year old) Santo Nino’s daughter, who will both be singing as members of the Laetare Children’s Choir and the Voice of God choir at the Sinulog Festival’s Eucharistic Mass. As we sing and dance and lift our Praise and Worship to God, we also lift our Thanksgiving to Senor Santo Nino!
Thank you Lord for the many blessings you have bestowed upon us all these years . . . . .
As we give glory to God, our family says. . . “ PIT SENOR SANTO NINO!”
In Jesus and Mary,
Larrie, Susan & Angelica
The Clark Family