CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu announced it will return to pre-pandemic Mass schedules, including hourly services on Fridays, starting December 1.
The Augustinian friars who administer the basilica announced the new schedule in a post on their official Facebook page.
The new schedules will be implemented in time for the increased number of massgoers and pilgrims in December and heading to January, in time for the Sinulog. During the Sinulog, held on the third Sunday of January, millions of pilgrims from all over the world converge in Cebu to venerate the Holy Child.
“As the world recovers from the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño wishes to inform everyone of the resumption of the pre-pandemic schedule of Masses and confessions beginning December 1, 2024, the First Sunday of Advent,” the Augustinian priests said in their announcement.
The new daily schedule of Masses will be:
Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays
6 am (Cebuano)
7 am (Cebuano)
8 am (English)
12:15 pm (Cebuano)
5:30 pm (English)
The 12:15 pm Mass every second Monday of the month will be in English.
The Friday schedule will be:
5 am (Cebuano)
6 am (Cebuano)
7 am (English)
8 am (English)
9 am (English)
10 am (Cebuano)
11 am (Cebuano)
12 nn (English)
3 pm (Cebuano)
4:30 pm (Cebuano)
5:30 pm (English)
6:30 pm (English)
7:30 pm (English)
Solemn Novena and Benediction will be held at 8:30 pm every first Friday of the month.
For Sundays and holy days of obligation, the schedule will be:
5:30 am (Cebuano)
7 am (Cebuano)
8:30 am (English)
10 am (Cebuano)
11:30 am (English)
2:30 pm (Cebuano)
4 pm (Cebuano)
5:30 pm (English)
7 pm (English)
Confessions will be from 8 am to 12 pm and 3 pm to 7 pm every Friday. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, confessions are scheduled from 4 to 5:20 pm.
Aside from new Mass schedules, the Basilica Minore is also implementing a stricter dress code for churchgoers. Despite the controversy it has generated, the dress code has received mostly positive feedback, according to an Augustinian friar. – Rappler.com
Max Limpag, a freelance journalist from Cebu, is a 2024 Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.