Sto. Cristo de Longos of Binondo

A BINONDO LEGEND. One of Binondo’s legends revolves around the venerated image of the Santo Cristo de Longos. The Cofradia de Sto. Cristo de Longos handed over a brief history of the Cristo. The story goes that in the 16th century a deaf-mute Chinese was drawing water from a well in the barrio of Longos. When he pulled out the pail, he found a blackened corpus, an image of the crucified Christ. He began shouting about his discovery as he miraculously gain his speech.

The parish priest fitted the image with a cross and brought it the Capilla de San Gabriel. The venerated image stayed their until the earthquake of 1863 destroyed the chapel. The miraculous Cristo was found unscathed under the rubble and was brought to Binondo Church.

STO. CRISTO DE LONGOS. The original image of the Santo Cristo is displayed in a glass-covered niche near the side entrance of church of Binondo. A shrine located in San Nicholas District was built on the site of the old well of barrio Longos where the miraculous image of Christ was found by the deaf-mute Chinese. The main street of the old barrio of Longos was named Santo Cristo.

STREET-SIDE TEMPLE. Along the main road of Manila’s Chinatown, a street-side temple was built. Here people come to burn joss sticks, make offerings, and recite a prayer to the Sto. Cristo de Longos.