CV NEWS FEED // A massive crowd of Filipino Catholics swarmed the capital city of Manila for its annual parade of a historic 16th-century statue of the Black Nazarene.
According to an AP News report, many of the 2 million who gathered for the 15 hour-long procession said they prayed for peace in the Middle East, where over 30,000 Filipinos work. Two Filipino workers died in the October 7 attack.
“Police were on high alert during the event in Manila’s Quiapo district,” the report continued, citing a December 3 bombing which killed four people and injured dozens of others who were attending Mass in the southern Philippines.
Every year on January 9, the life-size statue of Jesus bent under the weight of the cross is carried in a parade from the church of St. Nicola de Tolentino to the parish of Quiapo following the conclusion of a novena begun on December 31.
Many of those who gathered to observe the parade were barefoot, according to tradition, and many attempted to jump onto the float carrying the statue.
Dori Hael Marquez, a mother of two young children told Asia News that she has been a “devotee” of the Black Nazarene “for decades.”
“I have continually received miracles from him,” she added.
As Asia News recounts, the statue was brought to Manila by a Spanish Augustinian priest from Mexico in 1607:
According to tradition, the boat caught fire during the voyage, but the image of Christ miraculously escaped the fire by turning black. In the past a Philippine prelate, Msgr. Sabino Vengco, stated that the dark color is linked to the use of mesquite wood.
The procession commemorates the first movement of the statue, which took place on 9 January 1767. Along the entire route (seven kilometres) of the Translation, which lasts several hours, the faithful flock to touch or kiss the sculpture as a sign of devotion, creating enormous gatherings. This is why in recent years the event has been canceled or has suffered heavy restrictions in terms of prevention and public health.
This year is the first time the parade has taken place in three years since the Pandemic.
