Nazarene draws 1.7M

MANILA, Philippines – Braving a chilly morning drizzle, over a million devotees joined the festivities and grand procession of the revered Black Nazarene in Manila Sunday, the Manila Police District (MPD) reported.

Superintendent Remigio Sedanto, chief of the MPD Operations Division which is in charge of crowd control, said 1.3-million people were at the overnight vigil and attended the morning’s Mass at Quirino Grandstand while 500,000 other devotees who made their way barefoot to Quiapo Church from various parts of the metropolis.

Sedanto gave the crowd estimate at 2 p.m. and said that a number of untoward incidents arising from a restless crowd led to the injury or fainting of over 400 people.

Gwen Pang of the Philippine National Red Cross, which had nine medical emergency stations and 14 standby ambulances, said that as of 2 p.m. Sunday, 453 people had been attended to, mostly for fainting and slight injuries.

Nine people were taken to the Ospital ng Maynila (OsMa) and one to the Gat Andres Bonifiacio Hospital.

After staying the night at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, some 800,000 devotees who attended the Mass joined the traditional grand procession that brought back 404-year-old image of Christ – many believe to be miraculous – from Luneta to the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church or St. John the Baptist Parish) early Sunday morning.

The long procession began at about 7:30 a.m., shortly after the 6 a.m. mass celebrated by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales at the Quirino Grandstand, where the image was taken Saturday for an overnight vigil and a series of activities.




While chanting “Viva Senor!” a sea of barefoot devotees, majority of whom were clad in maroon shirts, which is associated with the image, tried to touch the ropes attached to the gilded carroza (carriage) of the Black Nazarene. Devotees believe the ropes have miraculous and healing powers. As has been the practice the past years, female devotees in front of the procession were allowed to help pull the ropes. Those who could not get near waved their white handkerchiefs or hurled their towels to the marshals guarding the Black Nazarene, and which in turn were thrown back to the crowd after wiping them on the miraculous image of the Poong Nazareno.

Many followed the procession singing the “Ama Namin” (Our Father), while carrying replicas of the Back Nazarene and crucifixes. At the Plaza Miranda, tens of thousands of devotees waited for the arrival of the Black Nazarene. Large crowds also attended the masses at the Quiapo Church held by the hour from 3 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.

As of early Sunday afternoon, the organizers said, the grand procession was moving at a faster pace this year and was estimated to make it back to the church between 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., in time for the last mass scheduled at 9 p.m. The Black Nazarene procession ended at around 9 p.m. in 2009 and at past 10 p.m. last year.

Be ready to make sacrifices Cardinal Rosales, in his homily during the early morning mass at the Quirino Grandstand, called on the Catholic faithful “to be ready to make sacrifices.” He said, “Ang pagbabago ay bunga ng pagmamalasakit. Kung ang isang tao ay hindi handing magmalasakit, hindi matutuloy ang pagbabago. Ito ang nakikita natin sa larawan ni Hesus Nazareno.” (Renewal is a result of sacrifice, If a person is not ready to make sacrifices, change will not come about. This is what we see in the image of the Black Nazarene).

He urged the faithful “to pray for God’s blessings, to help each Filipino and to pray for every family, their parish, and the nation” as well as to follow the example of the Black Nazarene particularly in terms of simplicity and loyalty to one’s friends, as Jesus was to His disciples.

Meanwhile, over 100,000 Black Nazarene devotees joined the 53rd annual procession of a replica of the miraculous image Sunday at 3 p.m. in Cagayan de Oro, where a vigil was held at the Jesus of Nazareth Parish Church in the town of Lapasan.

Msgr. Rey Manuel Monsanto, parish priest said, devotees of the Black Nazarene in Cagayan de Oro have grown in number over the years, especially after the image of the Black Nazarene was brought to Mindanao in 2009.

Unknown to many, the black wooden cross of the centuries-old Black Nazareneimage from Mexico has a spring which allows it to bend.

Msgr. Clemente Ignacio, rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church), said the cross has a spring for it to be able to easily enter areas with low arches during a procession.

“That was a spring because when the cross enters under the bridge of Quinta(Quiapo) Market we bend it for it to pass through,” he told reporters.

Former vicar- general of Quiapo Church Fr. Alvin Fullon, for his part, narrated the time when the Nazarene’s cross was damaged.

“It got stuck because the arch of the bridge was low, so we decided to make it flexible to prevent a similar incident,” he said.

Some devotees got worried Sunday when a portion of the cross of the centuries- old image bent backwards, while the group Hijos del Nazareno (Sons of the Lord Nazarene) was preparing the Nazareno for the procession.

Aside from the cross, the original body of the Nazareno, together with the replica of the head, was carried Sunday from Luneta all the way to Quiapo Church.

Ignacio, meantime, called on the faithful not to focus so much on touching the image because Christ is always present in the Eucharist.

“The procession is just an outflow of the Eucharist... Christ is really in the Eucharist,” he said.

The church official said people can also show devotion to Christ by following His teachings.

“The right devotion is embracing Christ’s teachings and allowing Him to enter our life it is only then that we become true disciples of Christ,” said Ignacio. (With reports from Leslie Ann G. Aquino, Leonardo D. Postrado, John Carlo M. Cahinhinan)
source: http://www.mb.com.ph/