by Enrico Miguel Maghinang
For years the Black Nazarene has attracted millions of devotees due to its miracles and uncommon appearance. Ever year on January 9, Streets leading to the Quiapo Church in Manila are always known to be flooded with devotees, and each year their number grows.
From the 15 million devotees that flocked to Quiapo to join the Translacion (literally ‘transfer’) the church estimated this year’s devotees to have grown around 19 million.
But where did all this began? How did a statue of Jesus Christ carrying a cross manage to attract millions of Filipino?
It is believed that in 1606 an anonymous Mexican carved the image of Jesus Christ bent from the weight of his cross from wood representing the passion and suffering.
In 1605, the image boarded a galleon in Acapulco, Mexico, heading towards Manila. And from here, stories of how it became the ebony statue known today began. It was said that during its trip to Manila, a fire broke out in the ship but only tainting the fair skin the image and not completely burning it.
However, upon further inspection of scholars and the church, the image was not in fact charred since it was dark through its core. The church based this claim from their research in Mexico where the Mesquite tree, a dark tree, native in Mexico, is a popular medium during its time of creation.
Its dark complexion earned it the title Black Nazarene, the latter derived from "Nazarene", a title of Christ identifying him as a native of Nazareth in Galilee.
While other stories claimed that the Nazarene was charred through extensive exposure from votive candles lit at its altar, the fact that it is an uncommon image for its complexion, may be a reason for its devotees.
The black Nazarene was first accepted by Augustinian Recollect priests in May 1606 who then brought it to its first home in Luneta, the Church of San Juan Bautista.
Two years later, in 1608, the Nazareno was transferred to the second, bigger Recollect Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino.
The Recollect Fathers promoted the devotion to the image dramatically that Pope Innocent X gave Papal approval the confraternity’s established Cofradia de Santo Cristo Jesús Nazareno on April 21, 1621.
Sometime in the year 1787, then Archbishop of Manila, Basilio Sancho de Santas Junta y Rufina, ordered the transfer of the image of the Nazareno to the church in Quiapo, under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.
The Black Nazarene made a lot of miraculous things. These are the survival of the image from the great fires that destroyed Quiapo Church in 1791 and 1929, the great earthquakes of 1645 and 1863, and the destructive Bombing of Manila in 1945 during World War II. Today the head and the cross stay on the Altar Mayor of the Minor Basilica, and the original body image of the Black Nazarene is used in the processions.
This simple custom evolved through the Translacion we know today. Through popularized religiosity the Nazarene earned millions of devotees willing to dive through waves of people to have a chance to wipe from his image.
Popularized religiosity like the festival of the Black Nazarene was not recognized by the Church as a universal practice long before. But now, These have affected our interest and understanding of the devotion as well as our search for a spirituality associated with the devotion.
The image of Nazareno is brought out of its shrine for procession three times a year: January 9 Translacion, Good Friday, the Nazarene’s liturgical feast, commemorating the culmination of the Passion, and lastly, December 31 on New Year's Eve, the first day of its annual novena.
While other stories claimed that the Nazarene was charred through extensive exposure from votive candles lit at its altar, the fact that it is an uncommon image for its complexion, may be a reason for its devotees.
The black Nazarene was first accepted by Augustinian Recollect priests in May 1606 who then brought it to its first home in Luneta, the Church of San Juan Bautista.
Two years later, in 1608, the Nazareno was transferred to the second, bigger Recollect Church of San Nicolas de Tolentino.
The Recollect Fathers promoted the devotion to the image dramatically that Pope Innocent X gave Papal approval the confraternity’s established Cofradia de Santo Cristo Jesús Nazareno on April 21, 1621.
Sometime in the year 1787, then Archbishop of Manila, Basilio Sancho de Santas Junta y Rufina, ordered the transfer of the image of the Nazareno to the church in Quiapo, under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.
The Black Nazarene made a lot of miraculous things. These are the survival of the image from the great fires that destroyed Quiapo Church in 1791 and 1929, the great earthquakes of 1645 and 1863, and the destructive Bombing of Manila in 1945 during World War II. Today the head and the cross stay on the Altar Mayor of the Minor Basilica, and the original body image of the Black Nazarene is used in the processions.
This simple custom evolved through the Translacion we know today. Through popularized religiosity the Nazarene earned millions of devotees willing to dive through waves of people to have a chance to wipe from his image.
Popularized religiosity like the festival of the Black Nazarene was not recognized by the Church as a universal practice long before. But now, These have affected our interest and understanding of the devotion as well as our search for a spirituality associated with the devotion.
The image of Nazareno is brought out of its shrine for procession three times a year: January 9 Translacion, Good Friday, the Nazarene’s liturgical feast, commemorating the culmination of the Passion, and lastly, December 31 on New Year's Eve, the first day of its annual novena.
The common interpretation as to why Filipinos flock to the Nazarene is because they identify with the image. They relate their own suffering and struggles, that each person carries a burden- a cross. They see themselves get back on their feet again bearing that cross and embrace that cross.
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