Black Nazarene devotees ‘honor’ Jesus Christ with ‘Traslacion’ — Tagle
Credit to Author: CATHERINE A. MODESTO| Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2019 01:59:31 +0000
THOUSANDS of devotees of the Black Nazarene began their procession from the Quirino Grandstand to its home in Quiapo Church in Manila early Wednesday in the annual religious event, which Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said was a way of “honoring” Jesus Christ who was “devoted to the faithful first.”
Police said about 260,000 devotees attended the midnight mass before the procession or the “Traslacion” that was expected to take close to 24 hours. Last year’s procession took 22 hours before the statue of the black Christ was returned to the Parish of St. John the Baptist or popularly known as Quiapo Church.
In his homily, Tagle said in Filipino that the number of people who attend the Traslacion every year was “ordinary when you count them against the billions of devotees who attend mass everyday.”
“Araw araw, tuwing Biyernes, lalo na pag first Friday, Lahat na parokya niya, pag sinabing deboto ay di lang jan. Araw araw, saglit saglit, sa bawat panig ng daigdig,”said Tagle.
(Every day, every Friday, especially every first Friday. If you’re a devotee, it’s just not Quiapo Church. A devotee is faithful every day, every moment, in every part of the world.)
The archbishop said that celebrating the Feast of Black Nazarene was a way of “honoring” Christ who became devoted to the faithful first and showed his humility by “coming down from heaven and being one with the sinful and saving them.”
He also said that a “devotee” was not the same as a “fanatic” contrary to popular belief.
A devotee “knows how to love and is loyal,” whereas the fanatic does not and is not, said Tagle.
Fr. Danichi Hui, parochial vicar of the Quiapo Church, said more Catholics were waiting for the image in 14 prayer stations that were set up along the processional routes to prevent devotees from jostling and injuring one another.
A morning prayer was said to calm the crowd eager to join the 6.1-kilometer procession secured by 7,200 Metro Manila police.
Monsignor Hernando Coronel, rector of the Quiapo Church and concelebrator of the mass at the Quirino Grandstand, expressed hope that there would no untoward incident.
In a press conference last week, organizers of the Feast of the Black Nazarene said they expected five million faithful to take part in the Traslacion.
Last year, about 1.1 million devotees joined the procession, a centuries-old practice that was said to be miraculous.
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