Feast of the Black Nazarene organizers are expecting around 12 million devotees to attend the nine-day novena at the Quiapo Church in Manila culminating on January 9,2014.
Photo Credit: flicker-Inmaculada Concepcion
According to Quiapo Church Rector Rev. Msgr. Monsignor Clemente Ignacio who told CBCPNews, the official news provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), that they are expecting at least 12 million devotees to attend the Feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 1 to Jan. 9, 2014.
Last year, more than 9 million devotees participated in the nine-hour procession of the black wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ.
The feast commemorates the Black Nazarene, believed to survived after a catastrophic fire that destroyed the ship the sculpture on board from Mexico to Manila.
CBCP stated that Rev. Msgr. Ignacio already tapped the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC), led by MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino to to manage security, traffic and crowd control during Catholics’ sacred feast.
Millions of devotees are expected to flock the “translacion” (transfer) of the Black Nazarene sculpture from Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park to Quiapo Church, formally known as the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene.
Many barefoot devotees are participating the procession and the translacion has become a vow and a sign of penance among Filipino Catholics.