The Feast of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno de Quiapo

Attracting millions of devotees and Catholic faithfuls, the procession of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, Philippines is considered the largest religious procession in the country. During its feast day (January 9), the image of the Black Nazarene is placed in a carriage with a rope tied to it. Devotees that pull the rope are hoping that they may receive a miracle, although most of them do it in gratitude and thanksgiving of their answered prayers. Others throw white handkerchiefs to the image guards, the guards in turn rub the handkerchiefs in the image and throw it back to the owner.


The procession, due to the large bare-footed crowd that it attracts, hardly moves and cases of injuries are always reported. But the organizers are always ready for those incidents as the procession has been a yearly event.

The Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark-skinned statue of Jesus Christ that a priest bought in Mexico, carved by an Aztec carpenter. The image shows a “black” Jesus Christ carrying a cross. The statue has been housed at the Saint John de Baptist Church in Quiapo, Manila also known as the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene since 1787. The statue was brought to Manila by a Spanish priest in 1607 aboard a ship. It was said that the ship caught fire, burning the image and thus came to be known as the Black Nazarene. The image also survived 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.

Sources: Wikipedia and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila website.