Filipino people do celebrate their Catholic religious belief by praising on the iconic statue of Jesus Christ known as the "Black Nazarene". In Filipino term, it's called "Poong Itim na Nazareno". From the time of this post, the statue is currently being kept and protected at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene situated at the Quiapo district (Manila, Philippines).
Appearance of the Statue
The appearance of the Black Nazarene represents the image of Jesus Christ. It's called "Black" due to the reason of some individual's belief that Jesus had a very dark skin complexion. The head of the statue has a hair made out of dyed "abaca" and aside from its hair, a golden crown of thorns is also in-place. Another object attached to the head is the "halo" or "three powers" which symbolizes the Holy Trinity.
At the body parts, the statue usually wear a clothing with heavy velvet tunic (maroon) filled with golden colored designs. On its waist, the statue wears a gold-plated belt marked with the word "NAZARENO".
As for the accessories, the black nazarene has a golden chain looped around its neck. And on its left hand, the statue holds the two pairs of chained balls representing the "Scourging". But, the most obvious piece of object is the large black cross which is well decorated with gilded brass caps on its edges.
The most interesting fact is that, both priest and devotees conduct a ritual known as the "Dressing" (or "Pabihis") inside the basilica church five times in a year. This is to prepare the statue for the upcoming major religious events.
History of the Black Nazarene
The sculptor who crafted the wooden statue of Jesus Christ remains unknown. History's record claim that the statue was brought by the Manila Galleon ship (specifically by the Recollect/Augustinian Friars) from Acapulco, Mexico into the Philippines somewhere in the mid of 1600s (some sources claims that it was exactly on May 30, 1606). Most people actually even do believe that the reason why the statue turned black was due to the fire-accident that occurred on-board the ship.
At some point, Monsignor Sabino A. Vengco, Jr. of the Loyola School of Theology had conducted a research about the nazareth's dark colored complexion. And based on his findings, he confirmed that the statue is made up of "mesquite wood" which explains the reason of the statue's dark color.
In the past World War II, there were actually several and more older copies of the black nazarene. Unfortunately, they were destroyed where there's only one copy that remained and survived which is the one enshrined at the basilica church.
Today, to protect the original statue from any further damages, it is always placed above the "high altar" (or "retablo mayor") away from the crowds. In addition to crowd control, replicas has been sculptured by one of the popular Filipino "saint-maker" (or "santero"), Gener Manlaqui.
And for the most interesting fact about the black nazarene's history, it has now been in the country for over 400 years.
The Word Nazarene
Based from the Bible's New Testament, Jesus Christ grew up in a small town in Galilee which was called "Nazareth". Due to his birth place, he was given the title as "Jesus of the Nazareth" which can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene".
The Transfer of the Black Nazarene ("Traslacion")
On every January 9th of the New Year, the transfer of the Black Nazarene or "traslacion" is being held by the Filipino people. The transferring procedure of the statue starts at the Intramuros to the Quiapo Church (Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene) where it has been kept since 1787 up to this present period of our time.
The black statue of Jesus Christ has its own large carriage ( also known as "andas" or "carroza") for the parade. Interestingly, the carriage does not have any wheels which means that it is not driven by a motor-engine. The carriage is actually being pulled by a group of devotee known as the "mamamasan". Most devotee who participates in pulling the carriage are men where they get to pull it around through the two 50 meters long abaca ropes.
Aside from the men pulling the black statue's carriage are the other devotee followers. They follow the procession in such a way that they are bare-footed symbolizing "humility".
A Kiss to the Nazarene (or "Pahalik")
Another religious event that involves the black nazarene is the so called "Pahalik". This is where the large number of devotees line-up just to have the opportunity to touch the foot of the statue placed at the altar near the Quiapo Church.
Other Interest Facts about the Black Nazarene
As stated above, Gener Manlaqui had crafted a perfect replica of the black nazarene. The most interesting fact about it was that, the original head of the statue was attached to the body of the replica. While for the replica's head, it was attached to the original body. As of now, the original head (with the body of the replica) is the one placed at the altar near the Quiapo Church. The one with the original body (with the head of the replica) is what's being brought out during the traslacion.
Today's present condition of the original statue, it has already lost several fingers. In addition to its fingers, it's left cheek was damaged by a gunshot incident in the late 1990s.
And for the strangest fact, some Chinese women parishioners had donated their own hair as material for the statue's wig.
Moreover, past or previous events had shown that there were always around 8 to 9 millions of devotees who usually participates on the event. As a result, the processions often last for about 10 to 22 hours period.
Appearance of the Statue
The appearance of the Black Nazarene represents the image of Jesus Christ. It's called "Black" due to the reason of some individual's belief that Jesus had a very dark skin complexion. The head of the statue has a hair made out of dyed "abaca" and aside from its hair, a golden crown of thorns is also in-place. Another object attached to the head is the "halo" or "three powers" which symbolizes the Holy Trinity.
At the body parts, the statue usually wear a clothing with heavy velvet tunic (maroon) filled with golden colored designs. On its waist, the statue wears a gold-plated belt marked with the word "NAZARENO".
As for the accessories, the black nazarene has a golden chain looped around its neck. And on its left hand, the statue holds the two pairs of chained balls representing the "Scourging". But, the most obvious piece of object is the large black cross which is well decorated with gilded brass caps on its edges.
The most interesting fact is that, both priest and devotees conduct a ritual known as the "Dressing" (or "Pabihis") inside the basilica church five times in a year. This is to prepare the statue for the upcoming major religious events.
History of the Black Nazarene
The sculptor who crafted the wooden statue of Jesus Christ remains unknown. History's record claim that the statue was brought by the Manila Galleon ship (specifically by the Recollect/Augustinian Friars) from Acapulco, Mexico into the Philippines somewhere in the mid of 1600s (some sources claims that it was exactly on May 30, 1606). Most people actually even do believe that the reason why the statue turned black was due to the fire-accident that occurred on-board the ship.
At some point, Monsignor Sabino A. Vengco, Jr. of the Loyola School of Theology had conducted a research about the nazareth's dark colored complexion. And based on his findings, he confirmed that the statue is made up of "mesquite wood" which explains the reason of the statue's dark color.
In the past World War II, there were actually several and more older copies of the black nazarene. Unfortunately, they were destroyed where there's only one copy that remained and survived which is the one enshrined at the basilica church.
Today, to protect the original statue from any further damages, it is always placed above the "high altar" (or "retablo mayor") away from the crowds. In addition to crowd control, replicas has been sculptured by one of the popular Filipino "saint-maker" (or "santero"), Gener Manlaqui.
And for the most interesting fact about the black nazarene's history, it has now been in the country for over 400 years.
The Word Nazarene
Based from the Bible's New Testament, Jesus Christ grew up in a small town in Galilee which was called "Nazareth". Due to his birth place, he was given the title as "Jesus of the Nazareth" which can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene".
The Transfer of the Black Nazarene ("Traslacion")
On every January 9th of the New Year, the transfer of the Black Nazarene or "traslacion" is being held by the Filipino people. The transferring procedure of the statue starts at the Intramuros to the Quiapo Church (Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene) where it has been kept since 1787 up to this present period of our time.
The black statue of Jesus Christ has its own large carriage ( also known as "andas" or "carroza") for the parade. Interestingly, the carriage does not have any wheels which means that it is not driven by a motor-engine. The carriage is actually being pulled by a group of devotee known as the "mamamasan". Most devotee who participates in pulling the carriage are men where they get to pull it around through the two 50 meters long abaca ropes.
Aside from the men pulling the black statue's carriage are the other devotee followers. They follow the procession in such a way that they are bare-footed symbolizing "humility".
A Kiss to the Nazarene (or "Pahalik")
Another religious event that involves the black nazarene is the so called "Pahalik". This is where the large number of devotees line-up just to have the opportunity to touch the foot of the statue placed at the altar near the Quiapo Church.
Other Interest Facts about the Black Nazarene
As stated above, Gener Manlaqui had crafted a perfect replica of the black nazarene. The most interesting fact about it was that, the original head of the statue was attached to the body of the replica. While for the replica's head, it was attached to the original body. As of now, the original head (with the body of the replica) is the one placed at the altar near the Quiapo Church. The one with the original body (with the head of the replica) is what's being brought out during the traslacion.
Today's present condition of the original statue, it has already lost several fingers. In addition to its fingers, it's left cheek was damaged by a gunshot incident in the late 1990s.
And for the strangest fact, some Chinese women parishioners had donated their own hair as material for the statue's wig.
Moreover, past or previous events had shown that there were always around 8 to 9 millions of devotees who usually participates on the event. As a result, the processions often last for about 10 to 22 hours period.
On January 9, 2015, the day of the Black Nazarene's processions, many people were shocked by the outcome. This was due to the reason that there were two devotees that died and about 420 injuries based on the ANC report (but on some sources, they claimed there were nearly 1000 devotees that got injured).
ReplyDeleteThe first person who died was Renato Gurion (44 years old) in which according to the investigation, he suffered a serious cardiac arrest while escorting the statue. Nobody really knows if he was immediately extracted out of the procession but unfortunately, he didn't he make where Gurion was declared dead upon arrival.
The same thing happened to the second person that died on the procession. He was identified as Christian Lim where he was pinned by the huge crowd at the time when the black nazarene statue was being carried to the church.
According to the latest update from the Philippine Red Cross, they had released the following statistics of patients that suffered injuries:
Total Number of Patients: 1,238
Number of Patients who suffered "minor injuries": 597
(*minor injuries includes wounds and lacerations particularly on their feet)
Number of Patients who suffered "major injuries": 21
(*major injuries includes seizure, fainting, sprain and fracture)