Black Nazarene

(photo taken by WOWEL)

I attended the procession of Black Nazarene in our city last Saturday. It was my first time and indeed a very divine experience. There were a lot of people, too bad didn’t brought my camera.

Last week when me and hubby were busy searching for jobs, we decided to visit the replica at Jesus Nazareno Parish, since He arrived, I haven’t visited Him. We entrusted everything in His hands. A day after, an interview was scheduled for me by January 9, 2009 same day with His feast. We were so happy, even if it was just an interview but it gave us hope. For the past few weeks, we were so down and didn’t know where to go and what to do. But everything was changed after we visited Him. He installed faith and hope in ourselves. Now, we’re so optimistic despite our situation. He never leaves, we were too busy and didn’t notice Him because of what this temporary world is offering us. We realized to hold on to Him no matter what. Thank you so much Bro…

I was so curios about Black Nazarene so I googled it and found this infos:

Black Nazarene in Quiapo

The Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark-colored, wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ held to be miraculous by many Filipinos.

The statue was brought to Manila by the first group of Augustinian Recollect friars on May 31, 1606.[1] The image was originally housed in the first Recollect church in Bagumbayan (now part of the Rizal Park), which was inaugurated on September 10, 1606, and placed under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.

In 1608, the image of the "Nazareno" was transferred to the second, bigger Recollect church dedicated to San Nicolas de Tolentino (Saint Nicholas of Tolentine). The Recollect Fathers vigorously promoted devotion to the Suffering of Our Lord represented by the image that in fifteen short years, the Cofradia de Jesús Nazareno was established on April 21, 1621. The confraternity obtained Papal approval on April 20, 1650, from Pope Innocent X.

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, again providently placed under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.

The image 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.

Recently, however, in 1998, a replica of the original Black Nazarene was first paraded due to the repeated damages inflicted on the statue. Today this replica is still used in the processions while the original rests inside the church, and other, even smaller replicas can be found in other churches.

Source: Yahoo Answers

Black Nazarene in Cagayan de Oro City

The archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro welcomed the pilgrim image of Black Nazarene accompanied by seven members of the Hijos del Nazareno from the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo last January 5, 2009. The image was given as a gift to the archdiocese from the Minor Basilica of Quiapo and will be enshrined at Jesus Nazareno Parish.

The pilgrim image, called “callejeron” is a replica of the original. Msgr. Monsanto said the image is not only a gift to the parish but also to the people of Mindanao who are besieged with a continuing unstable peace and order condition and uncertainties brought about by the global financial crisis.

Since its arrival, thousands of devotees from all walks of life, even the sick and the aged from all parts of Mindanao flocked to the cathedral to venerate the image.

source: CBCP News