Celebrating Faith - Scenes From The Nazarene Feast
This story was filed by CBS News' Barnaby Lo in Manila.
Millions of Catholics from all over the country flock to Manila each year on January 9th to attend the Mass and procession. This year was no different. And in an effort to avoid untoward incidents and decongest the marching crowd, in which two people died last year, the organizers decided to deviate from the usual practice.
Instead of parading the life-size image of Christ around the vicinity of its home, Quiapo Church, where most streets are narrow and crammed, it was transported to the Quirino Grandstand nearby Manila Bay overnight. A Mass was celebrated at 7 a.m. today, and the procession along Manila's main roads was to begin at 8:30 a.m.
But even before the Mass had ended, a steel railing near the image was knocked down, and the thousands of devotees in attendance scrambled to touch the image. Devotees of the Black Nazarene believe that it can work wonders.
"This is to wipe my wounds!" a man cried as he passed his handkerchief along to children riding one of the floats carrying small replicas of the Black Nazarene.
Edna Gapo, a 40-year devotee, said the Black Nazarene has blessed her family with a good life. "All my children have good jobs abroad. And I was able to buy a car.
"And when I was sick and struggling to stay alive, He made me well," she added.
Hope, faith and the belief in miracles - in this country that has seen its share of political and economic turmoil – are why devotees would do anything to get close to the image of the Black Nazarene.
But some of them become unruly, forcing themselves into the crowd and literally fist-fighting with each other. As a result, at least 227 people have already been reported injured this year, according to the Philippine National Red Cross. Children have gone missing. And there have been at least five cases of cell phone snatchings. (My still camera was stolen!)
And what about the plan to take main roads? Devotees opposed it early on, and they won when they managed to pull the carriage to a small side street as it neared the church, forcing it to take its old traditional route. So instead of its expected 3 p.m. arrival, people had to wait for seven more hours.
But no one seemed to mind. In fact, the crowd got larger and larger. And not even the 1,000-strong security forces deployed by the Philippine National Police, nor the priests could stop them from trying to touch the Black Nazarene. The last 50-meters to the church took almost an hour.
Catholic bishops admit that there is some degree of fanaticism, but they say that Filipinos identify with the Black Nazarene so well because just like the image and Jesus Christ Himself, they have suffered a great deal but remain steadfast and hopeful.
Indeed, since its arrival from Mexico in 1606, the Black Nazarene has survived the great fires that destroyed the Quiapo Church in 1791 and 1929, the bombing of Manila during World War II, and several strong earthquakes.
So despite all the rough-and-tumble, it seems like the Filipino people's devotion – or fascination - to the Black Nazarene will only grow stronger. And the feast remains the single largest testament of the Christian faith of Asia's only Catholic nation.