7107 Islands’ Fiesta| Feast of the Black Nazarene 2013

Estimated 11 million devotees, mostly barefoot and clad in marron, are expected to gather and participate in Black Nazarene procession from Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church in Manila tomorrow, January 09, 2013. The procession will commemorate the Traslacion or trasfer of the statue to its present place of pilgrimage.

The procession showcases Filipinos’ strong devotion to the Nuestra Padre Jesus Nazareno de Quiapo or popularly called the Black Nazarene or Poong Itim na Nazareno in Tagalog.

HISTORY. Sculptured by an unknown Mexican carpenter, the life-sized Black Nazarene was carried to the Philippines by the Augustinian Recollect missionaries on May 31, 1606, through a galleon coming from Acapulco, Mexico. Folk tradition attributes the dark color of the statue to a fire on the ship carrying it, charring the white image to its present dark complexion. It was first enshrined in a Recollect church in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) and was transferred many times in different churches in Manila before being kept in its present location at the high altars of the Quiapo Church. The January 9 procession commemorates the Translacion or transfer of the statue to its present shrine.

Pope Innocent X and Pope Pius VII have sanctified the Black Nazarene and have merited the Filipinos’ devotion to the image.

This year's Traslacion procession of the Black Nazarene will start from the Quirino Grandstand left to Katigbak Drive through Padre Burgos St., left to Taft Avenue through McArthur Bridge, right to Palanca St. through under Quezon Bridge, left to Quezon Blvd., right to Arlegui St., right to Fraternal St., right to Vergara St., left to Duque de Alba St., left to Castillejos St., left to Farnecio St., right to Arlegui St., left to Nepomuceno St., left to Aguila St., right to Carcer St., right to Hidalgo St. through Plaza del Carmen, left to Bilibid Viejo through Puyat St., left to Guzman St., right to Hidalgo St., left to Barbosa St., right to Globo de Oro St. through under Quezon Bridge, right to Palanca St., right to Villalobos St. through Plaza Miranda and ingress to Quiapo Church.

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

January 7, 2013

3:00 PM - Procession of all replicas of the Black Nazarene

January 8, 2013

1:00 PM - Kissing of the replica of the Black Nazarene

7:00 PM - Vigil at the Quirino Grandstand

January 9, 2013

12:00 MN - 4 AM – Vigil at the Quirino Grandstand

6:00 AM - Holy mass to be celebrated by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle

Mayor of Manila, Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered suspension of classes in schools along the route of the procession. Classes are suspended on the following schools: