Every year countless barefoot devotees who pack to the city of Manila to take part in the daylong Feast of the Black Nazarene face mishaps or fall ill in the middle of the “traslacion” or the transfer of the religious icon to Quiapo Church but they are all worth it, they say.
Roughly after some six hours of waiting, the procession carrying the sacred image of the Black Nazarene arrived in Sta. Cruz in Manila Wednesday afternoon where thousands of devotees gather.
With the authorities expecting crowds to reach 9 million this year for the Feast of the Black Nazarene, it is likely that some of the barefoot devotees will come across harm at some point.
The Black Nazarene procession is now coming closer to the McArthur Bridge, one of the two aging bridges in Manila that the Department of Public Works and Highways said may not hold the unusual heavy load of devotees that would pass by it due to its age.
At least six people collapsed and were given medical treatment at the Liwasang Bonifacio Shrine in Manila as the procession of the Black Nazarene passed through the monument.
