Filipino devotees carry the image of the Black Nazarene for its annual procession to celebrate its feast day Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. The raucous celebration drew tens of thousands of devotees in a barefoot procession around Manila streets. AP FILE PHOTO
A procession of replicas of the Black Nazarene from different parts of the country will be held in Manila on Thursday, ahead of the day-long “traslacion” on Saturday, which is expected to draw millions of devotees.
The Parish of St. John the Baptist in Quiapo said the procession of replicas would draw “considerable crowd” of Nazarene devotees from representative barangays or “balangays.”
Devotees coming from the provinces will most likely camp out until the feast day on Jan. 9.
The procession of replicas, which will start at 2 p.m., will traverse a route starting from Plaza Miranda through Villalobos Street, left to Quezon Boulevard, right to Recto Avenue, right to Loyola Street, right to Bilibid Viejo through Puyat Street, left to Guzman/Mendoza Street, right to Hidalgo street, left to Barbosa Street, right to Globo de Oro Street, right to Palanca Street, right to Villalobos Street through Palaza Miranda, then ingress at Quiapo Church.
The replicas will be blessed by Rev. Msgr. Hernando Coronal, rector and parish priest of the Quiapo Church, and parochial vicars.
The annual procession on Jan. 9, meanwhile, will be send off at around 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. after the Eucharistic celebration at midnight and vigil and liturgy of the hours at dawn. It will traverse the same route as last year.
The image of the cross-bearing Jesus, which arrived in the country in 1607, was believed to have attained its ebony hue for catching fire while on its way to the Philippines from Mexico. TVJ