Jocelyn Soroño (right), 34, Tondo: “I am a devotee of just six years but I can say that my faith and devotion to the Nazarene has helped our family a lot in so many aspects… And I think at the end of the day, that’s what all we really hope and pray for. Rich or poor, we all want the best for our family. We want them to be healthy and protected at all times.” Photo by Yuji Vincent Gonzales/INQUIRER.net
For millions of devotees of the Black Nazarene, the annual feast in Quiapo, Manila, is more than a gathering of people who share the same faith.
It is also an opportunity to thank the revered icon for the blessings that they have been reaping, and a time to ask Him for more.
With an estimated one million people tailing the andas or carriage this year, 34-year-old Jocelyn Soroño did not hope she would even get near the ebony statue.
But Soroño, who hailed from Tondo, said it was not an excuse not to express her gratitude and wishes to the Black Nazarene.
“I am a devotee of just six years but I can say that my faith and devotion to the Nazarene has helped our family a lot in so many aspects,” Soroño said in Filipino.
“I think at the end of the day, that’s what all we really hope and pray for. Rich or poor, we all want the best for our family. We want them to be healthy and protected at all times,” she added.
Soroño once prayed to the Nazarene to help her younger sister secure an employment in Hong Kong, and it came true.
First-time attendee Pamela Martin, a single mother, said she decided to join this year’s feast with hopes that their life would improve financially in 2016.
”My child is already at sixth grade and school expenses are getting higher each year. My siblings are even helping me when it comes to family expenses,” Martin said.
“I’m praying for a good life and a prosperous year for family.”
For 44-year-old Luisito Tolentino of Muntinlupa, joining the annual feast was a source of unexplainable peace and comfort.
“Every time I come here, I feel a certain calmness in spirit that I can’t put into words,” he said.
Tolentino prayed for the healing of his child who could not walk anymore due to complications of a disease.
But more than anything else, he was not asking the Nazarene for grand wishes, but simple miracles every day.
The 400-year-old statue of the cross-bearing Christ was believed to be miraculous and get its ebony hue after catching fire in a galleon on its way to the Philippines from Mexico.