Tens of thousands flock to Quiapo for Nazarene replica procession

Replicas of the image of the Black Nazarene line up outside the Quiapo Church on Jan. 7, 2016, during the pre-Traslacion procession.  AP FILE

Tens of thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene flocked to the Quiapo Church in Manila on Sunday for the procession of replicas, two days before the Traslacion.

The Manila Police District already recorded about 100,000 devotees as of 4 p.m. in the vicinity of Quiapo Church and those part of the procession of the replicas.

In recent years, hundreds of replicas of the image of the Black Nazarene were paraded in procession two days before the Traslacion or the commemoration of the transfer of a copy of the Black Nazarene statue from Intramuros to the Quiapo Church on Jan. 9, 1787.

Sunday’s procession started from Plaza Miranda before turning left to Quezon Boulevard, left to G. Puyat., right to Evangelista Street, right to Recto Avenue, right to Loyola Street, right to Bilibid Viejo through Puyat Street, left to Guzman Street, right to Hidalgo Street, left to Barbosa Street, right to Globo de Oro Street, right to Palanca Street, right to Villalobos Street through Plaza Miranda, then straight up to Quiapo Church.

On Thursday, the Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit (MDTEU) advised motorists to take alternative routes because three roads would be closed starting at 11 a.m.

Read: Traffic re-routing, road closures for Nazareno replica rites bared

On January 9, 19 million devotees are expected to join Traslacion 2018 that would start and leave the Luneta Grandstand by 6 a.m.

Fr. Douglas Badong of Quiapo Church hopes that the Black Nazarene would return to Quiapo after only a 12-hour procession. /cbb

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