The Senyor Nazareno: Lord of Quiapo

When I was a small boy, I always knew the Pista ng Quiapo was drawing near whenever I saw colorful buntings and banners being hung around the streets of downtown Manila. Back then, I was afraid of the Pista ng Quiapo because that meant my father would hold me aloft once more amidst the line of supplicants in Quiapo Church -- for me to touch the statue of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, a statue that frightened me because of its bloody face and black skin.

Afterwards, we would line up once more, this time to kiss the foot of the huge Santo Entierro, the Dead Christ, inside his glass coffin. You can just imagine how scared I was at that time. In fact, big statues of saints always gave me the creeps, and we have a few of those in our devoutly Catholic home prominently displayed in the huge altar of our living room. I thought that the mannequins always looked at me straight in the eye, and I imagined them moving during midnight hours.

The 9^th of January is the Feast Day of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, the grandest fiesta in all of Manila. On this day, tens of thousands of barefooted devotees flock to Quiapo to pay homage to the Senyor Nazareno, the Black Christ and the Lord of Downtown. For several years, I have been one of the multitudes who participate in the grand procession of the Senyor Nazareno.

The ultimate task of the devotee is to climb the carossa which bears the Senyor Nazareno, and to touch the statue with hand and towel while asking the Senyor to grant his fervent wish. It is a formidable undertaking as there are the other thousands bent to do the same. The strategy is to jockey for position, elbow and squeeze your way through the humongous crowd, and then with sheer muscle and brawn muster your acrobatic skills to swim on top of a sea of people in order to climb the carrosa.

Not everyone can do this stunt successfully. There were many in the past who got trampled and either injured or killed in the stampede. Those who lacked the daring and the physical agility, and who do not have the desire to be injured or killed, have to be contented to throw their shirts and towels to the guardians surrounding the Senyor Nazareno, the Hijos del Nazareno, who will wipe it for them on the Nazareno’s sacrosanct image.

The frenzy surrounding the procession lies in the supplicants’ belief that the statue of the Senyor Nazareno is miraculous. Many people believe that if they do a panata (vow) to follow the procession every January 9 for an exact number of years, the Senyor Nazareno will repay their devotion by granting whatever wish they have, be it material or spiritual.

Stories of people whose wishes have been granted by the Senyor abound. There was, for instance, the story of Aling Norma Lapuz, who suffered from brain cancer and decided to fight her way to touch the Black Nazarene during the 2007 procession. She was successful, thanks tothe help of the macho men who carried her aloft while the Senyor paraded in front of her. Afterwards she went to have a brain scan, and lo and behold, the tumor was gone—to the amazement of her doctors. Aling Norma attributes the miracle to the Senyor Nazareno.

There is also the story of Mr. Antonio Lucio who won in the Sweepstakes after following the procession for exactly nine years of devotion. The prize money made him a multi-millionaire, and of course, he attributes his great luck to the blessings of the Senyor Nazareno. In gratitude, he made huge donations to the Quiapo Church and ordered new robes for the Senyor. He also became one of the huge money contributors to the Comite de Festejos whenever the Pista ng Poong Nazareno approaches.

And, of course, there is the unforgettable story of a radio announcer who became Vice President of the Philippines because he vowed to follow the procession every January 9 of his life. Up to now that he is back to radio and television, he continues his panata to follow the Senyor Nazareno’s procession.

But there are also those whose wishes have not come true—yet, but who believe, in time, the Senyor Nazareno will grant these. After all, the Senyor Nazareno knows their sufferings and will, if they are steadfast in their devotion, sooner or later grant their heart's desire.

Aling Leticia Mendoza, 54 years old, has been following the procession of the Senyor Nazareno ever since she arrived in Quiapo some 12 years before. Born in Samar, she made it a vow to follow the Senyor Nazareno. Now paralyzed with stroke, she doubled her efforts to please the Senyor, going to church every Friday in a wheelchair, begging the Senyor to heal her. But her condition is no better. She believes, however, that the Lord will answer her prayer soon. “I have faith in the Senyor Nazareno. Even to the last breath I will follow the Senyor,” she insists.

My late maternal grandmother was not a Quiapo devotee, but in August 1944, she suddenly became one. Her husband and my Lolo, Alfredo Santos, a guerilla, was captured by the Japanese Army. Rumor had it that he was executed by the Japanese for his resistance to the invaders. My Lola went to Quiapo Church and knelt all day and night by the altar, asking the Senyor to bring her husband back. But my Lolo never came back. Of course my Lola never blamed the Senyor, but she was angry with the Japanese all her life.

The veneration of statues as true representations of God and saints is a long and deep-seated tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. Through the centuries, the Roman Catholics have created many different versions of statues for one saint. The Virgin Mary, for instance, has various representations. In the Philippines alone, she is variously depicted as the Lady of Penafrancia in Naga, the Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo, the Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan, and so on.

The same thing goes for the Roman Catholics' devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is variously depicted in statues as a sleeping baby (Santo Nino Dormido), as a young boy (Senyor Santo Nino), or as the suffering Christ (Senyor Nazareno). The Senyor Nazareno is depicted in four different statues inside the Quiapo Church alone. The most famous one, of course, is the genuflecting, bleeding Christ in maroon-colored robe carrying a huge cross—its head with a crown of thorns and a diadem forming three golden rays. The three other statues depict the Senyor Nazareno as the crucified Christ, the Santo Entierro (dead Christ), and finally, the triumphant resurrected Christ.

Devotees from all walks of life spend enormous time and energy to queue every Friday to touch the Senyor Nazareno statues so that they may be blessed. Many small children, however, are quite afraid of the Senyor Nazareno statues, especially the Santo Entierro-- the statue of the dead Christ lying inside the glass coffin.

The veneration of the Senyor Nazareno in Quiapo started in the 17^th century when the Augustinian Recollects brought its image to the Philippines. According to legend, the original statue was carved by an Aztec sculptor and, when it was brought to the Philippines in 1606 by way of the Pacific Ocean, the galleon that carried it caught fire, charring the statue and rendering its color black. The statue was initially enshrined in the first Recollect church in Bagumbayan (now part of Luneta Park). That is why the statue is being paraded from Quiapo to Luneta, and then back to Quiapo. Between 1767 and 1790, the Archbishop of Manila, Basilio Sancho de Santas Justa y Rufina, ordered the transfer of the Black Nazarene to its present location inside the Quiapo Church.

*This article was originally published at the Philippine Online Chronicles, now one of the world's leading news and article magazines in the web. For other more interesting articles log on to Thepoc.net here.