The Unique Festival of the Black Nazarene
BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN THE PHILIPPINES
IT’S not often that you see a crowd as big as this. But here in Manila, this spectacle can be seen every January 9. Hundreds of thousands of devout Catholics have crowded Plaza Miranda at Quiapo Church, waiting for the Black Nazarene to make its appearance.
‘Black Nazarene?’ you ask. Yes, this life-size statue of Jesus Christ bearing a cross is the focal point of a unique procession that according to the book Filipino Heritage “is indisputably the most massive, the most spectacular . . . manifestation of popular religion in the Only Christian Nation in Asia,” the Philippines.
The Massive Procession
As the church gates open, the crowd goes wild with cheers amid the sound of firecrackers. Two long ropes are let out into the crowd to pull the carriage on which the Black Nazarene stands. Devotees struggle to get their hands on the ropes. This is a great honor for them. Others lock arms in an attempt to form an opening for the procession to pass through. All the men are barefoot, each one wearing a T-shirt and having a towel on his head or around his neck.
From a stage set up near the church, an announcer has just explained some rules to the waiting crowd. One thing in particular was made clear: In the main procession, women are not allowed. The reason becomes apparent as the Black Nazarene is slowly pulled out into the plaza; things get pretty rough.
The excited crowd of worshipers reach out, pushing and shoving, even climbing over one another in their all-consuming effort to touch the Black Nazarene. A few men riding on the carriage have to push a number of them down in their attempt to protect the image from the excited crowd. If too many are allowed to climb up at one time, the platform may topple. In spite of such precautions, the carriage does topple at times, and it takes 30 minutes to an hour to bring it up again because so many people try to touch the image.
Observers line the narrow streets of Quiapo to witness the Black Nazarene as it slowly makes its way through the district. Candles are held aloft to express devotion to the image. Others bring along smaller images from home. Accompanying the procession are large banners identifying the various groups of Black Nazarene devotees.
Some in the crowd throw towels and handkerchiefs to one of the men riding on the platform with the Black Nazarene. He then rubs them on the image or its cross and throws them back. A thrilled believer then rubs his towel over his face. Following the main procession comes a long line of images, many of them smaller versions of the Black Nazarene. Here it is safe for women to join in.
Meanwhile, inside the church, believers, especially women, petition the Black Nazarene for help in another way. Upon entering the door, they join the long line of others who slowly make their way on their knees down the aisle of the church to the altar.
What Excites the Crowd So Much?
The Black Nazarene statue is said to be the source of countless miracles. Twelve-year-old Alberto said he went with his grandparents to the festival because the Black Nazarene always gave him whatever he asked for through prayer. Mauricio says he joined the procession hoping for forgiveness of his sins as well as relief from the problems and tensions of everyday life.
The first time Mauricio joined the festival, he was 24 years old. Each year he was able to hold the ropes that pull the image. By his fifth time, he had a strong desire actually to climb onto the carriage. Some of his friends helped him up, where he was able to wipe his towel on the feet of the Black Nazarene; then he dived back into the crowd. This is the ultimate experience, what most can only hope for.
Origin of the Festival
The Black Nazarene is said to have been originally carved by a Mexican Indian (others claim it is the work of a Filipino or Chinese carver) and brought to Manila by galleon in the 17th century. The artisans made it unique either by carving it out of dark wood or painting the image a dark brown, which matches the complexion of both Mexicans and Filipinos. In the 18th century, the Black Nazarene was enshrined in Quiapo at the request of Basilio Sancho, archbishop of Manila, who gave his blessing to it. Then, in the early part of the 19th century, it received a blessing from Pope Pius VII.
However, it was not until 1923 that it was first taken out to be part of the religious procession that climaxes the Quiapo district fiesta. The processions have continued ever since.
Can It Be Considered Idolatry?
Normally, the Black Nazarene can be seen in its place in a window near the entrance to the church. This window is right between two tablets listing the Sampung Utos, or Ten Commandments. To some Christians, this may seem ironic, since the second of the Ten Commandments is: “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth . . . You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” (Exodus 20:4, 5, The Jerusalem Bible) Is not the Black Nazarene a carved image that devout Catholics are serving?
Most Catholics would not view it that way. The New Catholic Encyclopedia says: “Since the worship given to an image reaches and terminates in the person represented, the same type of worship due the person can be rendered to the image as representing the person.” This is what many Filipino Catholics have said—that they worship, not the image, but Jesus Christ, whom the statue is supposed to represent. Let’s examine this reasoning for a moment.
Actually, such relative worship is not unique to Catholics. Pagan religions have reasoned the same way for centuries. For instance, according to Lactantius, a Church Father of the fourth century, such pagans would say: “We do not fear the images themselves, but those beings after whose likeness they were formed, and to whose names they are dedicated.”
Does this mean, then, that God’s commands regarding the worship of idols did not apply in their case? Can such reasoning truly be sound when it attempts to make God’s Word invalid? After all, if the majority of idol worshipers reason this way, then whom were the commands really meant for?
Recall that while God was giving Moses the Ten Commandments, the Israelites had set up a golden calf and were bowing down to it. The people may not have viewed what they were doing as idolatry at all. In their minds, the calf represented Jehovah. (Exodus 32:4, 5) But was God pleased with what they were doing? We read that Jehovah now said to Moses: “Go, descend, because your people whom you led up out of the land of Egypt have acted ruinously. They have turned aside in a hurry from the way I have commanded them to go. They have made a molten statue of a calf for themselves and keep bowing down to it and sacrificing to it.”—Exodus 32:7, 8.
Another question that deserves attention is whether it makes sense to honor an image. The Bible has never minced words on this subject. It says: “Such people are too stupid to know what they are doing. They close their eyes and their minds to the truth. The maker of idols hasn’t the wit or the sense to say, ‘. . . Here I am bowing down to a block of wood!’”—Isaiah 44:18, 19, Today’s English Version.
Can the Image Help Its Devotees?
One Catholic priest wrote: “People who put their confidence on the power behind the Black Nazarene of Quiapo have certainly more reason for their trust than those who rely on a horseshoe or rabbit’s foot.”
The Bible, on the other hand, says of such images: “If anyone prays to it, it cannot answer or save him from disaster.” Jehovah God plainly tells us that “they can do you no good.”—(Isaiah 46:7; Jeremiah 10:5; TEV)
There is no doubt that devout Catholics who climb over one another in hopes of touching the Black Nazarene “have a zeal for God,” but it is “not according to accurate knowledge.” (Romans 10:2) We encourage all such ones to gain accurate knowledge by examining God’s Word, the Bible, thus taking up “the form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father.”—James 1:27.
[Pictures on page 16]
People flock to have towels and handkerchiefs rubbed on the statue