Seven to 7.5* million devotees clogged the narrow streets of Manila to celebrate the annual feast of the revered Black Nazarene of Quiapo.
The sights of the religious festivity I saw form TV footage remind me the deep piety of Filipinos who, according to the great Jesuit Horacio de la Costa, are known for their faith and music as treasures.
People from all walks of life stripped from social standings joined the procession in barefoot to share with the brutal suffering of Christ on the cross. Others brought along with them a white handkerchief to be thrown to the “handlers” of the centuries-old statue and returned to them. The cloth, they believe, has miraculous power to cure ailments. Touching the charred image of the Nazarene brings miracles, so a prevalent belief says.
There are also some to fulfill personal vows to the Black Nazarene in exchange for requested favors while the rest, in their personal way of giving religious meaning to the event, joined the crowd in prayers as believers.
No other than a barefoot former Vice President Noli de Castro and others from the government and elite were among the millions in the annual feast who “disappeared” in the crowd of believers.
Thanks to the standby medical personnel and volunteers who tended those who fainted, exhausted, dehydrated and suffered other medical problems caused by the sea of people and tropical weather condition.
Except for the tons of trash left in the streets, it was an orderly and pious event.
Now, my personal belief:
I am not saying that being there barefooted; waving a white handkerchief or to touch the religious statue is bad or devoid of religious significance but that is not the proper way of showing personal conversion and piety. The outnumbered and less-equipped but victorious soldiers after the La Naval de Manila Battle went to the (Sto. Domingo) Church in barefoot to say “Thank You” for Mary’s intercession but I still have to read something about handkerchief-waving's religious significance.
Veronica wiped the face of Christ carrying his cross but I cannot find any verse from the Scriptures that Veronica waved first her handkerchief or the handkerchief is written with something like a prayer or a song.
If I were one among the crowd, I should have worn my pair of shoes or sandals, prayed piously the rosary, contemplated the sufferings of Christ and the Paschal mysteries. If touched by the Spirit, I cared less if I were in tears like a devout child walking. Of course, I should have been in the state of grace and received the Body and Blood of my Savior in the Eucharist. Last but not least, an honest intent and determination, that I do my best to amend my life for the better and obey the first and second commandments which are:
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." -Matt 22:37-39
I understand that joining the procession in bare feet is a sign of penitence just like the actual nailing on the cross or self-flagellation of a number of our brethren in Pampanga during Lent as a form of penitence. The Bishops of the Philippines say that that is not the proper way to make penitence and they must be discouraged!
I agree with the Bishops.
Instead of those corporeal punishments that endanger lives, it is more meaningful if one refrains or stops doing anything that offends God which is spelled out in the Decalogue. For example, although it is beneficial to be a corrupt government official; and I like doing it as a habit and way of an evil life, I stop it. Similar to this are things we think and occasionally do as good or even a way of life but in reality, they darken the heart, cloud the face of God and transform the dignity of man into a brute’s.
Instead of those corporeal punishments that endanger lives, it is more meaningful if one refrains or stops doing anything that offends God which is spelled out in the Decalogue. For example, although it is beneficial to be a corrupt government official; and I like doing it as a habit and way of an evil life, I stop it. Similar to this are things we think and occasionally do as good or even a way of life but in reality, they darken the heart, cloud the face of God and transform the dignity of man into a brute’s.
Remember the case of the tax collector.
"But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ' O God, be merciful to me a sinner'" -Lk 18:13
God sees the invisible in us and not the visible we have. May the Black Nazarene have mercy on us and our suffering country. -30-
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