Just to be close: Thousands of devotees walking with the statue in Manila. — AFP
Hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims swarmed the streets of Manila in search of a miracle, straining to reach a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ in an annual display of religious fervour.
The procession to the Philippine capital’s Quiapo Church, which started before dawn after an open-air mass, was expected to swell to more than two million participants from across the heavily Catholic country, church officials said.
Barefoot men and women clad in maroon shirts – the colour of the robe that covers the black, wooden Jesus of Nazarene statue – scrambled to grab the rope used to draw the life-sized religious icon, believing it would bring good health.
“I prayed that my mother be healed from her heart attack,” Dong Lapira, 54, said of a previous procession where he had been bruised and jostled in his attempt to join those pulling the rope.
But he vowed to try again yesterday – this time to see his wife healed of gallstones.
“The Nazarene is very sacred. It has granted many prayers,” he added.
Some faithful frantically threw white towels to worshippers tasked with guarding the float, who wiped the statue’s glass case before tossing them back.
One of those cleaning the glass, Alvin Olicia, 38, said: “Even if there is extreme heat or rain during the procession, I don’t feel it at all. I like my task, because through catching other’s handkerchiefs, I feel like I am connecting them to their faith and to the Nazarene.”
While authorities have banned devotees from climbing on the carriage, some still clambered over other attendees, risking life and limb to be near the religious icon.
Ester Espiritu, 76, who travelled 35km from her home in Cavite province, said just catching a glimpse of the statue would be enough.
“Even If I’m struggling to come here because of my age... I feel happy and well whenever I see the Nazarene,” said Espiritu, a devotee of the icon for 40 years, who added she was praying to heal a lingering shoulder injury.
The life-sized wooden statue was brought to the Philippines in the early 1600s shortly after the start of the Spanish colonial conquest. — AFP
