Over 60,000 devotees of the Black Nazarene joined the thanksgiving procession for the Black Nazarene on midnight of December 31, 2024 to mark the start of an annual feast that usually attracts millions of followers.
The thanksgiving procession also marked the beginning of the nine-day novena to the Nazareno.
After the mass at the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno, the image of Jesus Nazarene was brought out of the Quiapo Church in a yellow carroza for a procession at around midnight.
The image of Jesus carrying a cross was placed on a float, instead of on a platform called andas, which was used to be pulled by the faithful during the procession.
This year’s procession was described by organizers as “the most solemn and orderly,” adding that even those who followed the event on social media noticed the behavior of the crowd.
The thanksgiving procession on the last day of the year is held annually ahead of the big religious procession called ‘Traslacion’ every Jan. 9.
Traslacion, which means transfer, is often referred to as the Feast of the Black Nazarene. It emulates the “solemn transfer” of the image from its original shrine in the old Manila to the Minor Basilica in Quiapo in 1787.
The Black Nazarene is a life-size image of a dark-skinned, kneeling Jesus Christ carrying the cross.
