One of more than 9.3 million Filipino devotees to the statue also known as the Black Nazarene, he recalls how attendees would march barefoot, pants rolled up, clambering over each other to help carry the statue along the streets of the Quiapo district. 

Considered a gold mine of spiritual treasures, the Black Nazarene statue of Jesus filled Año’s heart with joy when it recently arrived in Wetaskiwin. Until the end of March, Sacred Heart parish is hosting the replica of the miraculous statue revered by many Filipino Catholics. 

Many parishioners stay behind after Mass to venerate the statue but it is a far cry from the devotion to the Black Nazarene Año experienced in the Philippines. In his hometown, veneration of the ebony-complexioned statue, depicting Jesus bearing the cross en route to His crucifixion, has been enshrined for more than 400 years. 

“The respect is there but the devotion is less because geographically, we can’t do what we do in the Philippines because it’s always warm there. You can’t walk barefooted on top of the snow,” said Año. “The people attending the procession have to be barefooted because they consider the pathway to be holy.” 

While the carriage holding the statue could easily be carried by a dozen people, hundreds of devotees in the midst of millions at the procession will squeeze in close to have a chance to carry the statue attached to a rope on each side. They want to feel the hardship, to lessen the burden Jesus carried on His way to Golgotha in the act of both humility and penance, said Año. 

Lise Simard was unaware of the Black Nazarene until she was taught about the statue by Wetaskiwin’s pastor, Fr. Nilo Macapinlac. She was comforted as she participated in the first of two nine-day novenas to the Black Nazarene incorporated into daily Mass at Sacred Heart Church Feb. 16-24 and March 8-16. 

Sharon Audet also knew nothing about the devotion when the Black Nazarene arrived. She said the statue has deepened her faith. 

“I went up, genuflected, and talked to Him like I do to Jesus. He is Jesus.” 

Macapinlac said the Black Nazarene resonates with the Filipino people because they are bombarded by poverty and disastrous storms every year. 

“When we see Jesus carrying the cross, it resonates to what we feel.” 

Here, in a prosperous country, people are often in a cycle of work and more work, sometimes forgetting even to go to church, he said. 

“Sometimes we savour the sweetness of milk and honey, but we forget where this milk and honey is coming from.” 

Macapinlac said devotion to the Black Nazarene can lead to a deeper insight into what Jesus meant when He said, “Take up your cross daily and follow me.”

The most widely held belief is that the dark colour of the original statue is due to its being charred by a fire on board the galleon that brought it to Manila from Mexico in the early 1600s. It is considered miraculous because it is said to have survived blazing fires, two earthquakes and floods. 

Pope Pius VII gave the statue an apostolic blessing in 1880, granting plenary indulgences to those who piously pray before it.

(Western Catholic Reporter)