Basilica Of The Black Nazarene

Location: Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila

     Done in plaster, the present Basilica of the Black Nazarene - popularly known as the Quiapo Church - is a poor version of the original stone and mortar edifice that once
dominated the riverside borough of Manila. But it is holding on to its old respectability. It is still the altar of the Nazarene, the image of  Christ carved out of black wood by a Mexican artisan and installed in Quiapo 200 years ago. Said to be miraculous, the image has gathered around it a cult unequaled in ardor and following.

     This veneration builds up to fever pitch every January 9th, the feast day of the Black Nazarene, in a procession orbited by piety and fanaticism. To be able to offer one's shoulders to carry the heavy platform is the ultimate honor. So, as soon as the image is brought out of the church, the crowd mills around it forming a whirlpool of bodies, east earnestly throwing itself forward in the press to touch the image. Belief has it that if one should touch the Nazarene in procession, one would be granted the gift of healing.