Feast of the Black Nazarene: Devotees Sacrifice in Exchange of Favors?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

“The Black Nazarene is an ironic pornographic celebration of violence—the overt violence of the past and the more subtle violence of the present.....The familiarity of the Jesus story has anesthetized us from what is at the heart of the ritual. Millions of men, women, and children are parading around with a wooden statue of a bloodied victim of torture, capital punishment, and God-sanctioned human sacrifice. The Black Nazarene is an ironic pornographic celebration of violence—the overt violence of the past and the more subtle violence of the present.” - Filipino Freethinkers.org

January 9, the annual Feast of the Black Nazarene once again drew millions of devotees as expected. It is also expected that around 60,000 devotees are to attend the procession in Cagayan De Oro City. The  statue is over 400 years old and has survived fires, earthquakes, and the devastation of the 2nd World War. It is paraded around the city until its way back to the Basilica in what is known as the Traslacion.

The Nazarene devotion is the most successful example of what the church wants to accomplish. The dream that drew the founders of the Church of the Nazarene together is still the same dream that guides it today. Some may vehemently resent the eventual circumstances just to meet the objectives, but a great number probably just want to test and follow their faith blindly. A sacrifice in exchange of favors.

Black Nazarene replica by Atom Araullo

For once, I think I began to understand what Blaise Pascal meant when he wrote: “Man surpasses man, infinitely.” Faith makes that possible. If only we could find a way of harnessing the immense power of faith to surpass ourselves as a nation.

If Filipinos are so religious, why are we so poor, our morals so low. So sad.

Most of us are terminal thinkers as opposed to being relational thinkers.That is, we don't or can't relate or link their religious activities with their practical daily lives. And become unchanged or never transformed.


Photo credits: World Ngayon and Atom Araullo