PRUSISYON NG ITIM NA NAZARENO

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Over 1.5 million people gathered in Manila today to celebrate el Nazareno Negro. The faithful tried to get as close to the statue as possible in the hope that miracles would be performed. The statuere a procession of about three and a half kilometers that ends at the Quiapo Basilica.

Every year hundreds are left wounded and fainting, and there have in the past been 3 deaths. The processors try to jump up to the statue and touch it, as touching it is a guarantee that a miracle will be performed. They have to compete with the thousands of other people to climb the 2-meter high wooden frame that the statue sits on and are then pulled off by others trying to reach the same spot.

The wooden Sculpture dates back over 300 years and was carved in Mexico. It was given to the Philippines in 1606. There is a dispute as to whether the dark skin of the statue was due to the fire of the galleon that sank bringing it the Philippines, or whether the artist that created it that way.



I've attached a youtube link below to a news channel that covered the event today.



Tomorrow - Voodoo.

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