Devotees of the Black Nazarene on Saturday prayed for an end to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The faithful shared their prayers online via the Facebook page of Quiapo Church while the Mass celebrated by Archdiocese of Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo for the Feast of the Black Nazarene was ongoing.
Among the prayers sent online were:
Susan Albanez: “Pray for our country, end the pandemic, and all the calamities, please heal our land.
Shay Pascual: “Have mercy on us Lord. Please end this COVID-19. Protect us, your people, Lord."
Jennie Acuba: “Praying for healing for the whole world and end to this pandemic.”
Cynthia Coronejo: “Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, please heal the world. Stop COVID-19 soonest. Amen.”
Quiapo Church Rector Monsignor Hernando Coronel had the same prayer.
“We pray for an end of the pandemic. We pray for a better 2021,” he told the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Communications.
“And we thank the good Lord because there is a vaccine and especially that this vaccine be given to the poor so we can go back to our normal lives and recover our jobs, our livelihood, our economy and go back to reinforce the bond in the family and our relatives so we have missed our relations,” added Coronel.
Some traditional activities during the Feast of the Black Nazarene were cancelled this year due to COVID-19. Among them are the annual traslacion procession and the pahalik or kissing of the image.