The Archdiocese of Manila has sent a proposal to the Vatican to declare January 9 of every year as the National Feast of the Black Nazarene.
According to a CBCP post, Quiapo Church rector Fr. Rufino Sescon, Jr.said the decision to declare Jan. 9 as the national feast of the revered Poong Hesus Nazareno is now up to the Vatican.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines approved the Manila archdiocese’s proposal during their plenary assembly in July last year, in the same gathering where the bishops approved the petition to elevate Quiapo Church to national shrine status.
“It is our prayer that when we meet again next time, the Church will designate Jan. 9 as a national feast in honor of our beloved Black Nazarene,” Fr. Sescon said.
The Quiapo Church rector made the announcement during the vigil following the midnight mass presided over by Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula at the Quirino Grandstand on Jan. 9.
“We want it to be a national feast for the Church so it is up to the bishops and the Pope to discuss this,” said Fr. Sescon.
The CBCP said, Cardinal Advincula sent a letter to the body in May 2023, citing the importance of designating a fixed date to celebrate the feast of the traslacion of the Black Nazarene.
“In the absence of a specific national liturgical directive, the celebrations become dependent on the priests or the community. Making it a national feast will definitely bring order and most especially joy to the millions of devotees, particularly those who cannot go to Quiapo,” His Eminence said.
Meanwhile, the traslacion procession of the image of the Black Nazarene took nearly 15 hours. The revered icon reached the Quiapo Church amid applause from devotees at around 7:45 p.m. breaking the record for the fastest procession of 16 hours in 2020. In 2019, the procession took a long 21 hours.
Authorities said over 6.5 million people joined the procession, which started at around 4:45 a.m. from the Quirino Grandstand. The crowd at the Quiapo Church was estimated at 1,398,500 as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.