At least 175,000 devotees attended the Misa Mayor honoring the Black Nazarene at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila at midnight on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
The high mass in celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene was headed by His Eminence Cardinal Jose Advincula.
Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, Manila Vice Mayor Yul Servo Nieto, Malabon City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, and other key officials joined the Eucharistic celebration.
Traslacion commenced at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, where the Black Nazarene will be returned to its home at the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church.
Traslacion is the biggest annual procession in the country for the Feast of the Black Nazarene.
It was last held in 2020 and was postponed for three years due to the pandemic.
The procession is expected to draw millions of devotees all over the Philippines.
Meanwhile, many devotees decided to spend the night at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Monday night, Jan. 8.
Lines already started to build up at the venue at 10 p.m. as devotees showed up early for the Misa Mayor and Traslacion.
One of the devotees, Arlene, 47, said she arrived at the venue on Monday for the "Pahalik" or kissing of the image.
She said she came from Mindoro and has no relatives in Manila so she decided to camp out at the Quirino grandstand and sacrifice sleep just to get the chance to venerate the image of the Black Nazarene.
"Hindi na namin naisip yung tutulugan namin kasi ang gusto talaga namin makita ang Nazareno. Kahit puyat, ayos lang, kasi isang beses sa isang taon lang mangyari (We didn't think about where we would sleep because we really wanted to see the image of the Nazarene. Even if we had a sleepless night, it's okay, because this only happens once a year)," she said.
Police said no untoward incidents have been reported as of 4 a.m.