Literary Criticism
"The Folk Devotion to the Black Nazarene"
Ophelia A. Dimalanta
The widespread devotion of Filipinos to the Black Nazarene of Quiapo reaches fever pitch in the celebration of Quiapo's district fiesta on January 9 every year. Then the mercantile flavor of the place dissolves into that once-a-year display of religious fervor that affects all other districts of Manila in terms of heavy vehicular traffic and the sea of humanity around the church.
The Friday devotion to the Black Nazarene has made a temple worship peculiar to its own brand of Catholicism and folk piety. Beside the church are found the densest collection of amulets, wood and plastic icons, votive paraphernalia, rosaries, novenas, candles and flowers, medicinal herbs, tree bark tonics and even fortune tellers on the sidewalks. Here, too, are beggars and pickpockets who believe that the success of their job is due to miracles from heaven from their Beloved Senor, to whom they pay devotion before plying their trade.
Days before the fiesta, committees are formed to put up decorations, streamers, buntings, and bamboo archways, while hundreds of brass and bamboo bands march around to herald the event.
Street masses at 6:00 p.m. daily are celebrated in different sections of Quiapo starting January 2. On the patron's feast day, January 9, vehicular traffic is rerouted, and when the procession of the Black Nazarene starts, hundreds of thousands join the mammoth procession in honor of the Black Nazarene and the traffic in downtown Manila is completely paralyzed.
An all-male group of devotees, barefoot by tradition, come from all walks of life. many of those afflicted with ailments or troubled with grave problems believe implicitly that they would be cured or gain solutions if they could be among those taking turns to pull the carriage of the Black Christ during the procession.
Ironically, for the sick, in the riot of reverence during the Black Nazarene's festive procession, only the bold and strong succeed in getting near the carriage to push or pull it, clamber atop it to kiss the foot of the image or the hem of its robe or simply to lay a fervent hand on it.
The labyrinthine or intricate winding procession traces the sidestreets in Quiapo, squeezing itself into once-quiet,once-genteel streets before going back to the Plaza Miranda and, finally, the church.
The church which has grown immeasurably during the past years is the center of modern churchgoers. They believe that God dwells in it and man is essentially redeemed if he lives in the grace of God, a message long symbolized by the overpowering presence of the suffering Savior in the Black Nazarene of Quiapo.
Ophelia A. Dimalanta, obviously explains what is her observation on the time of the Philippines' history for every which is the "Pista ng Nazareno". As what have said in Historical approach, it is more on the reflection of an author's life. Maybe the author wants us to show the historical event of her time which until now it is really important event to us. She actually narrate and describe to us what is behind and what is really happening on the "Pista ng Nazareno". However, there are some details that the author didn't tell us. For example, the attire of the devotees in the said "Pista ng Nazareno", the negative situations happening on that day like people who are fainting ,devotees who are getting lost their sons/daughters as well as the valuable things like cellphone which gets lost while devoting to the Black Nazarene.
The Friday devotion to the Black Nazarene has made a temple worship peculiar to its own brand of Catholicism and folk piety. Beside the church are found the densest collection of amulets, wood and plastic icons, votive paraphernalia, rosaries, novenas, candles and flowers, medicinal herbs, tree bark tonics and even fortune tellers on the sidewalks. Here, too, are beggars and pickpockets who believe that the success of their job is due to miracles from heaven from their Beloved Senor, to whom they pay devotion before plying their trade.
Days before the fiesta, committees are formed to put up decorations, streamers, buntings, and bamboo archways, while hundreds of brass and bamboo bands march around to herald the event.
Street masses at 6:00 p.m. daily are celebrated in different sections of Quiapo starting January 2. On the patron's feast day, January 9, vehicular traffic is rerouted, and when the procession of the Black Nazarene starts, hundreds of thousands join the mammoth procession in honor of the Black Nazarene and the traffic in downtown Manila is completely paralyzed.
An all-male group of devotees, barefoot by tradition, come from all walks of life. many of those afflicted with ailments or troubled with grave problems believe implicitly that they would be cured or gain solutions if they could be among those taking turns to pull the carriage of the Black Christ during the procession.
Ironically, for the sick, in the riot of reverence during the Black Nazarene's festive procession, only the bold and strong succeed in getting near the carriage to push or pull it, clamber atop it to kiss the foot of the image or the hem of its robe or simply to lay a fervent hand on it.
The labyrinthine or intricate winding procession traces the sidestreets in Quiapo, squeezing itself into once-quiet,once-genteel streets before going back to the Plaza Miranda and, finally, the church.
The church which has grown immeasurably during the past years is the center of modern churchgoers. They believe that God dwells in it and man is essentially redeemed if he lives in the grace of God, a message long symbolized by the overpowering presence of the suffering Savior in the Black Nazarene of Quiapo.
~~ This essay falls under Historicism. Historical critics see works as the reflection of an author's life and times or of the characters' life and times. They believe it is necessary to know about the author and the political, economical, and sociological context of his times in order to truly understand his works.
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