Catholic Church readies for Nazarene feast on Jan 9

Catholic Church officials in Manila have started preparing for the arrival of millions of devotees who will join the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9 this year. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the activities include an overnight vigil at the Luneta on January 8 before the main procession on January 9. "An overnight vigil will be held at the Luneta evening of January 8. A Holy Mass will be celebrated for the public morning of January 9 followed by the procession of the image back to the basilica," the CBCP said on its news site on Monday. The CBCP said the procession, or "Traslacion," is a reenactment of the transfer of the image of the Black Nazarene from Luneta to Quiapo, both in Manila, in 1787. According to the CBCP, devotees join the Traslacion as a way of strengthening their faith and showing their gratitude for the spiritual and material favors they have received from God. This year’s celebration has the theme: “Yapak ng Poong Nazareno, Yakap ng Sambayanan sa Pagbabagong Buhay." Meanwhile, an ecological group appealed to the Black Nazarene's devotees to keep the event clean. “We appeal to you and all the devotees of the Nuestro Padre Hesus Nazareno to unite in ensuring that the splendid affirmation of our Christian faith will also mirror our shared mission of caring for the environment," the group said in a letter to Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, Parish Priest and Rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo. Signing the letter was EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez. Excerpts of the letter were posted on Monday on the group's blog site. In his letter, Alvarez said they hope that participants in this year's Traslacion "will not aggravate the waste and sanitation problems in the Quiapo district." He asked the devotees to take personal responsibility for their trash. “With your help, we can turn the tide of garbage that has been spoiling this great communion of the faithful," he added. According to EcoWaste, together with local village leaders, they will hang banners near and around Plaza Miranda asking the public to prevent and reduce fiesta garbage. EcoWaste lamented that previous celebrations were blighted by massive wastefulness that has nothing to do with people's piety towards the Black Nazarene. “We have seen streets traversed by the grand procession carpeted with various trash as if national and city laws against littering do not matter during the mammoth religious event," Alvarez lamented. “The massive littering tarnishes our devoutness to the Black Nazarene that many of us beg for deliverance from life’s problems, including ailments that could have come from a polluted environment," he added. “Our devotion to the Black Nazarene requires care and respect for His Creation. It also matches the bishops’ call for ecological stewardship and conversion," Alvarez said. Reminders to devotees EcoWaste urged the devotees to observe the following reminders: 1. Refrain from smoking, or better still quit for keeps, to avoid cigarette butt litter and serious tobacco-related diseases that kill 10 Filipinos every hour. You also protect other people from getting sick by not exposing them to toxins from secondhand smoke. 2. If you smoke, don’t toss cigarette butts on the ground. Cigarette filters are non-biodegradable and they contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the environment. 3. If you chew gum, put it in a bin after you’re done with it. If there is no bin close by, put the spent chewing gum back into the wrapper and wait until you see a bin. Don’t let barefoot devotees step on your chewing gum waste. 4. Don’t spit on walls, sidewalks and streets. Spitting in public presents a serious health risk, especially to children who are more prone to disease-causing germs and bacteria. 5. Don't urinate on the street. Urinating in public is unhygienic and poses social, health, and environmental problems. 6. Return used food and beverage containers to the vendors and do not litter them anywhere. The plastic bag for the thirst-quenching “palamig," for example, can clog the storm drains and later cause flooding in Quiapo. 7. Give back to the vendors used bamboo skewers for barbecue, grilled corn-on-the-cob, fried banana, fishball and kikiam as devotees can accidentally step on thoughtlessly thrown sticks and cause foot injuries. 8. Put your discards into the designated bins. Quiapo is not a dumpsite. Let us keep the shrine of the Black Nazarene, including the route of the procession, litter-free. 9. If you are planning to bring home something for the kids, reduce plastic waste by bringing a reusable carry bag with you for the fruits, “kakanin" and other “pasalubong" that are plentiful in Quiapo. – VVP, GMANews.TV