By Ferdinand Patinio/PNA
MANILA — Young Filipinos participated in the thanksgiving procession at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, also known as Quiapo Church, on Sunday or exactly a week before the annual celebration of the feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9, 2019.
According to Msgr. Hernando “Ding” Coronel, rector of the Quiapo Church, many Filipino youth or the millennials attended the religious event, noting that it is a good sign since the incoming year is the Year of the Youth.
“We noticed more millennials joining this year. This is a positive sign, since 2019 is the Year of the Youth,” he said in an interview on Monday.
The Catholic priest said the procession started at 12 midnight and ended at 10 a.m.
“The procession route covers the parish boundaries,” he added.
Coronel said the procession went on smoothly and orderly, as he acknowledged the help of barangay and local government.
“We tried to make the thanksgiving procession more solemn. The beginning and the conclusion was more prayerful and orderly,” he added.
The Quiapo Church official said that the first novena mass will be held on Monday for the Jan. 9 event.
“This last day of the year we sing the Te Deum and also we begin the first novena mass for the Traslacion feast,” he said.
“I am most happy at the collaboration of different sectors of society today to give worship to the Lord Jesus, the Nazareno,” Coronel added.
Through the years, millions of devotees have joined the nine-day celebration to be concluded by the Traslacion, the grand procession from Quirino Grandstand in Luneta to the Basilica along Quezon Boulevard in Manila.
