BROTHERS AMD SISTERS IN CHRIST,
On May 31, 1606, the first group of the Augustinian Recollect missionaries landed on the shores of Manila, bringing with them from Mexico the life-size image of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ genuflected under the weight of the cross. The image was enshrined at the first Recollect church in Bagumbayan (now part of the Rizal Park), which was inaugurated on September 10, 1606, and placed under the patronage of the glorious precursor and martyr, Saint John the Baptist.
In 1608, the second biggest Recollect church dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentine was completed inside the Walled City (where the building of Manila Bulletin now stands), where the image of Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno was transferred. The Recollect Fathers then vigorously promoted devotion to the Suffering of Our Lord represented by the image that in fifteen short years the Confradia de Jesus Nazareno was established on April 21, 1621. The confraternity obtained Papal approval on April 20, 1650, from His Holiness Pope Innocent X.
Sometime between the years 1767 and 1790, then Archbishop of Manila, Basilio Sancho de Santas Justa y Rufina, ordered the transfer of the image of the Nazareno to the Church in Quiapo, again providently placed under the patronage of the precursor Saint John the Baptist.
In Quiapo, the devotion to NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO attracted an even bigger following. Its popularity, which initially spread to the northern and southern provinces of Luzon, spreads overtime throughout the country.
The uniquely Filipino devotion to the Black Nazarene merited the sanction and encouragement of two Popes, Innocent X in 1650 with a Papal Bull canonically establishing the Confradia de Jesus Nazareno, and Pius VII in the 19th century, by granting indulgence to those who piously pray before the image of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo.
The image providentially survived the great fires that destroyed Quiapo Church in 1791 and 1929, the great earthquakes of 1645 and 1863, and the destructive bombing of Manila in 1945 during World War II. Today, despite the rough and tumble that usually accompany the three yearly procession of the image, the Filipino people’s devotion to Our Lord in the special appellation of NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO continues to flourish and shows no sign if waning death, wounds, bodily pains and physical discomfort notwithstanding.
Cognizant if the love and devotion of our brethren bear for Our Lord Jesus Christ whose miraculous image is lovingly called “Our Father Jesus of Nazarene.”
Cognizant further if the significant role the devotion to NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAXARENO plays in personifying the Christian injunctions of learning to humble and deny oneself, and to courageously take up one’s crosses and trials in life in imitation of Christ (Mt. 16:24).
We, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, the clergy and the faithful devotees of the Jesus Nazareno, after diligent prayer, and after discerning the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, guided by the established doctrine on popular devotions, do hereby proclaim to all the Roman Catholic faithful of the Archdiocese of Manila:
- the celebration of the FOURTH CENTENARY OF NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO de QUIAPO;
- that the centenary celebration shall carry the theme:
”JESUS NAZARENO – KAGANAPAN NG BUHAY” (Jn. 10:10), which appropriately embodies His salvific role as center of our lives as contained in the Vision Statement of the Archdiocese of Manila;
- that the centenary shall commence on May 31, 2006, and ended on June 1, 2007;
- that the two-fold objectives of the centenary shall be:
a.
The renewal and strengthening of the faith of the Filipino people in the tender mercy and love of Almighty God, who sent His Son as an aloning sacrifice for our sins (1 Jn.4-10); and
b.
The preservation and enhancement if the heritage devotion of the Filipino people in the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29), under the special appellation of NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO;
- that the centenary shall be observed with appropriate religious and cultural celebrations in all parishes, most specially in the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, and in all other parishes, chapels and shrines where devotion to NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO DE QUIAPO exists, and where an image of Our Lord under the same title is venerated;
- that all celebrations shall be directed at understanding the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church in particular the catechesis proposed by the Archdiocese of Manila in its Vision Statement and encouraging the faithful to frequent the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion;
- that the catechesis of fullness of life in God enshrined in the Pondo ng Pinoy Movement be the overarching formation program this year long celebration.
We further declare that in recognition of the prodigious event that accompanied the growth of the devotion to NUESTRO PADRE JESUS NAZARENO in the past Four Hundred Years, and which events could fill numerous volumes of books if documented and compiled, we have petitioned our Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, for the canonical celebration of the four hundred year old image of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Appropriate committees to plan, coordinate, oversee and implement the different activities during the centenary in the Archdiocese of Manila shall be initiated by the Parochial administrators of the Basilika ng Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila, headed by the current Rector and Parish Priest and Vicar General, the Right Reverend Monsignor Josefino Ramirez, H.P.
Arzobispado de Manila
+ GAUDENCIO B. CARDIANL ROSALES, D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
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