Hundreds of thousands of barefoot Filipino pilgrims and devotees of the Black Nazarene during this year's procession in Manila Philippines, January 9, 2013. Every year thousands of devotees join the procession seeking for guidance and answered prayers from miraculous image of Jesus representing his passion and suffering. An estimated 9 million people joined this year's procession which lasted for 18 hours.
The annual religious event center on a 406-year-old black icon of cross-bearing Jesus Christ, the Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ carrying the cross, believed to be miraculous by many Filipino Catholics. The idol is said to have been brought to the Philippines by a Spanish priest from Mexico in 1606. Originally with fair complexion, it turned dark after it survived a burning ship on its arrival from Mexico. The image is currently in the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo district, Manila, Philippines, where it is venerated weekly with Friday Novena Masses. Its feast is one of the most celebrated religious events in the predominantly Catholic Country, where more than 80 percent of the population professes the faith.
