Tens of thousands of devotees of the Black Nazarene carried replicas of the charred image during a procession in Manila on Jan. 7, two days before the annual religious procession scheduled on Jan. 9. The image is renowned in the Philippines, and is considered by many Filipino Catholics to be miraculous.
Philippine authorities said about 100,000 devotees flocked to the city's Quiapo district to have their images blessed by priests in a parade that went around the church dedicated to the suffering Christ.
The Black Nazarene is a life-sized image of a dark-skinned, kneeling Jesus Christ carrying a cross. It was supposedly carved by an unknown Mexican from a dark wood in the 16th century that was transported to the Philippines in 1606 by Augustinian friars, but was charred in a fire on the ship en route to Manila.
