A show of faith during this pandemic

THE annual Traslacion has long been a big part of the Feast of the Black Nazarene held every January 9, marking the return of the image from Intramuros to its shrine at the Quiapo Church. This year, the massive procession was cancelled lest it spread the deadly COVID-19 pandemic which thrives on mass gatherings.

Masses were held but only a few – 30 percent of capacity – were allowed inside the church. Hundreds had to stay in the churchyard at Plaza Miranda, all wearing face masks and duly separated by one meter from one another, in accordance with the government’s rule on mass gatherings. Thousands of others could only listen to the masses via large screens and sound systems as they stood on Quezon Ave. all the way back to Recto Ave.

The new Aposolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Charles Brown, presided over a mass at the Quiapo Church on Sunday and saw the thousands in the church and in the streets, moving him to say that he was “blown away” by the faith and the religiosity of the Filipino people in the midst of the pandemic.

“As all of you know, in many parts of the world, the Catholic faith is maybe being practiced with less intensity than it once was,” he said. “But here in the Philippines, when you witness feasts like the Black Nazarene’s, it is still deeply felt here and that’s beautiful.” He should see the millions that will return to join the Traslacion when it hopefully resumes next year a er the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other fiesta celebrations in churches all over the country have had to be cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic which has spread around the world through mass gatherings. For four days early this month – January 8-11 – Novena Masses for the Fiesta Senor of 2021 were held at the Basilica Minore de Sto. Nino de Cebu. But as the crowds swelled, the Augustinian friars of the basilica announced the cancellation of the rest of the physical novena masses, to be replaced by virtual or online masses for the Fiesta Senor on Sunday, January 17.

The year 2020 saw the cancellation of many traditional religious celebrations – the Holy Week rites in April, the many fiestas in honor of saints and the traditional Marian processions in May, the Undas visits to the nation’s cemeteries in November. Fortunately, government restrictions were eased by December to allow the celebration of Simbang Gabi leading to the Christmas Eve Mass ending on Christmas Day.

Through all these dark days of the pandemic, Filipinos have remained firm in their faith. Hopefully this year, the COVID19 pandemic will come to an end and while we will probably not return to normal as we used to know it, we should see a resurgence of the national life and, with it, a massive show of faith, as the people fill the churches to celebrate the end of the dark period of the COVID-19 pandemic.