Faith in Black Nazarene

People pray for blessings and miracles every day or at some point.

We turn to an infinite power to seek divine intervention regardless of religion. Faith is personal; no amount of epistemic reasoning can transcend faith in the way believers practice and celebrate it.

As a Roman Catholic kid, I grew up in a rural community where almost everyone interacted spiritually with God and his son, Jesus Christ. I learned the tenets of faith by praying, saying grace before eating, reading the Bible, particularly in the pabasa and senakulo during Holy Week, and connecting with other believers through religious festivals and the Christmas season.

Our religious festivals are a fantastic fusion of Catholic traditions and indigenous customs — the Sinulog in Cebu City, Masskara in Bacolod City, Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, Pahiyas in Quezon, Our Lady of Penafrancia in Naga, and the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila, whose religious statues are believed to have healing powers by pious believers.

Of all these festivals, one stood out to carve a niche in my heart — the Black Nazarene, paraded through downtown Manila last week, 9 January. The annual procession or Traslacion pays homage to the miraculous healing power of the statue, believed to have been carved by a Mexican artist and brought to the Philippines in the 16th century via a ship that caught fire. However, the statue survived and is still intact.

Like many devotees, I have my big miracle to share. I have been a devotee of the Black Nazarene since 2007, when my youngest and only son was born prematurely at six months. He only weighed 2.2 pounds, a mere 1 kilogram, and one dangkal (one-hand span) from head to foot. Literally, “isang dangkal lang ang laki ng anak ko!”

The doctors advised us to prepare for the worst because the baby’s organs were not yet fully developed, and he had to be given oxygen. Because of the early exposure of the baby’s organs, including the eyes, to oxygen, the doctors said there was a possibility that my son, my namesake, might go blind and might not be able to enjoy the beauty of the world.

As a father, it was the most heartbreaking news ever. Crying would not be enough for the intense outpouring of pain, thinking about what my son would have to endure if he survived the first three months of life.

I confess that I am not a praying man. Like you, I am also a sinner, and I seldom go to church. But my son was fighting for dear life, so Fr. Biboy Mansueto, a very dear friend and parish priest in our community, advised me: “Bai, bunyagan nako imung anak” (I will baptize your child now), to which I readily agreed. I then arranged with the neonatal ICU staff of Chong Hua Hospital if baptism could be done. The staff said it could be.

The next day, I picked up Father Biboy from St. Joseph Parish in Mabolo and proceeded to the hospital so he could administer the sacrament of baptism. At the end of the ritual, the priest handed me an image of the Black Nazarene and said: “Keep this with your son.”

That night, and many nights after, I stormed the Heavens with prayers to let my son live, unmindful that it was so pretentious of me to be given such a priority when millions of others across the planet were also praying for the same. But I needed a big miracle, so I talked to the Black Nazarene and held on to the image beside my baby so He could see and hear us both.

Indeed, great things happen when you least expect it. My son survived! To me, it was the miracle of the Black Nazarene that guided the doctors’ hands throughout my son’s ordeal.

Today, my only son, Yuri Fidel, is a healthy Grade 10 teen and is active and athletic. He plays no blood, no foul basketball. I see him as a living embodiment of God’s ultimate love and compassion through the Black Nazarene. I started walking back on God’s path to honor him, struggling not to go astray daily.

I do not need another big miracle to validate my faith in the Black Nazarene. I am thankful for all the small miracles that happen every day. I breathe the air in God’s glory and enjoy His beautiful creations. Someday, I will leave this world and delight in new lives born and reborn to replace those lost. This is the miracle of life.

Though hard-pressed on every side, the best minds struggle to explain what is invisible but feel consolation and salvation once they fail. Invariably, the spirit feels what the eyes cannot see.

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