The Black Nazarene is a life-sized, dark-skinned statue of Jesus Christ that a priest bought in Mexico, carved by an Aztec carpenter. The image is now enshrined in the minor basilica in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines and the day on which devotees go to the church is Friday.
-History-
The statue was brought to Manila by the first group of Augustinian Recollect friars in May 31, 1606.[1] 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 Saint John the Baptist.
In 1608, the second bigger Recollect church dedicated to San Nicolas de Tolentino(Saint Nicholas of Tolentine ) was completed inside Intramuros (where the building of the Manila Bulletin now stands), where the image of Nuestro Padre Jesús 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 Cofradia de Jesús Nazareno was established on April 21, 1621. The confraternity obtained Papal approval on April 20, 1650, from His Holiness Pope Innocent X.
