black nazarene

Veneration of the Black Nazarene stems from the overall importance Filipino culture has for the Passion of Jesus. Many devotees of the Black Nazarene identify their poverty and daily struggles to the wounds and tribulations experienced by Jesus, as represented by the image.
The procession during the January 9 feast commemorates the Traslacion, or the transfer of the image to its present shrine in Quiapo.^{[citation needed]}
The Black Nazarene is carried into the streets for procession in an andas or shoulder-borne carriage. The estimated millions of devotees wear the colour maroon, associated with the image, and go barefoot in imitation of Jesus on his way to Mount Calvary. Traditionally, men are the only ones permitted to hold the ropes pulling the image's carriage, but in recent years female devotees also participate in the procession. People who have touched the Black Nazarene are reported to have been cured of their diseases, and Catholics come from all over Manila to touch the image in the hopes of a miracle. Towels or handkerchiefs are hurled to the marshals guarding the Black Nazarene with requests to wipe these on the statue in hopes of the miraculous powers attributed to it "rubbing off" on the cloth articles.
The procession held on the feast day is notorious for the annual casualties that result from the jostling and congestion of the crowds engaged in pulling the carriage. The injuries and even deaths of devotees are brought upon by one or a combination of heat, fatigue, or being trampled upon by other devotees.