10/01/2026
Every January 9, the Fiesta of the Poong Hesus Nazareno of Quiapo draws millions of Filipino devotees to Manila for the annual Traslacion. People flock to Quiapo to commemorate the traditional transfer of the image, originally from Mexico, from Intramuros to the Quiapo Church. What is supposed to be remembered is a solemn act of devotion, a penitential procession reenacting a historical moment of faith. The modern Traslacion follows the route from Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church, and by nature this devotion is good. No question about that. Filipinos have a deep love for Christ crucified, suffering, carrying the cross. That instinct is Catholic and it is beautiful.
But let us be honest and blunt. As the years go by, what used to be a solemn and organized procession has turned into chaos. People get injured. People get trampled. People even die. And yet every year we repeat the same thing and pretend nothing is wrong. If you ask the elderly, those who witnessed the Traslacion decades ago, they will tell you straight up that what we see today is very far from what it used to be. It was once prayerful. It was once disciplined. It was once ordered. Now it looks more like a stampede than a procession.
So we have to ask the uncomfortable question. Why did a Catholic procession, which should be solemn, reverent, and orderly, turn into this? The answer is not hard to see. Many Filipinos believe, whether they admit it or not, that the image of the Hesus Nazareno itself grants wishes. People rush, push, climb, and endanger others just to touch the image or even just the rope of the andas. The mentality becomes “if I touch it, I will be blessed,” as if grace works automatically, as if miracles are mechanical, as if God is forced to act once the object is touched.
Yes, God can and does use material things to communicate grace. Scripture itself shows us this, like the woman who touched the hem of Christ’s garment and was healed. Catholics are not iconoclasts. We believe God works through matter. But the Church has never taught that miracles are magic, that sacred images are genies, or that statues function like pagan idols that dispense favors on demand. Grace is not a vending machine. Devotion is not superstition. And yet what we are seeing more and more is a dangerous mix of faith, folk belief, fanaticism, and outright superstition.
What saddens me deeply is that many Filipinos lean toward this fanaticism without realizing it. They confuse intensity with holiness. They confuse danger with sacrifice. They believe suffering automatically pleases God, even when that suffering is caused by disorder, negligence, and lack of charity toward others. The Church never taught that trampling your neighbor or risking lives is an act of piety. The Church never taught that touching wood saves your soul. The Church never taught that you must be physically present in Quiapo for God to hear your prayers.
If a so called devotion is consistently causing harm, injuries, and death, then we need to stop and seriously examine whether this is actually pleasing to God. God is not honored by chaos. God is not glorified by disorder. God is not pleased when devotion overshadows charity, reason, and true worship. What pleases God is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. What pleases God is repentance. What pleases God is humility. God is far more willing to forgive our sins through the Sacrament of Confession than through dangerous acts of public spectacle. Christ instituted the sacraments, not the Traslacion.
And this is where we have to be brutally honest. Devotion is useless if we are not going to Mass on Sundays. Period. You can join every Traslacion, walk barefoot every January 9, touch the rope, wipe the image with a towel, and post it online, but if you are skipping Sunday Mass, that devotion means nothing. Devotion is also useless if we are not going to confession at least once a year. The Church is clear on this. Grace flows first and foremost through the sacraments, not through crowds, emotions, or external acts. Devotions are meant to support sacramental life, not replace it. When devotion exists without Mass and confession, it becomes empty ritual at best and superstition at worst.
Let us be clear. God hears your prayers whether you are in Quiapo or in your bedroom. God listens whether you are holding a rope or holding a rosary at home. Grace is not geographically limited. Faith is not measured by how close you get to a statue. Devotions have their place, and they can be powerful when they lead us to Christ, to the Mass, to confession, and to conversion of life. But when devotions begin to obscure the worship of the Triune God, when the focus shifts from the Creator to the creation, when a wooden sculpture receives more attention than the altar of sacrifice, then something is seriously wrong.
Devotion is part of Catholic life, yes. But devotion must always serve worship, never replace it. When devotion becomes dangerous, disordered, and superstitious, it is not holiness. It is confusion. And at that point, it is better to step back, to rethink, and to ask whether what we are doing truly leads us to Christ or whether it simply feeds religious emotion without conversion. Christ carried the cross for our salvation, not so that we could turn His image into an object of chaos.
