The Feast Day of the Black Nazarene 2026

 

                                     

An estimated 23,000 devotees celebrated the Feast Day of the Black Nazarene in Cagayan de Oro on January 9, 2026. The feast activity started on the evening of January 8, 2026, at 8 p. m. with the transport of the replica of the Black Nazarene from Jesus Nazareno Parish along C.M. Recto Ave. to Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral. The following day at dawn on January 9, 2025, a mass was held at 3:00 a.m. After it was a holy procession with the image boarded on an open carriage drawn by devotees of Santo Nino. The procession passed the thoroughfare of Velez St. and made a right turn at the junction of Julio Pacana St. and C.M Recto Ave., and from there it proceeded to its destination, the Jesus Nazareno Parish.  

Following the Nazarene, some devotees were carrying along with them statuettes of the infant Jesus as the procession went on. Others had their face towels or banners. They then tossed those towels to the escorts who were on the carriage. The escorts then wiped those towels on the Nazarene and tossed them back to their owners. The faithful believed that the towels and statuettes that were touched to the Black Nazarene would have miraculous healing power.

Occasionally, the carriage paused so that the escorts would be able to catch the towels and to take the statuettes. Throughout the procession the devotees were shouting “Viva Señor Jesus Nazareno!” and waiving their small towels or banners or raising their statuettes.  

The feast and its related activities which is called “translacion” originated in Quiapo, Manila. Jesus Nazareno Parish copied it  after the Archdiocese of Manila sent a replica of the statue of the Black Nazarene to the church.

The original statue of the Nazarene is believed to have come from Mexico via the Galleon Trade during the Spanish colonial era. The original sculpture is said to have a fair color. But it was burned in transit when a ship that carried it was sailing to the Philippines. That incident caused its color to turn into dark.