Black Nazarene’s First Traslacion at DECA Homes Esperanza

Actual picture of the full-sized replica of the Black Nazarene housed at Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel, DECA Homes Esperanza

TIGATTO, DAVAO CITY—The traditional procession for the 2016 Feast of the Black Nazarene, also known as the “Traslacion,” commemorating the first parade transferring the original Black Nazarene statue from a church in Intramuros, Manila to Quiapo, Manila on 09 January 1767, was also celebrated for the first time here at DECA Homes Esperanza (DHE), Tigatto, Davao City on 09 January 2016, where a replica of the same is permanently housed and installed.

Installation
On 18 August 2015, a Black Nazarene replica from St. John the Baptist Church, more popularly known as Quiapo Basilica Minor, was installed at DHE’s Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel by Bishop George Rimando.

Since then, DHE’s Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel — built by 8990 Housing Development Corporation (8990 HDC), the developer of DHE — is the permanent home in Davao City of the Black Nazarene.

First “Traslacion”
The first “Traslacion” at DHE was attended by Catholic devotees who are residents of DHE and of nearby areas. Unlike in Quiapo where the procession usually finishes after more than 12 long hours from the time it started as the route of the procession thereat is longer and the participants are numbered in millions, the first “Traslacion” at DHE ended at around 7:30 in the morning, or approximately just 1 and ½ hours from the time the Black Nazarene replica left the DHE’s Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel at around 6:00 in the morning since the route of the procession is within the DHE subdivision only and the crowd of participants during the procession were seen to be orderly managed by the organizers due to its lesser number compared to the one at Quiapo. Another visible contrast is that participants of the “Traslacion” at DHE held yellow balloons, where small slips of papers bearing their various personal petitions to God were tied at the end of the balloon’s string. These balloons were simultaneously released by the participants at the end of the procession.

During the procession proper, the weather was cloudy and there was a little drizzle which happened during the early part of the procession but which did not in any way hamper the solemnity of the procession.

This first “Traslacion” was spearheaded by the members of the Gagmay na Kristohanong Katilingban of DECA Homes Esperanza, who regularly meets every Friday of each week at 7:00 in the evening since 21 August 2015 (the Friday immediately following the installation mass by Bishop Rimando on 18 August 2015 at DHE’s Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel), and is fully supported by 8990 HDC management as well as by the Catholic faithful residing at DHE and nearby areas.

* Contributor is a homeowner at DECA Homes Esperanza. He is also a devotee of the Black Nazarene (Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno or Poóng Itím na Nazareno) and is informing everyone in Davao City and nearby regions that there is a novena for the Black Nazarene at the Our Lady of Peñafrancia Chapel, DECA Homes Esperanza, Tigatto, Davao City, every Friday at 7:00 in the evening of each week in the year (except Good Friday).

** All photos utilized herein were from a portfolio of pictures taken by the contributor’s wife during the first “Traslacion” at DECA Homes Esperanza, Tigatto, Davao City (09 January 2016). (Leopoldo D. Española Jr., REB)