Marinduque anitos; Black Nazarene procession during various periods of history

Nazareno procession during the Spanish period.
Image courtesy of Jose Victor Z. Torres

This once worshipped Marinduque male anito was part of the Marche
excavations in 1881. Museum of Man (Oceania) Collection

Female Marinduque anito worshipped as a mediator to the spirit world.
Known as pastores this is from the Museum of Man (Oceania) Collection.

Prior to Spanish colonization of the Philippines, there were anitos worshipped by Filipinos. They were considered watchers or spirits of their deceased relatives. These anitos served as mediums to the spirit world who keep watch and help grant the wishes of the living in times of need.

It was easy for Filipinos to accept the new Catholic religion as their anitos were supplanted by the bigger carved images or statues of Christ brought in from Mexico or Spain.

Nazareno procession during the American period.
Photo courtesy of Jose Victor Z. Torres

Today, hundreds of thousands of barefooted Filipino Catholics join the annual parade of a blackened image of Jesus Christ, the Nazareno of Quiapo that many regard as their anito.

The 6.9-kilometer procession of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo draws millions of devotees. A television news anchor this morning of January 9, 2019, estimates the crowd to be "five million".

Nazareno procession during the Japanese period (1943).
Photo courtesy of Jose Victor Z. Torres

Nazareno procession during the Japanese occupation.
Photo courtesy of Jose VIctor Z. Torres

Nazareno procession after the Japanese War,
Photo courtesy of Jose Victor Z. Torres

Nazareno procession in 2010.

Anito worship was regarded as a pagan practice. Now they call the way Filipinos worship the Black Nazareno as folk Catholicism, that varies from place to place sometimes contradicting the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic church.

Folk accommodations between Catholicism and local beliefs is what has occurred in the Philippines as well as in other developing countries.

Devotees of the Black Nazarene many of them wearing maroon shirts and carrying white towels and rosaries reminiscent of the 'paganistic' anting-anting. 




Nazareno procession 2019. Photo: Remate

Today in Boac, Marinduque hundreds also join
a procession of three replicas of the Black Nazarene in carrozas.