Traslacion devotees pick up 'blessed' strands of andas rope

For some devotees of the Black Nazarene, getting an opportunity to touch the andas rope would be special.

Owning a piece of it, however, would be divine.

Believing these would bring blessings to their lives, devotees of the Black Nazarene picked up from the streets of Manila strands of the andas rope that snapped during the Traslacion procession on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the two ropes used to pull the andas carriage of the Black Nazarene image broke as it turned to Arlegui Street and Quezon Boulevard, triggering a commotion in the area.

"Nu'ng naputol siya, kanya-kanya na po kami ng kuha eh. Naniniwala po kasi kami na suwerte ito," said Andrew Reyes, one of the lucky devotees who managed to pick up some fallen rope strands amid the crowd.

(When the rope snapped, all of us started picking up rope strands. We believe that these will bring us blessings.)

Members of the Hijos del Nazareno (HDN), who are sworn to protect the Black Nazarene image during the Traslacion, dutifully transported the part of the rope that broke off back to Quiapo Church.

"Nalaman na lang po namin na yung tali, umikot na sa may gulong kaya nabalahaw nang matagal sa may kanto," said Eugene Arevalo, also a devotee.

(We found out that the rope wrapped around a carriage wheel, that's why we couldn't move for a while at the corner.)

Video footage on 24 Oras showed some devotees running and jostling to come closer to the piece of rope on the church grounds.

In a message, the Quiapo Church said that, "Ang kaliwang bahagi lang po nito ang umiksi dahil sa pagkaputol."

(Only the left portion of the rope became shorter after it broke.)

It added that this was not the first time that the andas rope snapped.

This year's Black Nazarene carriage or andas was not machine-driven and moved solely through the pulling power of the Hijos and devotees.

Despite concerns that the rope incident would hamper the movement of the andas, the matter was quickly resolved and the procession proceeded towards Fraternal Street in 20 minutes.

"Sa lahat ng nagdaan na mga Traslacion, ito po ang pinakamabilis na hila-hila lang siya. Ito po yung pinakamabilis niyang pagdaan dito," said former Barangay Chairman Melvin Amar.

(Compared to other Black Nazarene processions in the past, this is the fastest movement of a pulled carriage in this area.)

The image, encased in glass and atop a carriage, left Quirino Grandstand at 4:45 a.m. and arrived at the church at 7:44 p.m. for a total of 14 hours, 59 minutes and 10 seconds.

This year's Black Nazarene procession is the first after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/ VDV, GMA Integrated News