Fear Factor : Quiapo Edition

I just saw the Feast of the Black Nazarene “procession” on TV. It was quite an event. Devotees were risking life, limb and children just to get near the Black Nazarene. It would have been hilarious if it weren’t for the number of injured devotees.

Naman. It’s a religious event. It shouldn’t be as dangerous as the yearly bull-running festival in Pamplona, Spain. It’s a way of showing the creator or the son or both our rabid devotion. But like most religious event that we have here, we forget the essential thing. We forget faith, and we stick to the ritual with the single-mindedness of an infant. People forget why we flock to Quiapo Church. People forget why we insist on touching the wooden Christ. People forget everything but remember the routine.

Faith is hard, routine is easy.

Imagine what would happen if the Quiapo Church decides to stop holding the yearly procession? What could happen? The devotees and the faithful would certainly go berserk. They couldn’t even change the procession route. The crowd a.k.a. mob just won’t let anyone interfere with their ritual.

Are we a nation of unthinking devotees? Have we a culture of rituals?

I hope I’m wrong.

I should be wrong.