“This restless multitude, confused or orderly, the immensity of which terrifies us: this ocean of humanity whose slow, monotonous wave-flows trouble the hearts even of those whose faith is most firm…” A line from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s “Hymn of the Universe.”
What could have been a black day for the Feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo has been averted. There was no terrorist attack, as President Aquino himself had warned. The mammoth procession that is the highlight of the annual feast pushed through with hardly a hitch, with devotees of the highly venerated Catholic icon swarming over it, their number seeming to have increased from last year’s celebration, fighting for a chance to get even the slightest tap or stroke of the wooden image, believed to endow whoever touches it with miraculous powers.
Older people in Manila can remember the acacia trees that lined Taft Avenue before the cars and elevated train took over. They can remember, if they are somewhat older, the trolleys that ran through Sta. Ana, with bells tinkling gently like those of ice cream vendors. Jesuits, including Bishop Federico Escaler, remember the Pasig River [...]
