Who keeps the Nazareno devotion alive?

When I was young, Mama would have me tag along with her for the feast day of the Jesus Nazareno in Quiapo.

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I vaguely recall that we visited a distant relative there once or twice. We used to have a small image of the Black Nazarene at home.The Memije family's true Nazareno devotee was Mama's brother, Larry. On most days, Larry Memije is a renowned painter of old Vigan houses, a darts player, and a cyclist. But for many years, every January 9, he joined hundreds of thousands of "mamamasan" whose devotion to the Black Nazareno keeps the tradition alive.

Whether climbing the andas to touch the image, wiping it with a towel, helping pull the ropes, or joining from a distance, it is this persistent, shared faith that sustains the Nazareno devotion year after year.

I've been following this tradition ever since. Many friends have also become "mamamasan" and devotees of the Nazareno. The devotion is a powerful symbol and expression of Filipino Catholic faith, and it is the continuing, lived devotion of ordinary people that upholds this icon of Filipino religiosity. Pope John Paul II raised Quiapo Church to the status of a minor basilica in 1987. Recognition by local Church authorities came only after years of unwavering popular devotion, showing that it is the people who truly keep the Nazareno devotion alive.