Abstract

In 1521, the Spanish conquistadores brought Christian faith to the Philippine islands. Through centuries, this faith is infused with the indigenous culture of the people paving a way to what is known today as “Filipino popular devotion.” One of the most famous among its rituals is the annual Traslación devotion in honor of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. In recent decades, there has been a vast measure of literature on this religious phenomenon. However, most of them are either written by social scientists or religious experts and very seldom has it been explored in a philosophical manner. This paper aims to reflect on the religious experience of the Black Nazarene popular devotion in order to provide a philosophical appreciation of this unique Filipino faith, in particular, and to provide an avenue towards a deeper understanding indigenous culture and Christian faith, in general. In meeting this aim, the study invokes Søren Kierkegaard’s existentialism and its discussion on “faith” illustrated in two of his renowned works Fear and Trembling and Concluding Unscientific Postscript.