- At 6:00 pm on Holy Wednesday, the usual tour of the image will be carried out through the areas surrounding the Basilica of Santa Teresa
The parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Teresa, Father Armelin de Souza, announced that the midnight masses will resume in honor of the Nazarene of San Pablo in the church in downtown Caracas.
The first Mass will begin at midnight on Wednesday, April 5. The presbyter informed that there will be a total of 12 masses, the first will be on Holy Wednesday morning.
“Here, next Holy Wednesday, we are going to resume the midnight masses celebrated by auxiliary bishops, bishops and some visiting priests,” the priest confirmed to Unión Radio.
The rest of the Eucharists will be celebrated on Wednesday every hour and a half, the main one being at 4:30 pm in Diego Ibarra square.
At 6:00 pm, the image of the Nazarene of San Pablo will tour the center of Caracas to allow the faithful to venerate it and accompany it on the tour through: Cruz Verde, Lecuna avenue, Velásquez, Cipreses, Miracielos, Redoubt, Baralt avenue, Miranda square, San Pablo corner, Municipal Theater and La Palma until returning to Santa Teresa.
pandemic restrictions
In the years 2020 and 2021, the Basilica of Santa Teresa did not open its doors for devotees of the Nazarene of San Pablo due to sanitary restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic. However, in 2022 seven Eucharistic celebrations were held, with few people to respect biosafety standards.
During the first two years of the pandemic, the figure of the Nazarene toured the streets of Caracas in the Popemobile, by decision of the government and ecclesiastical authorities.
This 2023, not only will face-to-face masses be celebrated, but the number of masses will also be increased, including the traditional midnight mass.
History of the Nazarene of Saint Paul
According to popular legend, the population of Caracas suffered from the plague of black vomit or scurvy in 1597. During its journey, right at the corner of Miracielos, the holy image tripped over a lemon tree, entangling its cross. And when trying to get it out, an endless number of these fruits began to fall to the ground.
People began to collect them and made infusions for all the devotees who attended the procession. From that moment on, the scurvy stopped and the patients recovered rapidly. What generated the belief that the image was miraculous.
Some historians attribute the image to the Spanish sculptor Felipe de Ribas and point out that in 1866 it belonged to the Nuestra Señora del Carmen and Nazareno de San Pablo Brotherhood. It would be one of the oldest religious images in the country, with more than three and a half centuries of history.
Before arriving at the Basilica of Santa Teresa, it was in the El Ermitaño church until 1876, when President Antonio Guzmán Blanco demolished it to build the Municipal Theater.