Hundreds of thousands of barefoot devotees joined an annual procession in the Philippines of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ on Thursday in one of the world’s grandest displays of Catholic devotion and expressions of faith.

January 9 marks the closing procession of the Black Nazarene festivities. For three days, Filipino Catholics venerate a statue of Christ brought from Mexico in the 16th century, regarded as miraculous.

"The only one who is reliable and the only one who gives us hope without fail is our beloved Lord Jesus the Nazarene," said Cardinal Advincula.

Taking place each year in January, the procession sees devotees carry across Manila a replica of a famous life-size statue of Jesus carrying a black wooden cross.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims swarmed the streets of Manila in search of a miracle, straining to reach a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ in an annual display of religious fervour.

A massive crowd of over 7.4 million mostly barefoot devotees on Thursday joined the largest religious procession in the predominantly Catholic Philippines in honour of a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ.

Thousands of worshippers joined a mass as the religious Feast of the Black Nazarene festival continued through the night in the Philippines. Footage shows the devotees twirling white towels as the carriage holding the black Jesus statue set off from the Quirino Grandstand in the capital Manila on January 9.