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.

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.

Thousands of devotees filled the streets for an annual Catholic procession in the Philippines. Religious locals gathered around the Quiapo Church in the capital city Manila, where the image of the Black Nazarene depicting Jesus Christ carrying a cross was set to arrive during the religious festival on January 9.