Summer in the Philippines is not complete without a pilgrimage to Antipolo to venerate its Miraculous Patroness. The miraculous image of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (translated in English as “Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage”), more popularly known as the Virgin of Antipolo is one of the most famous Marian images in the Philippines and its Shrine is the most visited in the country, especially during pilgrimage season from May to July.
People flock her shrine to ask for her guidance and protection especially for travelers here and abroad and the pilgrimage to Antipolo became part of our culture and history for centuries that continues to live on up to this day.
The Visage of the Queen
The image of the Virgin of Antipolo is made of wood carved in Mexico. Some studies noted that the wood used in carving the image of the Virgin of Antipolo was the same wood was also devised in the carving of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo and Santo Nino de Pandacan.
The brown image of the Immaculate Conception is dressed in a regal attire, consisting of a beautiful dress covered with a regal cape that highlights the Virgin’s signature conical silhouette standing on a base. She holds a scepter with her hands at chest level, wearing rings on her fingers. Since 2021, a rosary, a gift from Pope Francis was added to her regalia due to the participation of the Shrine to the International Rosary Marathon that same year.
The image, though wounded due to the Chinese rebellion during the Spanish era, has a lovely yet regal face, adorned with earrings, sports a lace veil, a lunette above her forehead, a set of precious crowns, and twelve stars completing the Virgin’s visage.
Origins
On March 25, 1626, Don Juan Niño de Tabora boarded the Galleon of San Raymundo, the “El Almirante” of the galleon fleet and left Mexico to go to the Philippines. He brought along the brown image of the Blessed Virgin which he found in a parish in Acapulco, Mexico. He was captivated by the beauty of the image that he requested to have the image of Our Lady to accompany him in his voyage to the Philippines and to help him govern the country.
The “El Almirante” safely braved the dangers of the stormy seas and a fire aboard the ship for three months. It finally arrived in the ports of Manila on June 18, 1626. Governor Tabora credited the Blessed Virgin for the galleon’s safe and successful journey and called for a celebration for the image’s arrival. A religious procession was held to transfer the image to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.
The Virgin’s “trip” to the tipolo tree
A royal decree from Isabella II of Spain on 19 May 1864 ordered that the curias of San Nicolas de Tolentino be turned over to the Jesuits in exchange for the curias of Antipolo, Taytay and Morong, which were given to the Augustinian Recollects, who thus came into possession of the image.
Upon Governor Tabora’s death in 1632, the Blessed Virgin was turned over to the Jesuit fathers who were constructing a church in Antipolo. A church was to be built for the Blessed Virgin in the nearby barrio of Sta. Cruz although the Jesuit fathers found it hard to move it there from the Church of Antipolo.
Strangely enough, the image was always found on the tree trunk of Tipolo (breadfruit; Artocarpus incisa). This was taken as a sign that the Virgin wanted to be venerated on that spot and a church was built immediately. As for the tree, a pedestal was curved out of the trunks of that tree and the Blessed Virgin became locally known as the Virgin of Antipolo. With this incident, the place called Antipolo to commemorate the miraculous event of the Virgin resting on the tipolo tree.
The Jesuits built the first Antipolo church under Rev. Fr. Juan de Salazar, SJ in 1591, and it was damaged by the Chinese uprising in 1639 and earthquakes in 1645, 1824, and 1863. Originally, the church was meant for Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage but was built on a different plot of land. The current location of the church was where the image was found after mysteriously vanishing.
The church was destroyed during the Second World War, and a new shrine was built in 1954, declared the National Shrine to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage on January 14 of the same year by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The Diocese of Antipolo was canonically erected on June 25, 1983 and the Antipolo Shrine became the Seat of the Diocese.
The Chinese Revolt and Dutch Invasion
When the Chinese community in Antipolo revolted, they burned the church as well as the image. However, the Blessed Virgin was recovered unblemished except for a slight streak on her right cheek. It was said that the image was stabbed by the Chinese non-believers but the image miraculously survived. The stab can still be seen to this day.
Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, then the Governor General of the Philippines, ordered that the Virgin of Antipolo and the Santo Cristo of the Church be removed and be kept in Cavite in 1648 and remained there for 14 years.
It was during her stay in Cavite that in 1639 to 1646, the Virgin of Antipolo was then enshrined in Cavite Puerto. Cavite was saved from Dutch invasion because of her presence. Governor General Diego Fajardo ordered that it be temporarily restituted in the Church of Cavite. On June 10, 1647, an armada of 13 ships should have taken Cavite Puerto, however Andres Lopez de Azaldequi, a military personnel put his hope to the Virgin of Antipolo.
The Virgin of Antipolo and the Galleon Trade
It is from her stay in Cavite that the Virgin began to board on the galleons for the round trips of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade. By that time, the image served as Patroness and Protectress of the Manila – Acapulco Galleon Trade where the statue crossed the Pacific on Manila-Acapulco galleons six times from 1648 to 1748 aboard the: San Luis — (1648–1649), Encarnación — (1650), San Diego — (1651–1667), San Francisco Javier — (1659–1662), Nuestra Señora del Pilar — (1663) and San José — (1746–1748).
In recognition of the Virgin’s motherly protection, as she provided safe voyage for the galleons voyages, Governor General Sabiniano Manrique de Lara formally bestowed on the image the title “Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje” through a decree issued on September 8, 1653.
The National Hero and the Virgin of Antipolo
One of the most prominent devotees of the Virgin of Antipolo was our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal which stems back from his infancy in 1861 where his mother, Doña Teodora Alonzo offered him to the Virgin of Antipolo will make a lifetime pilgrimage to her Shrine if he will be delivered safely. The Rizal family was able to fulfill this promise to the Virgin by going on a pilgrimage to Antipolo frequently and venerated a replica of the Virgin enshrined in a chapel (now a parish) in Biñan, Laguna.
Rizal’s devotion to the Virgin of Antipolo would later influence his writings, especially the one-act play “Junto al Pasig” where he framed it as an an inquiry to with what Filipino Catholics believe and portrayed another perspective of Satan and the Virgin Mary with themes of Christianity, Innocence against Evil, and Paganism. He would later mentioned the devotion to the Virgin of Antipolo in his controversial novels “Noli me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” where he framed the devotion to the Virgin as a hall pass from vices and excessive yet misguided piety which were in fact contrary to what the Church actually teaches to her flock.
Yet, it is interesting to note that he never wrote any negative remarks on the Virgin of Antipolo as he kept a print of the image that he brings throught his travels that he kept in an album.
Miracles
A cholera outbreak was spreading the Philippine Islands and several people died during the outbreak and Antipolo was not spared. The people were alarmed with the situation that they decided to seek the help of the Virgin of Antipolo to eradicate the plague. The people went in procession and held a mass on top of a hill. After the mass, the plague was gone and this became a practice to bring the Virgin to the hill in special times of need. The Hill is now called the Pinagmisahan Hills and today, on the first Tuesday of May, the image is brought to Pinagmisahan Hills to signal the beginning of the Pilgrimage season.
In 1944, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the town and turned it into a garrison, with the shrine being used as an arsenal. To save the image, the church’s head sacristan, Procopio Ángeles, wrapped it in a thick, woolen blanket and placed it in an empty petrol drum, which he then buried in the kitchen.
Fighting between Imperial troops and the combined American and Filipino forces drove Ángeles and other devotees to move the image to Colaique Hill between Antipolo and Angono. From there, it was spirited away to Barangay Santolan in Pasig, and then to the main area of Pasig itself. The statue was then housed to the residence of Rosario Ocampo, one of the prominent ladies of Manila, in Quiapo, Manila, before it was enshrined inside Quiapo Church for the remainder of the Second World War. On October 15, 1945, the statue was returned to its church in Antipolo, where it resides today.
To commemorate the miraculous escape of the Virgin from the destruction, the shrine organizes a special procession in Colaique that became part of the pious traditions to honor the Virgin.
A notable visitor
The Virgin of Antipolo is already known as one of the important Marian pilgrimage sites in the country and it is a wonder that different prominent figures in history have set to the shrine of the Brown Virgin. One of the most esteemed pilgrims of the Virgin is Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, the successor of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei.
On June 30, 1987, Blessed Alvaro went to do a pilgrimage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. After reciting the Rosary and a “responso” for the soul of their saintly Founder. After which, he exclaimed:
“After seeing these roses offered to our Lady, I thought of the union of hearts of all the members of the Work, your sisters, and you, all together united to our Lord through our Lady. Let us be faithful. Let us renew our desire to do Opus Dei, as our Founder taught us, to serve the Church and the entire humanity, struggling against ourselves, because that is our path… My children, let us renew our resolution to give ourselves to the service of the Church and to all souls. Let us turn to our Founder so that he could help us from Heaven to be faithful, to do Opus Dei, being ourselves Opus Dei… Despite our miseries and trifles, our ingratitude, we want to be faithful. To achieve this, we go to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin. She would help us.”
Blessed Alvaro prayed the “Salve” with the others, praying for the Church and especially the Work in the Philippines, so that, She may be as God wants, a sowing of peace, a river of peace in these marvelous islands. He then later kissed the image and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to visit her shrine.
Civil and Ecclesiastical Recognition
Numerous honors were given to the Virgin over the centuries. Two of these were notable, the offering of the Field Marsha Baton by Governor General Juan de de Arechederra, OP, Bishop of Nueva Segovia from 1745 – 1750 who baptized Alimuddin I, the lone Catholic Sultan of Sulu and the Espada de Honor by Governor General Ramon Blanco. Governor General Blanco offered the Espada de Honor to the Virgin of Antipolo in thanksgiving of the victory against the Moros of Lanao in 1895 during the adimistration of Governor General Ramon Blanco y Erenas. Blanco gave the sword to the Augustinian Recollects on December 19, 1896 and it was offered to the feet of the Virgin by Fray Andres Ferrero, OAR, Prior Provincial of the Augustinian Recollects at that time.
With much miracles that are attributed to the miraculous image of Our Lady of Antipolo, The image was Pontifically Crowned by the Archbishop of Manila, Rev. Michael J. O’Doherty, on November 28, 1926 in Luneta, Manila with much rejoicing. Thousands in attendance witnessed this solemn event.
The present Church of Antipolo was declared the National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in 1954 – the first National Shrine in the Philippines.
The Cathedral-Shrine of Antipolo participated in the International Rosary Marathon on May 7, 2021. The rosary marathon was an initiative from the Vatican that took place for the whole month of in 2021 for the intention of ending the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rosary Marathon features 30 International Marian Shrines all over the world. That same year, Pope Francis gifted the Virgin of Antipolo a beautiful rosary that was immediately added to her regalia due to the Shrine’s participation to the said global event.
In June 2022, the Vatican announced the approval of the petition to elevate the National Shrine and Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage into an International Shrine. This designation marks the first of its kind in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia, and the 11th worldwide. A year later, the Holy See sent the decree, and the concession officially took effect on March 25, 2023, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord and the anniversary of the departure of the sacred image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage from Acapulco, Mexico, to the Philippines.
A special rite for the elevation as the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage took place on January 26, 2024, with 80 bishops and faithful from different in attendance.
The Devotion at present
With the continuous growth of the devotion and devotees to the Virgin of Antipolo for years the devotion proves that it continued to be very strong and enduring as evident with the continuous pilgrims flocking her shrine.
In the modern-day pious traditions, pilgrimages to Antipolo Shrine – Cathedral clandestinely start on the night of Holy Thursday, known as “Alay Lakad” where penitents and pilgrims from different parts of the country walk uphill to the Virgin’s shrine and offer prayers and sacrifices until the dawn of Good Friday.
Once the Easter Season kicks in, the festive pilgrimage season begins on 30th of April—the eve of May Day— The “Walk for Peace” (then known as “Alay Lakad” for distinction purposes to differentiate the Lenten pilgrimage) is participated by thousands of devotees would customarily spend the night traveling on foot from the Basilica Minore of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila to the Antipolo Shrine for dawn Mass.
The pilgrimage season formally opens with the Holy Mass offered at Pinagmisahan Hills on the First Tuesday of May, the feast of the Virgin of Peace and Good Voyage, to commemorate the miracle of the Virgin where a cholera epidemic that was ravaging the people of Antipolo and other parts of Rizal province died and once the Mass offered at the hill, the epidemic ceased. For the duration of the pilgrimage season, a set of novenas are offered in her honor, and on the last day of each set of novenas, a procession of her image is held.
The eminent Jesuit historian, Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde, SJ, who also served as Rector of the Residencia in Antipolo from 1747-1749, wrote about the feast day celebration of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage published in the years 1749 and 1847 in Manila. The written account attests to the First Tuesday of May as the date chosen for the feast day celebration.
This feast day celebration in May has been traditionally practiced since the time of the Jesuit presence in Antipolo during the Spanish Colonial Period until this present time. On May 22, 2018, the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, Bishop Francisco De Leon, Bishop of the Diocese of Antipolo decreed that a Special Solemnity for the Virgin of Antipolo, as the Patroness of the Diocese of Antipolo, will be perpetually celebrated every First Tuesday of May, about Padre Villarde’s historical account and marked the beginning of the Pilgrimage Season to Antipolo from the First Tuesday of May and ends on the First Tuesday of July.
Numerous parishes around the Diocese of Antipolo and other parts of Metro Manila would organize their pilgrimage to Antipolo called “Ahunan” where they would also bring along with them the venerated image of their town’s patron saint. The Pilgrimage season ends with the offering of the Holy Sacrifice and a solemn procession of the venerable image every first Tuesday of July.
On the other hand, numerous parishes, and chapels in the country are dedicated to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo, and several replicas are sent to different Shrines and seminaries in different parts of the world from Spain, Italy, the United States among others.
The Brown Lady of Antipolo has already proven to be the beacon and travel companion of Filipinos through the centuries. Over time, with the ever-changing tides of time, new traditions sprung and continuously developed up to the present, from bringing her image to the ports of Manila to join the Galleons on their voyages of old up to the bringing newly bought vehicles for vehicle blessing of modern times. She once again demonstrates her role as a guide in our everyday journey here on earth to lead us to our much-awaited destination – heaven.
As we close this blogpost, we are sharing the prayer and hymn in honor of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje de Antipolo as she continues to be our guiding light and star in our earthly pilgrimage.
Panalangin sa Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje – Ang Birhen ng Antipolo
Masintahin at Milagrosang Ina, sumasamo at dumudulog kami sa iyo. Tulungan mo kaming magpasalamat sa Panginoon sa lahat ng mga grasya at pagpapalang ipinagkaloob Niya saamin.
Sa tulong at awa mo, lingapin mo po ang mga naglalakbay, lalo na ang mangingibang bansa, upang maluwalhating makarating sa kanilang paroroonan.
Kami rin pong lahat ay iyong gabayan at akayin sa aming paglalakbay sa buhay. Sa aming pagtahak sa buhay na puno ng pag-aalinlangan at pangamba, pagkalooban po ninyo kami ng lakas at tapang na tahakin ang landas ng iyong Mahal na Anak na si Hesus.
Mahal na Birhen ng Antipolo, lumalapit po kami sa iyo. Dulutan mo ng mapayapang kalinga ang aming tahanan. Tulungan mo po kami na maitaguyod ng maayos at matuwid ang aming pamilya.
Sa aming paglalayag sa buhay, palakasin at patatagin mo ang bawat isa sa amin na makabuo ng isang pamayanan at bansang pinagharian ng iyong Mahal na Anak.
Nawa’y sa tulong at biyaya mo, Mahal naming Ina, ang buong mundo ay kupkupin ng iyong Mahal na Anak, at ilagay niya kami sa ilalim ng Kanyang pagkakandili at huwag kaming iwanan sa paglalakbay sa buhay, lalung lalo na sa oras ng sakuna at kagipitan.
Sa pamamagitan mo, Inang Mahal, pagpalain at tangkilikin mo po ang aming buhay paglilingkod sa iyong Anak na si Hesus at sa Simbahan upang mabuhay kami sa kapayapaan at katotohanan at marating namin ang kaluwalhatian ng buhay na walang hanggan, Amen.
Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje – Mahal na Birhen ng Antipolo , Ipnalangin mo kami!
BIRHENG MARIA NG ANTIPOLO
Birheng Maria ng Antipolo,
Kami Ay dinggin mo,
Ina naming minamahal,
Butuin nami’t gabay.
Tulutan mong lumaganap
Kapayapaan at katarungan
Sa Bayang Pilipinong
namimintuho sa iyo.
O Reyna naming kayumanggi
Akayin mo Kami
sa aming paglalakbay
sa landas niyaring buhay.
Tulungan mo kaming makarating
Ng maluwalhati sa aming
nilalangit Kaharian ng Diyos Ama.
Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje,
Ipanalangin mo Kami!
References:
Aviado, Lutgarda, “Madonnas of the Philippines”, Manlapaz Press, Quezon City, 1972.
Barcelona, Mary Anne, “Ynang Maria: a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines”. Ed. Consuelo B. Estampa, P.D. Pasig City, Anvil Publishing Inc., 2004.
“Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, a Marian pilgrim in the Philippines”, Retrieved from https://opusdei.org/en-ph/article/blessed-alvaro-del-portillo-a-marian-pilgrim-in-the-philippines/ fbclid=IwAR3rdiSy5jiLgxX41j0y6Q8NFCAbS-UtxgZ-uEV7W7mteyCmO4XxavgJxVM on May 13, 2023.
Delos Reyes, Michael P., “Morena Graciosa: The devotion to the Virgin of Antipolo through the centuries”, Diliman, Quezon City, Claret Communications Foundation Inc., 2016.
Delos Reyes, Michael P., “Salve Regina: On Crowning image of the Virgin Mary”, Diliman, Quezon City, Claret Communications Foundation Inc., 2015.
“Novena to Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje of Antipolo”, Aklatang Lunas, Manila, 1980.
Sanchez, Francisco, “La Virgen Maria Venerada en sus Imagenes Filipinas”, Manila: Imp. De Santos y Bernal, 1904.
Photos:
Daquioag, Michael of Buen Viaje PH
Figueroa, Jun of the Antipolo Cathedral
Leon Gallery
Malabanan, James Benedict
Opus Dei Philippines
The Antipolo Cathedral Official Facebook page
Victorino, Gabriel of Desamparats PH
This blog is dedicated to the Virgin of Antipolo in observance of the Pilgrimage Season AD 2023 and in anticipation of the rites for the concession of Antipolo shrine as the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. Mabuhay ang Birhen ng Antipolo!
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