Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Nuestra Señora de la Paz y del Buen Viaje Mahál na Iná ng Kapayapaan at Mabuting Paglalakbáy Birhen ng Antipolo
The image, in golden vestments, within its alcove above the main altar, 2012.
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Antipolo, Antipolo City, Rizal, Philippines
Attributes	Dark complexion, enlarged iris, unbound hair
Patronage	Travellers and sailors, Diocese of Antipolo, Antipolo City

Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de la Paz y del Buen Viaje), also known as the Virgin of Antipolo (Filipino: Birhen ng Antipolo), is a 17th-century Roman Catholic wooden image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Philippines. The statue (a Black Madonna) is a form of the Immaculate Conception, and is enshrined at Antipolo Cathedral in the city of Antipolo in the province of Rizal on Luzon Island.

The image was brought to the country by Governor-General Juan Niño de Tabora from Mexico via the galleon El Almirante in 1626. His safe voyage across the Pacific Ocean was attributed to the image, which was given the title of "Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage". It was substantiated later by six other successful voyages of the Manila-Acapulco Galleons with the image aboard as its patroness.

The statue is one of the most celebrated images of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines, gaining devotees since the mid-19th century. From May to July each year, the image attracts millions of devotees from all over the country and abroad.

History

On 25 March 1626, the galleon trading ship El Almirante left Acapulco, Mexico, carrying the newly appointed Governor-General of the Spanish East Indies, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, who brought with him the statue. He arrived in Manila on 18 July 1626, and the statue was brought to San Ignacio Church of the Jesuits in Intramuros. When Governor Tabora died in 1632, the statue was given to the Jesuits for enshrinement in the church of Antipolo, which was then being built in the present-day barangay Santa Cruz.

Miracles and recognition

During construction of the church in the 1630s, the image would mysteriously vanish several times from its shrine, only to reappear atop a tipolo (breadfruit; Artocarpus incisa) tree. This was taken as a divine omen, and the church was relocated to where the tipolo tree was situated. The image's pedestal is supposedly made from the trunk of the tipolo tree., which also gave its name to Antipolo itself.

In 1639, the Chinese rose in revolt, burning the town and the church. Fearing for the statue's safety, Governor Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera ordered its transfer to Cavite, where it was temporarily venerated.

Don Sebastian ordered the statue removed from its Cavite shrine in 1648, and it was shipped back to Mexico aboard the galleon San Luis. At the time, the statue of a saint on the ship served as a patron saint or protector of the Acapulco trade.

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 — (1651–1653)
• San Francisco Javier — (1659–1662)
• Nuestra Señora del Pilar — (1663)
• San José — (1746–1748)

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.

The statue was canonically crowned by the Archbishop of Manila, Rev. Michael J. O'Doherty, on 26 November 1926.

Japanese Occupation

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, woollen 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 Kulaiki 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 with a certain Ocampo family in Quiapo, Manila, before it was enshrined inside Quiapo Church for the remainder of the Second World War.

On 15 October 1945, the statue was translated to its church in Antipolo, where it resides today.

Cathedral shrine

Main article: Antipolo Cathedral

The first missionaries in Antipolo were the Franciscans, who arrived in the vicinity in 1578. The Jesuits then followed and administered the church from 1591 until 1768, when the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies. The church was greatly damaged during the Chinese uprising of 1639, the 1645 Luzon earthquake, and the earthquakes of 1824 and 1883. Notable Filipino historians such as Pedro Chirino and Pedro Murillo Velarde ministered at the church.

The Diocese of Antipolo was created on 24 January 1983 and was canonically erected on 25 June 1983 at the "Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage" or the "Shrine Parish of the Immaculate Conception".

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimages to the image's shrine begin and peak in May, which in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. On 30 April—the eve of May Day— thousands of devotees from Metro Manila customarily spend the night travelling on foot to Antipolo, where they are greeted at the shrine with a dawn Mass.

The farthest official starting point of the present-day pilgrimage is Quiapo Church; the custom of visiting the shrine in May, however, was already recorded by the 19th century. On 6 June 1868, a young José Rizal and his father Don Francisco Mercado, went to the shrine in thanksgiving after the boy and his mother Teodora Alonso survived his delivery in 1861.

Television

In December 2011, the Eternal Word Television Network featured an episode showcasing the statue as the "Most traveled Marian Icon in the Philippines" which aired under the televised program Mary: Mother of the Philippines.

Gallery

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  Entrance

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  Façade of the Cathedral

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  Interior of the Cathedral

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  Main retablo of the Cathedral

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  The original image in its alcove, clothed in blue and white vestments.

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  Replica of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in the shrine's museum, surrounded by the original image's regalia.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in the Philippines
• Manila Cathedral
• Santo Niño de Cebu

External links

• Shrine of Our Lady of Guidance
• Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag