National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City
Remember this
song, “Tayo na sa Antipolo at doon maligo tayo sa batis na kung tawagin ay
hi-hi-hinulugang taktak…This song shows why people have the reasons to come and
visit the place. Antiplo turn out to be so famous because of the places that
Antipoleños being so proud of. Being in the catholic country, a lot of renowned
churches we can visit but what makes the Antipolo church so special.
Antipolo church
is really familiar to me and to my family. As I visited the church last day,
one thing comes to my mind, what makes it so different to the other churches. Every
Sunday a vast number people going to Antipolo to attend the mass and to visit
the Nuestra Señora De La Paz Y Buen Viaje or known as Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, it was the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Even weekdays, there are
also a lot of people going to this church specially those people who will leave
the country or will have their journey in life. Many believe that the Blessed
Virgin will keep the person safe in its voyage or journey.
After the mass,
the people can also go to the back of the church where there is Our Lady of
Antipolo Exhibit of artifacts of the Virgin at the repository gallery second
floor above the sacristy. People can find the different things that the Virgin
Marry was used and still using. Many of the belongings of the Virgin Mary were
donated by the people like the halos, scepters and crowns. Also public can see
there the different kinds of perfumes that use to Virgin Mary and its different
and beautiful jewelries that wears when there are any special occasions. We can also read the History of the Nuestra
Senora De La Paz Y Buenviaje. The
history of the statue is also there, according to the history that you can
find in the exhibit, the statue of Our Lady of Antipolo were made from hardwood
from Mexico, the unknown craftsman made it, he did not claim or date his work
for the church. The people always describe it as simple as if it is done in
stone, that the face is gentle like the face of the mother drawn within the few
lines by a child. There was also a time that the gentle face of the statue of
the Virgin Mary was masked its injuries of the Chinese rioters tried to burn
and then destroy the image but after what happened, the statue bears no make of
the burn. There
were times that the statue disappeared but it always found in “TIPOLO” tree
where name Antipolo came from. According
to the exhibit, the year 1954 declared the Antipolo as the National Shrine of
our Lady by the bishops of the Philippines
Pasalubong Center
But Antipolo is
not only famous because of its place but also for the reason of the foods that
it offers around the vicinity of the church. In the song “Tayo na sa Antipolo”
there are lines that says about suman, mangga, kasoy at balimbing
which is famous in the said City. Actually in every month of May, Antipoleños celebrates the SUMAKAH Festival, SUman, MAngga, KAsoy at Hamaka.
In one of the
store in the pasalubong center that I interviewed, a lot of customer they have
come from other cities or province like in Valenzuela, Cavite, many part of
Bulacan and Malabon. She also said that every last Sunday of the month, really
huge number of people going to the National Shrine of our Lady of Peace and
Good Voyage, people always tend to go there because it is also part of the
tradition of several of the families in some part of the Philippines.
It is the best to go
every Sunday in churches like this where we can be peaceful and be thankful
for the blessings that we continuously receiving. It is important to feed our
stomach but it is also better to feed our soul by the words of God. =)
Lea G. Balmaceda
BCR3-1D
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