The traditional “Walk For Peace” of devotees and pilgrims of the Nuetra Señora dela Paz Y Buenviaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage), otherwise known as the “Virgin of Antipolo,” will usher in the start of the Maytime Pilgrimage Season in Antipolo City. The International Shrine of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, which is also the cathedral that houses the 17th-century image of the brown Virgin Mary holding a scepter and a rosary, announced that the Walk for Peace, popular among the locals as “Alay Lakad,” will officially start the “Ahunan Sa Antipolo” (Ascent to Antipolo) on April 30. The Nuestra Senora Dela Paz Y Buenviaje at the newly renovated main altar of the Antipolo Cathedral (International Shrine of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) (Photo by Nel Andrade / MANILA BULLETIN)
On April 29, the pilgrim image of the Virgin of Antipolo left the cathedral in a motorcade to Quiapo Church in Manila at 7 a.m. A welcome mass was offered at Quaipo Church at 10 a.m. on the same day. The pilgrim image of the Virgin of Antipolo will stay at Quaipo Church until after the 6 p.m. farewell mass on April 30, Sunday. After the mass, pilgrims and devotees will join the Walk For Peace from Quaipo Church to the Antipolo Cathedral with the pilgrim image encased in its glass-covered ‘carroza’ like vehicle, leading the thousands of walking devotees, similar to the activities that happen every Holy Thursday. On May 1, Monday, at 5 a.m., Antipolo’s International Shrine will offer the Holy Mass for the arrival of the pilgrim image. Antipolo City Tourism Office Chief Mar Bacani is also a devotee of the Virgin of Antipolo himself who has been attesting to the miracles that he received and continues to receive through the Virgin Mary’s intercession. He told Manila Bulletin that he believes that the devotion to the Virgin of Antipolo will continue to increase, even globally, now that the Antipolo Cathedral is now an international shrine. Shrine Rector Fr. Reynante Tolentino will be one of those who will welcome the pilgrims to the annual visit to Antipolo from May to July. During the pilgrimage season, novena masses and processions will be held. The official start of the pilgrimage season is marked on the first Tuesday of May with the 6 a.m. procession to Pinagmisahan Hill followed by a 7 a.m. mass, a concelebrated mass at the cathedral at 4 p.m. then a procession at 5 p.m., all happening on May 2. Pilgrims, coming from different parts of Luzon, will arrive in buses and attend hourly masses from sunrise to evening, daily. The schedule of mass and activities for the Maytime Pilgrimage Season can be accessed through this link: [https://linktr.ee/antipolocathedral](https://linktr.ee/antipolocathedral). To many devotees, the Virgin’s intercession has resulted in answered prayers, mostly petitions for safe travel locally and abroad. The original 17th-century-old image of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage is usually brought down from its altar for procession during special occasions. (Photo by Nel Andrade / MANILA BULLETIN)
The number of vehicles that are brought to the shrine for blessing by lay ministers of the cathedral, usually grows in numbers during the pilgrimage season.