The International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo Cathedral) has received relics of two Recollect friars— a saint and a blessed.
Antipolo Cathedral (Photo courtesy of the Antipolo Cathedral)
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said the Order of Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines gave the cathedral on Monday, July 3 a first class “ex ossibus” (from the bone) and a second class “ex indumentis” (from the cloth) relics of St. Ezekiel Moreno, the reverend patron saint of cancer patients.
The relics were given in commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the Recollect stewardship in the Sanctuary of Antipolo that begun in 1863 and lasted until 1898 during the Philippine Revolution against Spain.
The Antipolo Cathedral also received a first class, “ex ossibus,” relic of Blessed Vicente Soler and companions.
The two Recollect friars hold historical importance for the Philippines and Antipolo in particular.
St. Ezekiel Moreno, a Spanish Recollect ordained in Manila in 1871, served in various missions in different parts of the country particularly in Palawan, where a street has been named after him.
Blessed Vicente Soler was a Spanish Recollect who was assigned in Antipolo for nine months in the 1890s as an assisting priest before being assigned to missions in Batangas and Mindoro.
After the Philippine Revolution, he returned to Spain and became the Recollect prior general. He was martyred at Motril together with six other friars during the Spanish Civil War in 1936.
Cathedral Rector, Fr. Reynante Tolentino received the relics from Recollect Prior Provincial Fr. Bernard Amparado during a turnover ceremony held at the Provincialate House in Quezon City.
The sacred relics will be placed in an accessible area in the cathedral for public veneration after the enthronement rites in August. The solemn enthronement will follow the installation of new Diocese of Antipolo Bishop Ruperto C. Santos on July 22.
RELATED TAGS: #ANTIPOLO CATHEDRAL