A pilgrim image of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, known as the Virgin of Antipolo, has found a new home in Southern Leyte.
Courtesy of the Diocese of Antipolo, through the Antipolo Cathedral, the pilgrim image, which is one of the exact replicas of the 17th century venerated image of the brown-skinned Virgin Mary that originated in Mexico, was given as a gift to the people of Limasawa Island. It is now enthroned at the Shrine of the Holy Cross and First Mass in Magallanes, Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte.
Fr. Reynante Tolentino, the shrine rector and administrator of the Antipolo Cathedral, led the delegates from Antipolo City in the enthronement ceremony and Holy Mass at the Limasawa shrine held on August 8.
Tolentino, along with his co-priest from the diocese, Fr. Francis Baasis, and the clergy from the Limasawa shrine offered the Mass to welcome the pilgrim image in the Limasawa shrine.
The Holy Mass held on August 8 was believed to be the first Tagalog Eucharistic celebration in the Limasawa shrine, the spot where the first Holy Mass and Easter Mass in the country was held on March 31, 1521.
A ceremonial enthronement was also held, placing the Virgin of Antipolo at the foot of the Limasawa cross on a hill near the church.
Prior to the arrival of the Virgin of Antipolo on the island where the Christianization of the native Filipinos happened in 1521, the pilgrim image holding a rosary and a scepter was first welcomed by Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Maasin Diocese, at the Diocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Assumption (Maasin Cathedral) in Maasin, Southern Leyte.
The delegates from Antipolo City were welcomed with a traditional cultural dance by the Maasin residents.
Fr. Tolentino said they were grateful with the warm welcome they received from the Maasin Diocese, the priests from the shrine, and the Maasin residents including the islanders who attended the Tagalog Holy Mass.
The first recorded Mass was presided by Fr. Pedro de Valderama of the Ferdinand Magellan expedition in 1521 on Limasawa Island in Leyte.
The enthronement of the Virgin of Antipolo in Leyte was also part of the 502nd anniversary of the Christianization of the Philippines.
(Photos courtesy of the Antipolo Cathedral and Maasin Diocese)