Eighty years after the “Miracle at Colaique” in February 1945, devotees in Antipolo retraced the journey of Nuestra Señora dela Paz Y Buenviaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) by trekking the same path taken by residents who evacuated their homes during the Japanese occupation, fearing airstrikes as American forces advanced on Japanese-held areas.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Antipolo, a replica of the 17th-century Marian image enshrined in Antipolo’s international shrine, together with hundreds of devotees, trekked from the International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage to Sitio Colaique in Barangay San Roque around 5 a.m., retracing the 1945 path while holding candles and rosaries through the area once filled with tall grasses and trees.
The brown Marian image was placed on a boat-like carriage with a small image of Saint Joseph in front and an angel holding a lamp post behind, as it was carried on the shoulders of several male devotees.
As part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary, a holy mass was offered at Sitio Colaique for the religious and historical event known in this city as the “Paglikas ng Birhen sa Colaique (The evacuation of the Virgin to Colaique) or the Miracle at Colaique.
Devotees gathered for breakfast to mark the anniversary. Several private donors, including Ryan Mariñas and the family of Loreland Farm Resort, provided food packs for the event.
Rescue personnel from Barangay San Roque’s Fire Rescue 723 assisted the city government’s emergency team to ensure safety during the event.
The Miracle
In 2020, the Antipolo Cathedral released a documentary featuring witnesses' accounts of the “Colaique Miracle,” which took place while Antipolo, occupied by Japanese forces, was under attack by American liberation forces in 1945.
In the 2020 documentary, witnesses whose homes were near the Antipolo Church recalled being told to evacuate as American forces planned to drop bombs in the area, where Japanese soldiers were stationed.
Fearing for their safety, the residents joined others in the trek to a secluded part of Sitio Colaique, where they sought shelter as American planes, searching for remnants of the Japanese imperial army, hovered above.
The residents believed that the presence of the Virgin of Antipolo image during the 1945 evacuation, brought by the sacristan mayor, kept them safe throughout their trek from the Antipolo Cathedral to Colaique, Angono, and eventually to Pasig and Marikina.
Antipolo Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos, in a message posted on the cathedral's official Facebook page, compared the 1945 Colaique miracle to the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. He emphasized that both events reflected the pilgrims’ unity in devotion, miracles of faith, and strength in facing life's challenges.
Some pilgrims expressed hope that Filinvest, the private owner of the site where the Miracle at Colaique occurred, would allow a historical marker to honor the 1945 event and its significance to the devotion to the Virgin of Antipolo.