Our Lady of Peace and Good Journey
The Patron of Galeons · Antipolo, Philippines · since 1626
A governor, a galleon and three storms
In 1626, Governor General Juan Niño de Tabora embarked in Acapulco to Manila, carrying a small image of the Virgin Mary. During the Pacific crossing, the ship was hit by several storms and suffered a fire. In every trance, Tabora prayed before the image and the danger ceased. When he arrived in Manila, the governor attributed survival to the intercession of the Virgin and gave the image to the Jesuits to guard it in Antipolo.
The image that chose his abode
During the construction of the church of Antipolo, the image repeatedly disappeared from its chapel and reappeared in the cup of a tree Type Close. When they returned her to the altar, she returned to the tree. The Jesuits and the parishioners concluded that the Virgin indicated the place where she wanted her final sanctuary, and moved the construction to the foot of the tree.
Eight Pacific crossings
The tradition of carrying the image on board the Galleons of Acapulco became official devotion. The statue crossed the Pacific, back and forth, eight times documented. On all these trips, the captains recorded in their bitácoras having invoked their protection.
From the patron of travellers to the first international sanctuary of Asia
On March 25, 2023, the Dicastery for the Divine Worship of the Vatican declared the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Antipolo International Sanctuary, the first of this rank in Asia. Today he receives millions of pilgrims every Holy Week and during the month of May.
join us in all the oceans we must cross:
The water and the heart. Amen.