All throughout the month of May, pilgrimages are made to the town of Antipolo, Rizal, a rustic community in the hills east of Manila, where the centuries-old image of the Virgin of Antipolo, also called Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage), is enshrined. This wooden image was fashioned by skilled craftsmen in Mexico and was brought to Manila by the Spanish governor-general, Don Juan Niño de Tabora, in the year 1626. Often referred to as the Voyager Virgin, this image accompanied many galleon trips back and forth between Manila and Acapulco from 1626 to 1746.
Attributed with miraculous powers, pilgrims from all over the country, all throughout May, come to hear mass at the Voyager Virgin’s shrine, sample the waters from the Baño de la Virgen near the church, which are supposed to have curative powers, then bathe in the Hinulugang Taktak waterfalls, a few kilometers downhill from the shrine.
In the earlier days, a visit to Antipolo was marked by much merrymaking. With access to the place mainly done by foot, ladies were carried on hammocks carried on the shoulders of sturdy young men. The pilgrim party would bring its own food and music and the trip would be as much occasion for merrymaking as the festivities in Antipolo itself. Today, Antipolo, actually no more than 29 kilometers from Manila, is but a few minutes by car through excellent highways and typical Philippine rural countryside. But, still, the trip and the visit are marked by much merriment and gaiety.
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