Here's a photo that I salvaged from oblivion (circa 2008). We were posing for posterity in front of the historical shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje or Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. Since it is located on top of a hill (no longer discernible) in Antipolo, Rizal, the image is also popularly known as La Virgen de Antipolo.
This historical shrine takes its name from the miraculous image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. The wooden image which was believed to have been carved in México since it came from there was brought to our country on 29 June 1626 by then incoming Governor General Juan Niño de Tabora who governed our country until 1632.
Rizal's mother, Teodora Alonso, was a devotee of this image. While carrying Rizal in her womb, she fervently prayed here for a safe delivery because her pregnancy back then was a difficult one.
Rizal's attachment to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage carried over to his early masterpiece, the one-act play Junto al Pásig (Along the Pásig). In this piece, Our Lady of Antipolo was mentioned twice. She was also mentioned in Rizal's Noli Me Tangere, but not exactly in a pious light, for Rizal was already a Freemason when he wrote this first novel of his:
Contrastando con estos terrenales preparativos están los abigarrados cuadros de las paredes, representando asuntos religiosos como El Purgatorio, El Infierno, El Juicio final, La Muerte del Justo, La del Pecador, y en el fondo, aprisionado en un espléndido y elegante marco estilo del Renacimiento que Arévalo rabía tallado, un curioso lienzo de grandes dimensioness en que se ven dos viejas… La inscripción dice: Nra. Sra. de la Paz y Buenviaje que se venera en Antipolo, bajo el aspecto de una mendiga visita en su enfermedad á la piadosa y célebre capitana Inés.
Also, during his brief stay in Biñán, La Laguna as a student, Rizal used to pray at a chapel which was also dedicated to Our Lady Of Peace and Good Voyage. He was then living with his father's relatives at the población (town proper), and the nearest church to his place was the Iglesia de San Isidro Labrador. But he bypassed it and opted to walk for about a kilometer or two just to reach the chapel of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage to attend Mass or to offer his personal prayers. It was because his mother was a devotee of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in faraway Antipolo. As mentioned earlier, it was said that Doña Teodora had suffered so much because of baby Rizal's unusually large head. For a safe delivery, she pledged her son to the Virgin of Antipolo, vowing to one day bring him in a pilgrimage to that mountain shrine to the north. It would take seven years for that pledge to be fulfilled. On 6 June 1868, Don Francisco, Rizal's father, was the one who took the young José to the Virgin of Antipolo as thanksgiving for that safe delivery (Rizal would later write a least-known poem titled A la Virgen de Antipolo in honor of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). This explains Rizal's devotion to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. It was passed on to him from his mother.
Today is the 395th anniversary of the arrival of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage to our country. ¡Viva La Virgen de Antipolo!
A LA VIRGEN DE ANTIPOLO
–José Rizal–
¡Salve Rosa pura
Reina de la mar!
¡Salve! Blanca Estrella,
Fiel Iris de Paz …
Antipolo,
Por tí sólo
Fama y renombre tendrá.
De los males,
Los mortales
Tu imágen nos librará;
Tu cariño,
Al fiel niño
Le guarda siempre del mal;
Noche y día,
Tu le guías
En la senda terrenal.
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