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Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Shrine - Antipolo City |
I first visited Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Shrine or Nuestra Senora De La Paz Y Buen Viaje in Antipolo way back when I was still in college. The owner of the place where I used to work brought us (me and my co-workers) there. It was summer time then, month of May, if I remembered it right. Just don't remember if it was the town's fiesta but there were lots of people, and I mean lots of people that time. Even the church compound is full of people. And if I remembered it right, vendors were within the church complex itself, making the place more crowded.
Because of the crowd and since I'm not used to traveling long distance, I don't remember much of the church. I don't even remember the church's facade, much less the inside of the church. We were supposed to go inside (me and my co-workers) but we weren't able to make it. We tried going inside when I suddenly felt dizzy, I almost fainted had one of my co-workers didn't immediately brought me outside to a less crowded area. (It happens usually (at one time, I actually fainted) when I'm in a crowded area, more so in a contained area. I feel suffocated and couldn't breathe.) Anyway, that's the only memory I remembered of Antipolo Church back then.
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The Altar and the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage |
Last October, I was again able to visit this famous church; this after
our journey to Kalbaryo Binangonan. This time, I was able to enter the church; to pray and to just sit there in silence for a while. Even during weekdays, the church is open (
no service, tho) and there's quite a number of devotees and tourists that day. I also noticed some cars being blessed that day, just goes to show that a lot of people still go there to have their cars blessed as they believed the image would provide them guidance and safety on their journey, wherever that may be.
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stained glass window, features various images of Mama Mary |
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another stained glass window |
Before we left, we looked around and took some photos. The church complex is a lot orderly now, no vendors inside, not even candle vendors. And its quite peaceful, too; no unnecessary noise, whatsoever. Maybe because it was s an ordinary day then, but hopefully, it stays that way.
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pasalubong/street foods sold outside the church |
We also looked around for some
pasalubong; bought some
tamales from one of the vendors actually. Also tried street foods again, after sometime of not having it. And then that's it, we left afterwards; back to where we should be, with happy hearts and memories to treasure.
*wink*
This is it with our Rizal road trip! 'Til next time... ^_^
~ oo00oo ~
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Shrine
Antipolo City, Rizal
Date of Visit: October 28, 2013