Every year, pilgrims from Quiapo Church, a popular shrine at the heart of the city of Manila known for the miraculous image of the Black Nazarene (Jesus Nazareno), embark on a 24-kilometer walking pilgrimage trip to Antipolo, a city located on the foot of the Sierra Madre mountain range in the province of Rizal. This practice is known as Alay Lakad, a tradition rooted both in the city and the image's history.
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| The images of Jesus Nazareno (left) and Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (right) at Quiapo Church. |
This is one of two occasions where the "Alay Lakad" is held, the other being every Maundy Thursday and Good Friday of Holy Week.
History and overview
Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, known as Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in English, is a seventeenth-century image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. Dating back to 1626, the image is seen to be miraculous, with several instances of its mysterious disappearance (and eventual reappearance on a tipolo tree) during the construction of the original Antipolo church in the 1630s.
On February 19, 1945, as Japanese forces invaded Antipolo during the Second World War, devotees evacuated the city and brought the revered image with them to Sitio Colaique, located near the city's border with neighboring Angono. The residents at the time claimed that the transfer was miraculous as the image kept them safe, according to a 2020 documentary, the "Colaique Miracle", as reported by the Manila Bulletin earlier this year. It is still commemorated and re-enacted on the nearest Saturday to February 19. The image was then transferred to Pasig, and finally, the Ocampo-Santiago House in Quiapo, Manila, before being enshrined at the home of the Black Nazarene.
On October 15, 1945, the Virgin of Antipolo was brought back to its original home in Antipolo. It is this event that started the traditional custom of the visitation of the Marian image to Quiapo: the Pagdalaw ng Ina sa Anak (the Mother's visit to her Son). Since then, it became the opening salvo for Antipolo's two-month Pilgrimage Season, locally known as Ahunan, which starts on the first Tuesday of May and ends on the first Tuesday of July.
My experience
Editor's note: The map below is inaccurate, as we are unable to add the official map from the official organizers due to copyright concerns.
It started with a concelebrated farewell Mass at 18:00 at Quiapo Church, led by four priests (with the main celebrant being from Antipolo Cathedral). The procession then began at 19:15 with the carroza of the Virgin of Antipolo being processed out of the church.
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| The Virgin Mary at her carrozza |
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| The banner (estandarte) of the Virgin of Antipolo before the main image at the start of the procession. |
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| Scenes at Quiapo Church immediately after the image was brought out of the church. |
Pilgrims walk by foot on a 24-kilometer route from Quiapo Church to Antipolo Cathedral, traversing multiple major throughfares like Recto Avenue, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, and Ortigas Avenue.
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| Another shot of the Virgin of Antipolo |
From Quiapo Church, it travels through small roads of the district before turning right to Claro M. Recto Avenue in the district of Santa Cruz. It then turns left to a set of smaller streets in Sampaloc before stopping over at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, where the dungaw rite of Sampaloc's patroness is held.
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| The procession outside Sampaloc Church, where the Virgin of Antipolo meets the Virgin of Loreto. |
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| The procession along Legarda Street |
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| The procession along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard |
Soon after, it traversed through Legarda Street and into Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, where it goes straight until it turns right to Gilmore Avenue, then straight to Ortigas Avenue.
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| The procession along Ortigas Avenue, beside Robinsons Galleria |
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| The procession beside the C5 Flyover along Ortigas Avenue, past C-5 Road |
Midnight stroke as we approached the end of the C5 Flyover. Half an hour later, we decided to stop our walk as my feet began to ache due to the constant walking I had. We ate a midnight meal at Jollibee restaurant in Pasig. Later at past 02:00, we instead skipped the final leg of the procession and rode a Grab to Antipolo Cathedral, where we waited for it to finish.
For the next 12 kilometers, it follows Ortigas Avenue before it turns left past the Tikling Junction roundabout. It then goes on a zigzag direction as it goes up the mountains, eventually reaching Antipolo and the cathedral.
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| The Virgin of Antipolo arrives at her home! |
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| Antipolo Cathedral interior after the procession, with devotees waiting for the first Mass at 05:00. |
The procession finished at 04:00 as people shouted "Viva La Virgen!" (Long live the Virgin!) and threw flower petals at her carrozza. A Mass followed at 05:00, and soon thereafter the Alay Lakad concluded. It is now the turn of the Pilgrimage Season, which starts this year (2025) on May 6 and ends on July 8.
Viva La Virgen! Watch my short video on YouTube here:
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