In Antipolo City, fires and bombings never reach Mary

Antipolo is a hilltop town located 28 kilometers from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is home to the statue of the Black Madonna, covered in a white mantle sewn with gold and precious stones.

Mary has been venerated here as "Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey" ever since some sailors were granted special protection: a gunpowder depot aboard one of their ships came into contact with fire but miraculously did not explode!

On several occasions, a church was built to house the statue of the Black Madonna: these churches were destroyed by fire or bombing... but each time the statue of Mary was spared, notably in 1942 when the shrine was destroyed by a Japanese bombardment.

During the month of Mary, 40,000 to 50,000 people come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey to take part in the Eucharist.

Attilio Galli, Madre della Chiesa dei Cinque continenti, Ed. Segno, Udine, 1997, p. 435-443