Our Lady Of Peace And Good Voyage

For St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church, Saturday was a day of celebration and great anticipation -- not only for its parishioners, but also for Filipino-Americans around the state who showed up to share and celebrate their faith and heritage.

It all starts with a statue. As the story goes, exactly 380 years ago Saturday, July 18, the galleon El Almirante landed in the Philippines from Mexico with precious cargo -- a carved statue of the Virgin Mary -- a gift to the Filipino people by their Governor General.

Legend says the trip from Mexico to the Philippines was fraught with great storms and a fire aboard the ship, but the ship landed safely -- with many contributing the successful journey to the presence of the holy cargo.

She then became known as "Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage." Eventually, the statue found permanent residence in the small village of Antipolo, under the careful watch of Jesuit priests. Tradition says the statue disappeared several times and was found in the branches of the tipulo tree. The priests built a church near the tree, cut it down, and made it into a pedestal for the statue, where it remains to this very day.

Now, almost 400 years later, "Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage," has again made a journey and found a new home under the watchful eye of the people of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Remy Canque, a Filipino-American and a parishioner, explained the only other statue of "Our Lady" is housed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. "And we couldn't get that one," she laughed.

The "Lady" she explained, is a symbol of Filipino-American Catholic friendship and common faith. So, she said, the Filipino community raised funds for a replica of the statue in Washington, D.C., to be constructed and housed at St. Max. "It was made in the Philippines," said Ana Romillo, a parishioner and longtime community activist, and the statue was received in Port Charlotte last April.

Its dedication being the same day as the original statue landing in the Philippines, she said, was fitting. For Canque, the dedication of the statue is very personal. As she told her story, her eyes often became misty and her voice quivered. The year was 1945. She and her family lived on the small Filipino island of Cebu.

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