The Filipino community of the archdiocese is planning a 2025 Jubilee Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Antipolo this Saturday, June 21, in Middletown.

The pilgrimage site will be the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 70 Carmelite Drive, with the six-hour event set to begin at 9 a.m., hosted by the Ministry of the Carmelites, St. Elias Province.    

Our Lady of Antipolo, also known as Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, is the patroness of travelers, sailors, and the Diocese of Antipolo, in the Philippines. She is particularly revered for her protection during voyages and is a significant symbol for Filipino immigrants. The wooden image of Our Lady of Antipolo, enshrined in the Antipolo Cathedral, is a focal point of faith and pilgrimage for Filipinos.                     

“This is an opportunity to get together and pray together as a Filipino community,” an event spokesman, Father Von Erick Maria Sandoval, O. Carm, told The Good Newsroom in a June 16 phone interview, citing the significance of the Jubilee Year of Hope, and of celebrating faith and culture during one special gathering. Father Sandoval, who is Filipino-born, is a parochial vicar at St. Simon Stock-St. Joseph Church in the Bronx.   

The day’s schedule is planned as follows:

9 a.m. Welcome & Shrine Tour 

10 a.m. Scriptural Rosary

10:45 a.m. Confessions

11:30 a.m. Procession of Image (special replica). 

12 p.m. Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; celebrant and homilist, Bishop Ruperto Santos, DD, of the Diocese of Antipolo, in the Philippines. (Scapular Enrollment after Mass). 

1:30-3 p.m. Potluck Luncheon, hosted by the Filipino Catholic Apostolate, Diocese of Bridgeport, and the Fil-Am Catholic Community of Hudson Valley. For more information, visit www.ourladyofmtcarmelshrine.com/ or call (845) 343-1879.