ORLANDO | The Filipino Catholic community of Central Florida filled the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe for the 400th anniversary of Our Lady of Antipolo July 26, 2026.

The annual celebration highlights traditional cultural elements, music, and the community’s devotion to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. The Mass was celebrated by Father Kenny Aquino, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Wildwood.

“Leading up to the celebration was a nine-day novena, with Mass celebrated each day at a different parish in the diocese. Each celebration reminded the faithful that despite differences in language and culture, all Catholics share one faith, one Lord, one Mother.”

“There’s no favoritism in the eyes of God, there’s no distinction. All of us, young, old, rich or poor, Filipinos or not, all are invited,” Father Aquino said. “We are a land that is devoted to the Blessed Mother Mary. But that devotion doesn’t end with her. She leads us to her son Jesus. Even when we pray the rosary, it leads us to the mystery of our Lord Jesus.”

Before the Mass, groups representing the many Filipino ministries around the diocese processed through the church.

“The Filipino community has such an amazing devotion to Our Lady,” said Father Ivan Olmo, rector of the Basilica. “Our Lady of Antipolo, like all Marian devotions, leads us to Christ.”

Our Lady of Antipolo holds deep significance within the Filipino Catholic community. During the 17th century, there was a “relationship” between Acapulco and Manila, Father Aquino explained. When Juan Niño de Tabora became the Governor-General of the Philippines in June 1626, he traveled with a wooden statute of the Blessed Virgin Mary during his journey to Manila.

“The galleon that goes back and forth always had a patron saint with them, so they would be protected (through) the long sea voyage crossing the Pacific,” Father Aquino said. “(Juan Niño de Tabora) was so happy he safely reached the Philippines… he offered the image of Our Lady to the Philippines and entrusted it to the Jesuits.”

He recalled the uprising by Chinese residents in 1639, when the church housing the statute was burned, leaving noticeable marks on Our Lady’s face. Still, the statute was preserved and remains an object of veneration to this day.

Growing up in the Philippines, Augusto Carcamo, parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Kissimmee, said he would make an annual pilgrimage to the city of Antipolo with his family. Attending the Mass celebrated by all Filipino priests of the diocese “makes us feel at home away from home.”

“(Our Lady) is so miraculous in the Philippines that everybody, in any generation, prays to her,” Carcamo said. “We consider her a maternal figure, and we call upon her to grant us peace and safe travel.”

By Lucas Blackwell of the Florida Catholic staff, July 30, 2026