Calling on Mary

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

STURBRIDGE – A celebration of the Blessed Mother’s birthday – and the arrival of a statue of her from the Philippines – afforded an opportunity to respond to current events with prayer last Saturday.
Mentioning news reports about abuse and scandal, Assumptionist Father Alex Castro, the new pastor of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish, said: “I think it’s time once more to go back to the Mother. … She will strengthen us in our faith.”
He made this call in various ways during a celebration of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the grounds of the parish and St. Anne Shrine. Joining him were several dozen people, including other clergy and religious, parishioners and Filipinos from Massachusetts and other states.
Father Castro led a consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in front of St. Anne’s new statue of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage – to bring about “renewal … conversion … change, not only for our priests and bishops but for all of us.”
The consecration, used in the Philippines, said, in part, “Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome and conquer all sin; individual sins and the sin of the world, sin in all its manifestations. … Let there be revealed once more … the infinite power of the Redemption, the power of merciful love. … May it transform consciences. …”
 The hand-carved replica, brought from Philippines by a woman who helps with the original statue there, was carried in a rosary procession to the outdoor pavilion for Mass, then placed in the Hall of Saints. (During the winter, when that hall is closed, the statue is to be available for veneration in St. Anne’s Church sacristy.)
“All of us are on a journey,” Father Castro said. During these difficult times in the Church “we ask her to lead us from the dark valleys towards her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. … She is for us a model and image of the Church united with Christ and filled with his Spirit.”
Father Castro said he plans to have pilgrimages for people to visit the new statue here. He gave those who helped bring it here a miniature version of the “Generations” Holy Family statue at St. Anne’s.
How the replica of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage statue got here is a story itself.
The original statue was brought from Mexico to the Philippines in 1626 and turned over to the Jesuits for the Church in Antipolo in 1632, Father Castro said in a brief history he gave Saturday. The statue was taken across the Pacific eight times; the Blessed Mother under this title was called patroness of the galleons (sailing ships).
People come to the shrine at Antipolo Cathedral, where the statue is now, to pray for a safe journey, said Father Castro, a Filipino who served there as a deacon during his formation with the Augustinians of the Assumption.
When he lived with the Assumptionists in Boston, he learned of the seaport Shrine of Our Lady of Good Voyage there. He said he mistakenly thought it was established by Filipinos. Since it wasn’t, he offered to bring a replica of the statue there for a visit, then find a home for it somewhere in the Filipino community.
Enter Ester Tapales, whose parents used to frequent the shrine in the Philippines. After she herself emerged unscathed from a serious car accident, she began helping carry the statue in processions, she said.  
Her friend Cely Abalos, of St. John Parish in Worcester, said Ms. Tapales wanted to bring a pilgrim statue to Boston. Mrs. Abalos inquired about that, and was directed to Father Castro, who told her he’d been considering that.
Mrs. Abalos said Ms. Tapales got excited, raised money and had the statue carved at her expense. Ms. Tapales’ sister donated two dresses for the statue. (The original has 450 dresses donated by devotees from around the world and worn when she’s invited to visit somewhere, Ms. Tapales said.)
Ms. Tapales asked if Mrs. Abalos and her husband, Sonny, could pay the statue’s airfare.
The statue was blessed and taken in processions in the Philippines before Ms. Tapales brought it to the United States, said her brother, Edgar Marquez, who attended Saturday’s celebration.
He said he lives in New York and picked her up at John F. Kennedy International Airport Aug. 28, but they had to return for the statue the next day. The paperwork was ready, but the customs agent was rude and wouldn’t accept his New York drivers’ license as identification, he said. He said he’d sensed the Blessed Mother telling him to bring his passport too, which was accepted.
“I was beginning to think the devil is trying to stop whatever we’re trying to do,” he said. But, “She’s worth it – all the work. There’s a lot of devotees in New York and New Jersey. I invited some to pray before she came here. It was a privilege and honor to have her in the house.”
Then Mrs. Abalos took the statue to her house, where it stayed until it was brought to St. Anne’s Sept. 7.
This is “a perfect place for her to stay,” Father Castro said in his homily.  
“She will  always be with us,” he said. “You know, the prayers of women are powerful … The mother will always have the last say.”
    

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