MANILA, Philippines – After a three-year hiatus, the local government of Antipolo City announced the resumption of the city’s annual Alay Lakad – a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.

Reverend France Baasis, a deacon of the Diocese of Antipolo, said the city’s Alay Lakad every Holy Thursday is a pilgrimage tradition that is different from the one that starts from Quiapo Church in Manila.

The two pilgrimage activities differ not only in the dates when they happen, but also in their history, significance, and development through the years.

People who trek to the Antipolo Cathedral during the city’s Alay Lakad usually take two main routes – one starting in Taytay, Rizal through Tikling road and the other starting in lower Antipolo through Sumulong Highway. 

According to Baasis, the Philippine National Police (PNP) estimates that 4.2 million people trekked to the Antipolo Cathedral for the Alay Lakad in 2019, the last one held before Antipolo’s local government prohibited the activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antipolo City’s Alay Lakad has also become a popular activity among the youth where they “feel a sense of sacred,” Baasis said.

Here’s what you need to know about Antipolo City’s annual pilgrimage tradition. 

Two different traditions

Baasis, in a Viber message relayed by Antipolo Cathedral’s social media team to Rappler, said Antipolo City’s Alay Lakad should not be confused with Quiapo’s pilgrimage activity.

“The Alay Lakad in Quiapo can be traced back to pre-World War II when people traveled from Quiapo to Antipolo to signify the start of the Pilgrimage Season,” Baasis said in Filipino.

According to the Antipolo Cathedral’s website, the pilgrimage season of the city is initiated by the annual “Visit of the Mother to the Son,” a motorcade “bearing the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage from Antipolo Cathedral to Quiapo Church where the Black Nazarene is enshrined” every April 30.

The Alay Lakad in Quiapo happens after the farewell Mass of this event is officiated, which usually ends at around 6 pm. The penitential walk spans 33 kilometers and ends in a celebratory mass at around 5 am on the 1st of May when the image of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage arrives at the Antipolo Cathedral.

Baasis told Rappler that Antipolo City’s Alay Lakad is different, stemming from the Roman Catholic devotees’ tradition of visiting churches during the Holy Week. [READ: Why the Holy Week has no fixed dates]

“Antipolo’s Alay Lakad every Holy Thursday is better known as Visita Iglesia which involves visiting churches,” Baasis said in Filipino.

In Antipolo City, the people visit the Cathedral by trekking all the way from where they come from, and call this activity “Alay Lakad,” Baasis said.

Unlike Quiapo’s Alay Lakad, which is part of the annual “Visit of the Mother to the Son” that signifies the start of Antipolo Cathedral’s pilgrimage season, people trek to the Antipolo Cathedral for individual reasons.

“Antipolo’s Alay Lakad comes from the tradition of the church called pilgrimage or the act of visiting a holy place to ask for forgiveness, blessing, or to give gratitude,” Baasis said.

Millions of visitors, including youth

According to Baasis, the number of people visiting Antipolo City to participate in the city’s Alay Lakad noticeably increased starting in the “early 2000s.”

“When the Diocese of Antipolo noticed the increase of people participating in the Alay Lakad, they installed Stations of the Cross from Tikling to Antipolo so the people can hear prayers while trekking,” Baasis said in Filipino.

While there are two main Alay Lakad routes in Antipolo every Holy Thursday (one from Taytay, Rizal and the other from lower Antipolo), these aren’t the only routes people use for Alay Lakad. They use others so long as these lead to the cathedral. 

Millions of people participate in Antipolo City’s Alay Lakad each year, but what is interesting, Baasis told Rappler, is its appeal to the younger generation.

“The Alay Lakad here in Antipolo every Holy Thursday is interesting because most of the people who participate are groups of youth who might have joined just because their friends invited them and not necessarily for any religious purpose,” Baasis said in Filipino.

Baasis sees this as a positive phenomenon, saying that by joining Alay Lakad the youth can still feel a “sense of sacred” upon arrival at the Antipolo Cathedral, regardless of the initial reasons they had for joining. The deacon said he has noticed that the youth still do the sign of the cross, contemplate, and pray once inside the cathedral. 

“Alay Lakad is a phenomenon that the youth can experience once a year where they could focus and think about God even if they do not completely understand everything. This is just like our faith, we do not completely understand it, but we feel its holiness,” Baasis said. – Rappler.com