Green Faith Travels will bring its pilgrims to modern and heritage churches in Zambales for its annual Easter pilgrimage of faith and heritage on May 6 and 7.
On its ninth year of organizing spiritual journeys, Green Faith Travels will visit the Diocese of Iba to pray at the Cathedral of St. Augustine (Iba) and the diocesan shrines of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the former Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Subic town, and San Andres Apostol in Masinloc.
The pilgrims will also pray at the parish churches of St. James in Subic, St. Nicholas de Tolentino in Castillejos, St. William in San Marcelino, Holy Infant Jesus in San Antonio, St. Sebastian in San Narciso, San Roque in San Felipe, St. Rose of Lima in Cabangan, Sta. Monica in Botolan, and St. Michael the Archangel in Sta. Cruz.
They will also venerate the miraculous image of the patroness of Zambales, Ina Poonbato, at its shrine in Botolan, where the devotion is believed to have begun by the Aetas, who considered her original image their “miraculous lady” even before the arrival of the Spanish missionaries.
The devotees call the Mahal na Birhen ng Poonbato “Apu Apang,” inspired by the image’s original title, Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, or Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. “Apang” is the local term for peace.
Forty slots are available for a fee of P10,000 per pilgrim, which covers bus transport, overnight hotel accommodation, all meals and snacks, and a pilgrim’s kit.
Meanwhile, reservation to other pilgrimages of Green Faith Travels is now open. They are the following—Feast of San Isidro Labrador-Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon, on Monday, May 15, and Marian Pilgrimage to the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Rosary in Manaoag, Pangasinan, and churches of Baguio City on October 7 and 8.
Formed in 2012, Green Faith Travels, a nonprofit Catholic pilgrimage apostolate, has organized more than 25 major pilgrimages as its way of evangelizing the faithful, especially the inactive, passive or even “unchurched,” creating a community of pilgrims through its yearly Lenten, Easter and Marian journeys in various provinces in Luzon while promoting ecology, evangelization and heritage.
Interested parties may inquire with Bro. Edwin P. Galvez at 09951195998, greenfaithtravels@gmail.com, through greenfaithtravels@yahoo.com, or visit Green Faith Travels on Facebook.
Image credits: Diocese of Iba Facebook page photos
