Quezon City: The History of the Saint Mary’s College and the RVM

1890s Beatrio de la Compañia de Jesus / 1950 Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City

Although the fist school established in Quezon City is the 1922 Placido Del Mundo Elementary School in Novaliches that was built during the American occupation of the archipelago; QC’s oldest educational institution is the Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City, which was founded during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the City of Manila. In 1722, the school started as the Beatas de la Compañia de Jesús (Convent of Pious Women of Jesus) within Intramuros, Manila, as the first exclusive all-girls school in the country. The school was instituted by Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo Iuco (1663-1748) and administered by the Mother Ignacia’s Beatas de la Virgen María (Pious Women of the Virgin Mary), which is also the first native instituted Catholic order in the Philippines and the second in Asia.

1899-1945 The Jesuits’ San Ignacio Church, designed by Arch. Felix Arroyo Roxas (1820-1890), Eng. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), and Isabelo L. Tampinco (1850-1933)

Ignacia was a Mestizo de Sangley descent of an Amoy Chinese father, Jusepe luco, and an yndia (native) mother, Maria Jeronima. Although her father had converted to Catholicism in 1652, it was only in 1684 did he decided to marry Maria in a church service. Already at the age of 21, Ignacia wanted to help her parents in planning their wedding and sought the counsel of the Czech Jesuit priest, Pavel Klein (1652-1717). Pavel’s advice moved Ignacia, and she sought to become a nun, but the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara did not accept indios (native Filipinos) and Sangley (Chinese settlers) from entering church institutions. So in 1684, Ignacia became a laywoman under the guidance of the Jesuit priests, whose life of public prayer and service attracted more laywomen of all races to join her as recogidas (collection). In 1685, Ignacia would christen her organization as the Beatas de la Virgen María, and were housed behind the Jesuit San Ignacio Church and Convent (located at the now the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila or University of the City of Manila). The members of the congregation first called themselves “beata” (pious), as they were not yet a recognized religious institution that would have their constituents entitled as a “sor” (sister) or “madre” (mother).  On the 1^st of July 1726, the beatas submitted the Constitutions of the Beaterio to Provisor and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Manila, Bishop Manuel Antóniode Ocio y Ocampo (1688-1737), as an application for official recognition by the Philippine Catholic Church; which was later given by Manila Archbishop Juan Ángel Rodríguez (1687-1742) on the 3^rd of July  1732.

Mother Ignacia Iuco del Espíritu Santo (1663-1748) / the typical clothing of nuns during the Spanish occupation as illustrated in the 1847 Madre del Beaterio de Sta. Rosa y Pupila de Id by José Honorato Lozano (1815-1885)

A few years after the approval of the Constitutions and official recognition of the Beaterio, Ignacia willfully ceded her position as the superior of the house to Dominga del Rosario Dizon (1690-1763), and lived as an ordinary beata for the rest of her days. Ignacia would pass away on her knees, while receiving communion at the San Ignacio Church, on the 10^th of September 1748.  Mother Ignacia’s life was chronicled by the Jesuit scholar, Pedro Murillo Velarde (1869-1753), who had helped Ignacia draft the first constitution of the beatas. Over the centuries,  Ignacia’s life have been the subject of many books, comic books, and even the 1998 film “Mother Ignacia: Ang Uliran”; which was directed by Nick Deocampo (born 1959) and starred Gina Alajar (born Regina Alatiit, 1959) as the young Ignacia and Mona Lisa (born Gloria Lerma Yatco, 1922-2019) as the elder.

King 1800s Fernando VI de España by Louis-Michel van Loo (1707–1771) / Manila Archbishop Jeremiah James Murphy Harty (1853-1927) / Reverend Mother Maria Efigenia Alvarez (1858-1947)

With Mother Ignacia was nearing death, Manila Archbishop Pedro José Manuel de la Santisima Trinidad Martinez de Arizala (1690-1755) sought intervention to prevent the Beatas from being dissolved without its foundress, which was obtained years later by a royal decree of protección civil from King Fernando VI of Spain (born Fernando de Borbón y Saboya, 1713-1759) on the 25^th of November 1755. However, King Fernando VI’s decree only recognized the Beatas as a secular institution and the Church in Rome did not acknowledge it as an official Catholic organization. And it was only when the beatas from missions all over the Philippines held a general meeting in 1901 did they declare themselves as a congregation and rechristened the institution as the La Cofradía de Hermanas de Religiosa de la Virgen María (Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary or RVM for short). And with the 1901 congregation, the beatas acted upon the official recognition as a Church community by the Vatican, which gained it first major step with the issuance of the canonical erection of the Beaterio by Manila Archbishop Jeremiah James Murphy Harty (1853-1927), on the 31^st of July 1906. This would lead to the official recognition as an ecclesiastical institution of the Church in Rome through a Decretum Laudis (decree of praise) by Pope Pius X (born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sanson Sarto, 1835-1914) on the 17^th of March 1907. With the Vatican’s official recognition, Reverend Mother Maria Efigenia Alvarez (1858-1947) stood as the first Superior General of the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary, which she served from 1902-1907 and 1933-1938.

Pope Pius X (born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, 1835-1914) / Pope Pius XI (born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, 1857-1939) / Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Aloisius Peintner Ratzinger, 1927)

Since the 1907 Decretum Laudis, the RVM continued to get support from Rome, with the Pontifical status attained by a Decretum Approbation by Pope Pius X (born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, 1835-1914) on the 24^th of March 1931 and a Decree of Definitive Papal Approbation of the Constitutions by Pope Pius XI (born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, 1857-1939) on the 12^th of January 1948. With its motto of Ad Jesum Cum Maria (To Jesus through Mary), the RVM sisters have strived to adhere by the sample set by Mother Ignacia, who was given the title of “venerable” on the 6^th of July 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Aloisius Peintner Ratzinger, 1927). From its founding in 1684, the RVM is recognized as the first Filipina women’s religious institution.

1930s A view of Puerta San Lucia, Intramuros to the southeast, with the Augustinian convent to the left, and the Cuartel de San Lucia and the Beatrio de la Compañia de Jesus behind the trees

In 1725, Mother Ignacia and the Beatas de la Virgen María opened the boarding school within the Beaterio dela Compañia de Jesus(Convent of Pious Women of Jesus) and started accepting young female students from Spanish, indio and Sangley families, teaching them catechism (Catecismo), needlework, and music. Decades later, the Compañia included lessons in later included the Spanish grammar (Grammatica Español), home management, and social graces (Urbanidad Cristiana). Over the years, the school would continue to grow in population and was named the Colegio del Beaterio. And by 1901, the Beaterio was formally incorporated as a government recognized school, which offered elementary and secondary education, and was one of the first private schools to offer Domestic Science (now called Home Economics).

1880 The ruins of the original Beaterio dela Compania de Jesus years after the 1863 earthquake, photography by Francisco Van Camp

As the years passed, the Colegio del Beaterio continued growth allowed many wealthy patrons from the parents of the students to invest in the school. And by the early 19^th century, the Beaterio was a beautifully ornate carved building of stone bricks, but was destroyed by an earthquake on the 3^rd of June, 1863. It would take many years for the Beatas collect funds to rebuild the school and convent. During those years, the beatas and the school were once more housed by the Jesuits at the Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio (now the San José Seminary).

1890s a sketch of the Beatrio de la Compañia de Jesus / a 1940s photograph of the Beatrio de la Compañia de Jesus along Calle Santa Lucia

The new Colegio del Beaterio was opened between the late 1880s and early 1890s, along Calle Santa Lucia, also in Intramuros. This new building was of a simpler design of mortar and stone, which reflected the principles espoused by Mother Ignacia. In 1935, the government recognized the Beaterio as a junior normal college; and in 1939, the Collegio del Beaterio changed its name to the Colegio de Santa María, in honor of its patroness the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the same year, the Colegio de Santa María offers the tertiary course of Bachelor of Science in Education.

The 1872 Jesuit established Church of the Immaculate Concepcion in Tamontaka, Cotabato / The 1915 Saint Mary’s Academy of Santa Ana, Manila

However before the rechristening of the Colegio del Beaterio as the Colegio de Santa María, the beatas had been establishing Escuela Catolica (Catholic schools) outside Intramuros, as part of their evangelization and thrust to bring quality education to the young Catholic girls throughout the country. This stated in 1875, when the Jesuits Juan Herras and Jose Cuevas invited the beatas to join them in their evangelization in Tamontaka, Cotabato; where the beatas also worked to free female slaves of local tribes by paying off their ransoms. One of the first schools outside Manila was the 1892 Escuela Catolica of Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte (now the St. Mary’s Academy Dipolog or SMAD), followed by the 1894 Escuela Cartilla del Pilar in Zamboanga City (now Pilar College). These would be followed by the 1901 Escuela Catolica de Santa Rita of Balingasag in Misamis Oriental, the 1903 Mount Carmel School of Talisay in Misamis Oriental, the 1904 Escuela Catolica for girls in Cotabato City in Maguindanao (now Notre Dame RVM College), the 1905 Escuela Catolica de San Pedro of Davao City (now the University of the Immaculate Conception), the 1906 St. Anne’s Academy of Hagonoy in Bulacan, the 1907 Our Lady’s Academy of Baganga in Davao Oriental, the 1908 Colegio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus of Guagua in Pampanga, the 1909 Mary Immaculate Academy of Jasaan in Misamis Oriental, the 1909 Holy Family Academy of Caraga in Davao Oriental, the 1912 Colegio de la Sagrada Familia of Baliuag in Bulacan, the 1913 Escuela Parroquial de San Agustin in Cagayan De Oro City (now Lourdes College), the 1915 Escuela Parroquial de Sta. Ana in Manila, and the 1916 Escuela Catolica de Meycauayan in Bulacan. Many of these 19th century Mindanao evangelical missions of the beatas were documented in the 1903 Cartas edificantes de los Misioneros de la Compañía deJesús en Filipinas: 1898-1902 (Uplifting Letters from the Missionaries of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines); which were derived from the compiled letters of the Jesuit missionaries Guillermo Bennasar, Antonio Gairolas, José Ignacio Guerrico (died 1883), and Luis Tello.

The 1922 Saint Mary’s Academy of Pasay

Years after World War II, the RVM sisters would rename most of these colonial era schools as Saint Mary’s Academy or Saint Mary’s College, including other American occupation period schools that they took over the administration for the initial founders. Among those educational institutions are the 1904 St. Mary’s High School of Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental, the 1904 Gloriosa Patriarca San Jose of Guiuan in Eastern Samar, the 1915 Escuela de San Miguel of Iligan City in Lanao del Norte, the 1925 Annunciation Academy of Dalaguete in Cebu, the 1922 Escuela Catolica de Pasay, the 1926 Leyte Central Academy of Palo in Leyte, and the 1940 Notre Dame of Midsayap in North Cotabato. At the same time the Saint Mary’s College in Manila serves as the dē jūre Generalate or legally recognized mother unit of all RVM administered schools in Luzon, and the de facto Generalate or unofficial central unit of all RVM managed educational institutions in the country.

1945 The remains of the Cuartel de San Lucia, Baluarte de San Diego and the Collegio del Beaterio, Intramuros, Manila

Despite all the expansions of the RVM sisters, this all came to a halt with the bombing of Manila by the Japanese which started on the 8^th of December 1941. And by the end of the Battle of Manila (3^rd of February to the 3^rd of March 1945), what was left of the Beaterio and the Saint Mary’s College was reduced to rubble. The Saint Mary’s College was able to resume operations during the post-war Reconstruction by transferring is operations to the Immaculate Conception Ladies Hall along España Boulevard, which the RVM sisters had established in 1930. During those years, the RVM sisters also admitted male students to compensate the lack of schools in the area.

1950 Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel of the Religious of the Virgin Mary Mother House

However the Immaculate Conception Ladies Hall was too small to accommodate all the students who wanted to enroll, and rebuilding on the old Beaterio lot was impossible due to the tons of debris that had to be hauled out of the area. So under the guidance of Mother Superior Maria Andrea Montejo (1894-1978) in 1949, the RVM sisters sold their land in Manila, and purchased two lots in Quezon City. The first property is a five hectare parcel of land that is located between Nicanor Domingo Street and Aurora Boulevard at the border of the Cubao and New Manila districts; which the RVM opened their Motherhouse in 1950. Within the compound is the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption, the Betania Retreat House, the St. Mary’s Novitiate and Pre-Novitiate, the St. Mary’s Juniorate, the St. Joseph Home and Rehab Center (infirmary), the Mother Ignacia Development Foundation Inc. (MIDFI), and the Mother Ignacia National Social Apostolate Center (MINSAC, est. 1986).

1950 The main entrance to Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City along Mother Ignacia Avenue

The second RVM property was the new campus for the Colegio de Santa María; which is located along Cebu Avenue, South C Street (now Senior Scout Pathfinder Filamér Santos Reyes Street). The school opened in April 1950, and catered to the residents of the Homesite relocation residential Project 1 as well as the other nearby neighborhoods. The school also changed its named from the Spanish Colegio de Santa María to the English name of Saint Mary’s College to imbibe the spirit of change. Decades later, the Quezon City government renamed Cebu Avenue as Mother Ignacia Avenue, after the school’s founder.

The interior of the Saint Mary’s Chapel, at the SMCQC campus / 1979 Saint Paul The Apostle Parish Church

Upon the opening of the Saint Mary’s campus, the school chapel immediately became the local church for the community of Barrio Obrero (now part of Barangay Paligsahan). However, with more and more migrants from Manila settling in post-war Quezon City, the Sunday masses were soon transferred to the school’s auditorium to accommodate the growing neighborhood. Although the RVM sisters were very close to the Jesuits, traveling eight (8) kilometers over dirt roads from the Colegio de San José in Manila or sixteen (16) kilometers from the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, proved to be impractical. So the masses were conducted by priests from Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis), whose Provincial Superior House (est. 1917) is located less than three kilometers away in New Manila. After decades of attending mass at the SMCQC, the residents requested the Archdiocese of Manila for their own parish, which was established in 1980 as the Saint Paul: The Apostle Parish Church.

An undated portrait of Mother Ignacia (1663-1748) / Mother Ignacia Shrine Chapel at the Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City

The 2007 declaration of Mother Igancia as “venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI had actually started seventy-six years earlier, when Jesuit Consultor Rev. Pedro Vidal and Mother Superior Maria Valencia Ceballos (1876-1959) were preparing the revised Constitution of the Religious of the Virgin Mary for the Decretum Approbation of Pope Pius X. Fr. Vidal suggested the campaign for the beatification of Mother Ignacia. Although the mothers superior Ceballos (served 1927-1933) and Maria Andrea Montejo (1894-1978) attempted to collect the necessary documents to for the beatification, there was very little information to suffice and all actions ceased. In 1957, Mother Superior Maria Catalina Dychitan (served 1956-1959) revived the campaign for the beatification, starting with the 1957 attempt to find the remains of Mother Ignacia at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Manila grounds. Excavation work was finally halted by 1965, due to its disruption to the school’s operations as well as the difficulty of identifying any skeletal remains whose records were destroyed during World War II. Still the movement to beatify Mother Ignacia drew strong support from the Manila archbishops Rufino Jiao Santos (1908-1973), Jaime Lachica Sin (1928-2005), and Gaudencio Borbón Rosales (born 1932); with Rev. Fr. Melencio de Vera (1924-2010) serving as the Promotor Fidei between the Philippine church and the Vatican. Even with the papal declaration of “venerable”, the RVM and devotees continue to work for Mother Ignacia’s beatification, which is embodies within the Mother Ignacia Shrine Chapel at the Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City.

A scale model of Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City / Saint Mary’s College uniform over the decades

From a few small wooden buildings in the 1950s, the Saint Mary’s College of Quezon City campus continued to expand with the growing neighborhood population’s demand for quality Catholic education. For the SMCQC students, who fondly called Marians, there is much to explore and experience in their campus, which will be the subject of the next article.

My thanks to Ms. Eunice S. Bautista, Secretary / Document Controller of St. Mary’s College of Quezon City, for giving me the opportunity to visit their school and document their facilities