Hail Lourdes!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

THIS month of February, I will be among the many old gals of Lourdes College, most of who come from different parts of the globe, who will be taking part of the annual homecoming in this city. It will always be a big, colorful and noisy reunion of classmates, teachers and R.V.M. nuns – those that were once a part of my growing up years in the school that we all call “Lourdes.”

There will be much laughter and glorious food as we gather and reminisce about the special period of our youth when life was simple and carefree.

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I literally grew up in this once exclusive school for girls (it became coed in the late 1980s) from kindergarten at the age of four up to my high school years. So that makes me a true pink Lourdesian.

Pink because that was what identified the Lourdesian from the rest, the uniform of the female students – pink jumper with white blouse. However, as I look back to my student days, I realized that much of what defines me now as a person has been shaped by the nuns and my teachers aside from the strong familial influence that I had at home. But how well do we know the R.V.M nuns?

A few years ago, I read about the history of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) congregation that was written by my former teacher, Sister Ma. Consuelo Alvino. This made me proud all the more of my school and the rich contribution in the field of education these nuns gave, especially to Mindanao. Let me share with you some interesting things that she wrote in Kinaadman Journal in 1986 (pp.47 – 55).

This order started as a Beaterio in Manila in 1684 by a Chinese mestiza named Ignacia del Espiritu Santo. It served the church by conducting retreats for women, in education, catechetical and dormitory work. It suffered discrimination (I think it was because the order was composed of Filipinas) so it was considered lay even if it had a religious lifestyle. It was given a royal civil protection but it had no royal subsidy from the King of Spain since it was only for Spanish institutions. These sisters, who were then called “beatas”, lived by the sweat of their brow but it did not stop them from reaching out to Spaniards and Yndias (Filipina women).

They were an autonomous group and were guided by the Jesuit priests till the Jesuit Society’s expulsion from the country in 1768. Over a century later, when the Jesuits were allowed to go back to the Philippines, the beatas were invited to help in their work in Mindanao in 1875. They were called upon to care and educate the ransomed young girls in Tamontaca, Cotabato who were victims of smallpox, plague, famine and slavery. The beatas who volunteered to go to Mindanao had to give up all their rights to return to the Mother House in Manila.

At that time, 19th century Mindanao was a daunting place where the inhabitants were categorized by missionaries as Muslims, Christians and Pagans. That a Mindanao experience meant a difficult voyage by sea, impassable roads, culture gaps and clash of beliefs and values. I salute the first group of novices who sailed to Cotabato not knowing what was in store for them and were armed only with their faith and the resolute determination to make a difference in that part of the island. They were led by Fr. Juan Heras, their Jesuit superior. Later, the beatas slowly spread out and established themselves around Mindanao.

Here’s an interesting information about Sor Justina Leis who was assigned in Dapitan.

Dr. Jose Rizal was a frequent visitor of the beatas who cooked Tagalog dishes for him and sometimes sent him food. Sor Justina was described as skillful with paint, brush and carpentry and earned for her the title “Maestra de Obras.” Her paints and brushes and her tools for sculpture were used by Rizal during his exile in Dapitan. (MMS Archives of the RVM Congregation, Q.C., Alvino, Consuelo. Kinaadman. 1986 pp. 49).

In December 1898, most of the Spaniards left the country after Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States of America for $20M in the Treaty of Paris held earlier that year. As soon as Spain ended her 333 year colonial rule, there was the proclamation of the short lived First Philippine Republic with Emilio Famy Aguinaldo as the first President. This was followed by the Philippine-American War. During this tumultuous period, the beatas in Luzon volunteered in Aguinaldo’s army to care for the sick and the wounded.

The change in colonial rule afforded a series of changes in the internal structure of the Beaterio, which eventually led in 1932 a change in the name of the Congregation to “Religiosas de la Virgen Maria” or religious of the Virgin Mary.

On January 12, 1948, the RVM Constitution was given definitive approval by the Holy See. So when the congregation returned to Mindanao after the Revolution, it was no longer beatas but as Sisters of a religious congregation, canonically erected since 1906, approved in principle in 1907, and definitively approved in 1948.

In Misamis Province, the RVM Sisters as usual worked with the Jesuit Fathers starting in Balingasag in 1901 where they opened a school, then to Tagoloan in 1904, Jasaan in 1909, in Talisayan where Fr. James T.G. Hayes was the parish priest.

In Cagayan de Misamis, the Spanish Jesuits invited the sisters to teach in 1912 in their parochial school. Later, the Sisters opened the Sta. Teresita Dormitory for girls. In 1928, Fr. Hayes was transferred to Cagayan. He asked the Sisters to teach at the St. Agustine Parochial Elementary School, also known as the St. Agustine Academy. When Fr. Hayes became the first Bishop in Cagayan in 1933, he founded two diocesan high schools, one for the boys – Ateneo de Cagayan under the Jesuits and Lourdes Academy for girls under the RVM Sisters. This was later renamed Lourdes College.

And the rest in history.

Through the decades, Lourdes has turned hundreds of young women made a difference not only in Cagayan de Oro but in many parts of this country and even around the world. There are now many alumni who are lawyers, judges, doctors, artists, teachers, entrepreneurs, spiritual and civic leaders and government officials. And other women of substance like excellent mothers and wives! All of them continue to inspire excellence, love of country and God, integrity in the workplace, service to the community for the glory of God as what was taught in our classrooms in Lourdes.

So, as we gather again in the old campus grounds next week, let us take time to honor those R.V.M nuns who played a great part in shaping our young lives. Let us be thankful that we are part of their rich legacy that brings a sense of pride and worth not only to us but to Cagayan de Oro as well.