OLVC Mission Bulletin (Online) June-September 2004 Issue

PHOTO REPORT: OUR LADY OF VICTORIES CATHOLIC SCHOOL
THE SOCIETY’S MISSION IN THE PHILIPPINES OPENS ITS FIRST SCHOOL IN ASIA

     “To restore all things in Christ…” was the motto of the saintly pope, St. Pius X and as Archbishop Lefebvre put it, it meant the restoration of family and society to Christ, including the restoration of our educational institutions in order to lead our children—who are also termed as the “church’s and nation’s hope and future”—and eventually, our society, back to the pristine teachings of Christ the King. It is with this spirit and the spiritual and formative needs of the growing number of children in our mission in the Philippines that we have hastened in opening a traditional Catholic school.

     Opening a school in a country like the Philippines is something like a wonderful dream. One only has to consider that the country belongs to the Third World and with the country’s and the region’s continuing economic crisis, it seems that realizing such a dream is near to impossibility.

     But we believe in the axiom that “with God, nothing is impossible”. Hence, the fervent prayers to God this petition.

     Back in 2003, we prayed to St. Anthony to help us find a suitable property where we could establish our school and hopefully the same property would be shared with our convent for the nuns and the aspiring ladies of the House of Bethany (as currently, they are renting a house for their convent).

     There were two prospective properties nearby on which the blueprint of the school and convent premises were drafted and presented to the then prior, Fr. Vicente Griego (now the Rector of St. Mary’s Academy and College in Kansas, USA). One was the property offered to us some years ago which was only a house away from the church and on the same block, therefore, if it would be bought by us, then it would seem the whole block would be our mission’s; the other is a smaller property some two blocks away.


     So, there, prospective properties were available, the blueprints were drafted and approved, there were children to populate the school, but as is always the case in the Philippines, funds were insufficient if not scarce to obtain.

     Thus, we continued our plea to St. Anthony to help us find a property as well as funds for this apostolate.

     On June 13, 2003, we launched a successful fund drive for St. Anthony: the St. Anthony’s Bread which was distributed to the poor districts in the urban area—this was done in his honor with the intention of obtaining a suitable property for the school and convent.


     Then, it was followed by Fr. Griego’s missionary trip to the US where he presented the history and current status of our mission in the Philippines. The churches, chapels, schools in the US which he visited were very much enthusiastic in contributing to the necessary fund for the foundation of a traditional school here, for which the Filipino Traditional Catholics were very thankful.

     That was the time, however, of changes in assignments for the Society priests. Fr. Vicente Griego was not spared, so when he came back, he announced two big news: one is that the American faithful had contributed to our school project fund and the other, that he would be assigned to the US.

     It was like a bomb that hit the priory. However, the news did not stop the school project from being realized.

     When Fr. Griego left, a French Canadian, Fr. Jules Belisle, was supposed to replace him but due to his assigned post in a Traditional School in Australia, he found it difficult to leave for the Philippines as the school year for them had just begun. So, the District Superior, instead, appointed the first Filipino traditional priest, Fr. Joven Soliman, the new prior of Our Lady of Victories. He continued the various projects which Fr. Griego began such as the school.