Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary at Lipa City was founded in the year 1967. Its history, however, goes a few years back and is linked with the history of Capuchin Houses of Formation in the Philippines. When the Navarre Province made the decision to push through apostolic work in the Philippines, the first step undertaken for continuity was the setting up of programs for the recruitment of native vocations. This was a determining factor for the founding of Lourdes School in Quezon City as can be called from the petition to Rome: to be a source of vocation to the Order.
The first group of students, some of them undertook their studies at Lourdes School, were gathered in Tagaytay City under the Rectorship of Fr. Manuel Remirez, OFM Cap. The program of formation began with two years of Latin and the Humanities, the Novitiate starting in 1959 under Fr. Fidel de Lekama�a, OFM Cap., and much later studies of Philosophy were acquired at the San Carlos Major Seminary at Guadalupe, Makati. After a year, the Philosophy students joined the newly put up Franciscan Seminary (Our Lady of the Angels Seminary) at Novaliches, in 1962. During this time, the Custody (as the Vice Province of the Philippines was called then) was searching for other circumscriptions with established formation programs so that the young in formation could acquire an experience of fraternity living. Australia, India and Argentina or Chile were being considered. India was finally chosen owing to some homogenous factors such as being Asiatic, and possessing a better organized program. This experience lasted until the year 1968.
In the meantime, construction of the Lipa College Seminary was going on in the property at Lipa City bought by the Custody in 1963. By June of 1967, the late Msgr. Olalia, Bishop of Lipa, blessed the new building. The previous two-year Latin course was increased to three years while some of the students took their validating examinations with the Bureau of Private Schools for the recognition of their studies affording them possibility of continuing their studies for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies. Two years later, the course was extended to four years with the same AB Classical Degree but with introductory courses in Philosophy. These courses in Philosophy then were being completed at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City thereby graduating with an additional Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. The arrangement was, in some way, not very satisfactory for both institutions. In 1975 the curriculum of the College Seminary was modified to incorporate the whole Philosophy course in Lipa, consequently saving a year in Tagaytay. This modified curriculum was finally put into operation in the year 1977 and remains so up to the present. |
