SLU, You're One of A Kind

Saint Louis University is a Catholic school founded by Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae (CICM) in 1911.

CICM was founded on November 28, 1862. It was born not knowing exactly what lies ahead. In 1862, Fr. Theophile Verbist led a group of Belgian priest. He had the desire to help the orphans as well as those who lived in ignorance and poverty in China. The fathers never imagined that many would follow their footsteps.

On November 2, 1907 the first batch of nine pioneer CICM missionaries composed of priests and a brother arrived in the Philippines.CICM has grown into an international religious missionary congregation.

The CICM works have challenged and inspired many Filipinos to serve the missions nationwide. CICM missionaries live and work together as brothers in order to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever it is most needed.

Here is a CICM-Philippines Timeline:

1898 - After the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1898 with the help of the United States, all Spanish missionaries were expelled. Thus, the Philippines became an American territory and American bishops were appointed, among them Bishop Dennis Dougherty who was assigned to the diocese of Nueva Segovia in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

1906 - Msgr. Ambrosius Agius, Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines, appealed to CICM in Scheut, Brussels to send priests to replace the ousted Spanish frailes.

- Bishop Dougherty offered the northern Luzon missions populated by many pagans as the areas to be served by the arriving CICM missionaries.

November 02, 1907- Msgr. Agius welcomed the first nine CICM missionaries composed of eight priests and one brother along Manila Bay. They were Superior Pieter Dierickx, Florimond Carlu, Albert Dereume, Seraphin Devesse, Constant Jurgens, Jules Sepulchre, Oktaaf Vandewalle, Henre Verbeeck and Christiaan Hulsbosch (brother). Weeks later Herman Ramaekers and Albert Botty also arrived. They set up initial mission  stations in Baguio; Bauko, Mountain Province; and Cervantes, Ilocos Sur.

1908- A group of 10 more missionaries arrived in 1908 and 13 more in 1909. By 1912, there were 40 CICM missionaries in the Philippines. 

April 1909- The Philippine mission was established as a religious province and the provincial house 'Home Sweet Home' was set up in Baguio City. It was opened as a central house where the Belgian spend a 10-day retreat annually.

1911- Fr. Seraphin Devesse founded a one-room school in the sacristy of the church along Session Road for 10 local boys. From this humble origin, the Saint Louis School began. He also founded a school in Campo Filipino.

1912- The missionaries built two churches: the Baguio Cathedral in the center of Baguio along Session Road, and another in Campo Filipino along Naguilian Road.

1924- Fr. Francis H. Lambrecht (1895-1978) arrived in the Philippines after being ordained in 1923. For 17 years, he evangelized the Ifugao people, mastering their language and tradition. He became one of the most energetic CICM missionaries in the mountains of Luzon.

1941- Fr. Lambrecht became the secretary and procurator of the Apostolic Prefecture, later the Vicariate of the Mountain Province; he founded the Saint Francis Xavier Seminary in Baguio City and for 30 years, he was involved in the training of the native priests for the Mountain Province. At the same time, he taught anthropology at Maryhurst Seminary, Saint Louis University and Baguio Colleges Foundation (now University of the Cordilleras)

June 1928- Establishment of the St. Mary's Elementary School in Bayombong, Nueva Viscaya which later grew into the St. Mary's University.

1931- Arrival of Fr. William Brasseur who worked in several missions among the Benguet tribes.

June 1948- Appointment of Fr. Brasseur as Vicar Apostiolicof the Mountain Province. Two months later, he was ordained a bishop at the Baguio Cathedral.

1951- Candidates for the priesthood were accepted temporarily in Home Sweet Home, the provincial house.

1954- The property where Maryhurst Seminary was to be built has been purchased in Lucnab, a barangay in Baguio City.

1955- A juniorate for possible candidates for foreign missions was initiated. Thus, the CICM General Government started constructing Maryhurst Seminar, the CICM novitiate in Baguio City which opened in May of the same year with eight novices.

From the early days, Scheut Missions-CICM in the Philippines accepted challenges outside the Mountain Province in many lowland parishes taht had no priests for years. From that concerted effort towards the evangelization of the Igorots and the revitalization of whole Christian areas, the greatest achievement CICM is proud of are the native Philippine CICM members.

June 1965- Saint Louis School in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan opened its portals to 138 boys accommodated in two sections of the First Year and one section of the Second Year. Later in May 2002, the college became the University of Saint Louis.

-Establishment of Saint Louis College in San Fernando City, La Union

-Establisment of Saint Louis High School in Mandaue City, Cebu

November 28, 2007- Centennial commemoration of the day when CICM pioneer missionaries first set foot on the Philippines.

As we celebrate SLU's Centennial... may we appreciate the efforts of SLU so as to make students more knowledgeable. May we also realize that SLU is not only a school; it is more than a school... it is a home and a teacher for all.

SLU, You're One of A Kind by Lady Shaira 'Shai' Abuan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.shaimemylifeandyou.blogspot.com.