she will come ... blessing of Jaime Cardinal Sin Building

Your Grace, allow me first to present to you our seminarians this formation year 2016-2017. We have 21 Seminarians in Grade 7; 18 seminarians in Grade 8; 16 seminarians in Grade 9 and eleven Seminarians in Grade 10.  This year like all secondary schools in the Philippines we are starting our Senior High School Formation program with 26 seminarians in Grade 11.  Of the 26, 15 came from our junior High School the class Genesis, and 11 came from schools other than this seminary.  All in all we have a total of 92 seminarians for both our junior high and senior high school.

In the college we have 9 for our First Year.  This will be our last first year college in the old curriculum.  We have 12 in the 2^nd year, 15 in the third year and 6 in the 4^th year.  All in all we have 42 college Seminarians this year

In our Special Philosophy Program we have one seminarian.  He is the last Special Philosophy Seminarian to undergo formation in this seminary.  The next batch of special Philosophy seminarians will be directly formed by the St. Joseph Regional Seminary although they will take their Philosophy course in this seminary.  Special Philosophy Seminarians are graduates of a four year course who wish to enter the seminary to pursue the vocation to the priesthood.

This year we have a seminarian who is a member of Religious Congregation and a graduate of Philosophy in the University of Santo Tomas.  He is undergoing the bridge program to give him time for a guided discernment period if indeed he is called for the diocesan priesthood.

Your grace, this year we have a total of 136 seminarians.

As we start our senior High School program we thank the Lord and our blessed Mother for providing us a new building which we dedicated to the memory of an illustrious Alumnus of this Institution, Jaime Cardinal Sin.  We finished the building with only a minimal funding from abroad.  Funding came mainly from individual local donors, from people who believe that priests come from seminarians from major seminaries and major seminarians come from seminarians in the minor seminaries – that there can be no short cut and no easier, faster route to the priesthood – that truly helping form priest should start where the it really begins, in a minor seminary.  For this we would like to thank all of them for not giving up despite the fact that supporting seminarians from the minor seminary is a hit or miss thing, in fact it is more miss than hit.

In particular I would like to thank the municipality of Oton who for several years now have made it a point to come to this mass to offer their donation for this seminary.  These are proceeds from the fun run they held last May to commemorate the foundation of Oton as a town and as a parish.  So why help the seminary?  Because the founder of Oton was a priest by the name of Fray Martin de Rada, spiritual director of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, and they thought that supporting future priests is the better way of repaying the Friar.  As they often say in the First District, you don't repay kindness, you pass it on.  We would like to thank the out-going Mayor Vincent Flores, the honorable Councilors and the staff of the municipal Hall.

Special mention to our ever active alumni who would always scout for opportunities to help our seminary.  We are glad that the president and members of the Board are here with us today, headed by Ex-Seminarian Manny Calvo – Mark Secu, Alex Porras, Alexander Sardon, Anthony Deslate, Romy Diamanse....

We would like also to thank Fr. Neil who supervised the construction, thank you also to Engr. Ernesto Abonador and his team and our gratitude too to an alumnus Arch. Stephen Penaranda and his team who made the initial plans for the Building.

Finally, I would like to invite you to honor our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom the Archbishop himself has personally given as patroness and guardian of the new building and its occupants.  We would like to thank in a special way Fr. Eric Castro rector of the national shrine of Our Lady, who came all the way from Manila to be with us, together with the promotors of Our Lady who brought the tilma to this seminary last year just when the chapel was almost complete and we were still in the dark, looking for a patron.   It is said the Our Lady of Guadalupe is not asked.  Instead she finds her way to people who are dear to her, people whom she knew need her.  So I can say that our Lady found her way to this seminary, to this building, to its chapel, the chapel of our Lady of Guadalupe.  It is consistent with the Mary of the Gospels.... she was there in the wedding in Cana when they ran out of wine, she was there when the family of Jesus thought he has gone out of his mind when he had no more time even to eat, she was there under the cross to accompany him when all the rest abandoned him, she was there when the apostles were discouraged and in fear locked in the cenacle.  That's the beauty of having a Mother.  You dont have to ask.  She will sense.... she will know.... she will come.

Your Grace, the seminary administrators would like to ask you then to bless and officially open our Senior High School Building dedicated to the memory of Jaime Cardinal Sin and placed under the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe.