Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary Community

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary (OLGMS) is a high school seminary of the Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines.
 

BRIEF HISTORY
The seminary was founded by then Archbishop of Manila Rufino Cardinal Santos. In 1953, Cardinal Santos decided to put up an Archdiocesan High School Seminary to accommodate a large number of boys with initial signs of priestly vocation. OLGMS, a subordinate portion of San Carlos Seminary first became known as San Carlos Minor Seminary and was put under the care of the CICM fathers. It is located on a four hectare of prime land overlooking Pasig River, covering the war-ravaged Guadalupe Shrine and Augustinian Seminary. Fr. Frederick Linzenbach, SVD, Engr. Mariano Sideco and Carlos Silva led the construction team and was tasked to put a four-storey building (dormitories, classrooms, library), a faculty building, an auditorium and a chapel. The building with the image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe on its domed roof soon became a very visible landmark along what was then known as Highway 54 (now EDSA).  On August 22, 1955, feast of the Queenship of Mary, the seminary was inaugurated by Rev. Msgr. Alfredo Poledrini, Charge d’ Affairs of the Apostolic Nunciature at that time. .

NURTURING VOCATION

The seminary, which offers a high school education, attracted young boys who wanted to be priests. Enrollment reached a peak in the early 70s when there would be about 50 to 100 students in a class. In time the number would dwindle, the result of both more stringent admission policies and an increasingly secularized environment.

OBJECTIVES
True to its mission of nurturing the seed of priestly vocation through a holistic formation, the seminary aims to foster growth of the seminarian into the fullness of Christian life through an integrated program that takes into account his physical, affective, intellectual, socio-cultural and spiritual development; to help the seminarian to discern the state of life befitting his character and charism as a child of God; to create an atmosphere conducive for the assimilation and deepening of values necessary for the formation of genuine servant leaders; to expose the seminarian to the ideals and demands of the priesthood through a process conforming to their age and development; to assist the seminarian in recognizing and responding to the initial signs of priestly vocation; and to prepare the seminarian for the major seminary formation.

ADMISSION PROCEDURES

Seminary applicants must go through four stages of admission procedures. Stage one is a series of mental ability and personality motivation test. The applicant takes a written examination and must reach at least the cut-off score to qualify for the next stage, which is the interview by the Board of Admission of the applicant and his parents. The results of the two stages are released a week after. The third stage is the Live-in Screening. Here the applicant has to stay in the seminary for a period of time to experience the life there. After he completes his stay, he is evaluated on how he participated and reacted to the activities in the seminary during his stay. The result of his performance in the written exam, interview and seminary stay, will be the basis for his acceptance. The fourth stage is the deliberation of the Board of Admission and formal acceptance. A week after the live-in screening, a letter to the parents will be sent as the official and final decision on whether the applicant is Admitted (A) or Not Admitted (NA).

ADMISSION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Cognizant of the unique character and special role of the high school seminary, strict guidelines are enforced to ensure the candidates’ aptness, openness and responsiveness to the program of seminary formation.  Those to be considered must show adequate interest to priestly life, express proper motivation, manifest a positive mental state, project stable emotional disposition, and belong to a family with sound moral living and catholic background.

The following procedures for application shall be followed:

A.  Phase One:  Mental Ability and Personality Motivation Test

1. Before taking the written examination, the applicant for Grade 7 or Grade 8 or Grade 9, must submit to the Admission Office a photocopy of Form 138 (Report Card) of the current school year.  He must at least possess an academic average of 85% with NO GRADE BELOW 80% in any subject.
2. One (1) recent 2x2 colored picture
3. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and examination starts at 9:00 a.m.  Applicants should bring their own pen and pencil.Testing Dates:  (Admission for the School Year 2014-2015) 

2015 2016

3 7 5 9 16 6 13 5

October November December January January February February March

Entrance Examination #1 Entrance Examination #2 Entrance Examination #3 Entrance Examination #4 Entrance Examination #5 Entrance Examination #6 Entrance Examination #7 Entrance Examination #8

                

5. An amount of P200.00 will be charged to the applicant as an examination fee.
6. Applicants must pass the cut-off score of the Mental Ability and Motivation Tests to be considered for the next stage of admission process.
7. Results will be available one week after.

 B.  Phase Two:  Interview of the Board of Admissions

1.        Before the interview, the applicant must submit the following documents to the Admission Office.        

a)       Two (2) recent 2x2 colored pictures

b)       A photocopy of recent Form 138

c)       A photocopy of Birth, Baptismal and Confirmation Certificates

d)       A photocopy of Marriage Contract / Certificate of Marriage of 

      the parents in the Catholic Church

e)       Medical Certificate

f)        A recommendation letter from his parish priest and his principal

g)       Letter of Recommendation from the diocese bishop (only for

      those who do not belong to the Archdiocese of Manila)

2. Applicants and their parents will undergo the interview.  Those who pass are rendered qualified for the live-in screening.
3. Results will be available one week after.

 C.  Phase Three:  Live-in Screening

This is the final phase of the admission process.  The applicant must stay in the seminary over an indicated period of time to have an experience of regular seminary life.  Evaluation will focus on his participation and involvement on the different activities held.  His over-all performance and behavior will be the major basis for the applicant’s admission or non-admission.  The results will be available one week after.

FORMATION

OLGMS was designed specifically for high school students to prepare them not only for the priesthood but for becoming servant leaders of the Christian Community.  Once they are nurtured with the seed of love, commitment and human values, they become the future leaders who can make a difference in the lives of people living in the community wherein they will be living.  The formation programs include spiritual, human and intellectual formation.

SPIRITUAL LIFE
The spiritual life of the seminarian is the most important among the formation programs of the seminary. There are various activities that help them develop a prayerful life which is very essential in building a closer relationship with God and Jesus Christ. Among the activities are: The Holy Eucharist, personal and communal prayer, liturgy of the hours, meditation, bible and spiritual reading, devotion to the Blessed Mother, examination of conscience and observance of great silence. Further activities of the formation are: confession, benediction, recollection, holy hour, spiritual conference and direction and other activities like prayer triduum and novena and solemnities, the way of the cross, individual prayer support and spiritual retreat.

ACADEMIC LIFE

The academic formation should develop in the seminarian an appreciation for learning as an integral part of his human and vocational life.  The seminarian should have an openness of mind and heart, so that he would be prepared to consider new ideas and be alert and adaptable to changes (cultural, social, economic, political, spiritual and theological) that are constantly taking place.  (The Phil. Program of Priestly Formation 1979, n.43)

HUMAN LIFE

The human life formation is necessary for the development of the spiritual life of the seminarian because he does not only discover his own uniqueness and giftedness but he as well widens his social relationship with others. Fundamental activities like sensitivity seminar for parents, value integration for students, leadership training for higher years, peer counseling, father and son dialogue, mother and son dialogue and marriage encounter establish and build a better and stronger relationship with their families.

SEMINARY DISCIPLINE

A new and different world awaits those who wish to enter the seminary.  It is a world where there is stricter discipline, different routine and well cultivated values rooted in the word of God. And those who wish to enter the seminary must have the willingness and determination to live in this kind of life. The kind of discipline the seminarians have is the very life they have inside the seminary (praying, studying, learning, eating, playing and cleaning). They are also being taught and trained the discipline they need in life: physical, moral, psychological and spiritual, discipline is necessary for success or growth, even in the growth of one’s spiritual life, discipline is necessary and we see them in the life of the saints.

For inquiries, you may contact:  Tel. No. (02) 895-8964

THINGS THAT ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

Tree means a plant with a woody trunk that survives from one season to the next.

tree

Herbs means a plant with a soft and succulent stem that, after flowering, withers away.

herb

Shrub means a woody plant of less size than a tree; a thicket of such plants

shrub

(There is no such thing as a banana tree.  Bananas do not grow on trees but rather develop on very large herbs.  What appears to be its trunk is actually made up of very large leaves in tubular configuration.)

1. The banana tree is not a tree.   It's a herb.
2. The bamboo tree is not a tree.  It's known to be the world's tallest grass.
3. The apple tree is not a tree.  It's a shrub. 
4. A cucumber is not a vegetable.  It's a fruit.
5. A Douglas fir tree is not a fir.  It's a pine.
6. A sea calf is not a calf.  It's a common seal.
7. A sea cow is not a cow.  It's a walrus or manatee.
8. A scarlet-tiger is not a tiger.  It's one of a family of moths.
9. A yellow-hammer is not a hammer.  It's a European bunting (allied to sparrow),  the male of which has a bright yellow head and neck.
10. A sea dog is not a dog.  It's a term used to call an "old sailor".
11. A firefly is not a fly.  It's a beetle.
12. A Welsh-rabbit is not a rabbit.  It's a melted cheese mixed with ale.
13. A bluebottle is not a bottle and not blue.  It's a species of fly.
14. A blindworm is not a worm and not blind.  It is a small slender limbless lizard, so named from the erroneous notion that is blind.
15. An English horn is not English and not a horn.  It's an alto oboe from France.
16. A panda bear is not a bear.  It's a raccoon's relative.
17. A sea fox is not a fox.  It's a variety of shark.
18. A dragon's-blood is not a blood nor a dragon.  It is the red juice of several South American and East Indian trees.
19. A prairie dog is not a dog.  It's a rodent.
20. A blind tiger is not a tiger and not blind.  It is a place where intoxicants are illegally sold.
21. A bottleneck is not a bottle and not a neck.  It's a narrow passage or a condition that impedes progress.
22. A horned toad is not a toad.  It is a lizard.
23. A Guinea pig is not a pig.  It's a tailless rodent mammal about seven inches in length and often used for medical experimentation.