Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary in Lipa City, Batangas is a formation institution of the

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in the Philippines. It presently serves as the house of
formation for the postulants of the Philippine Province.

The first building of Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary was built in Tagaytay City in the
year 1957. It was designed to be a “convent-seminary” for both friars and candidates in
formation. It was inaugurated and blessed by the papal legate Most Reverend Egidio
Vagnozzi, DD a year later. It was through the inspiration and hard work of the Spanish
and Filipino Capuchins then that formation of young men had become realized in this
seminary.

In the year 1963, the Capuchins bought a 13-hectare land in Lipa City. It was on this
acquired property where the present Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary was envisioned to
rise. It was in year 1966 when the first Capuchins began to live in what is now known as
Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary. Most Reverend Alejandro Ayson Olalia, DD, bishop of
Lipa, formally inaugurated and blessed the newly-constructed Our Lady of Lourdes
Seminary – Lipa City on October 4, 1967, on the Solemnity of the Seraphic Father, St.
Francis of Assisi. Br. Manuel Remirez, OFMCap. was appointed as the first Rector of the
Lipa Seminary. It is this formal inauguration’s 50th Anniversary that we now celebrate
this year.

Throughout the fifty years of Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary in Lipa, quite a number of
academic curricula has been offered to young men who have journeyed with the
Capuchin friars. It began with a two-year program of studying languages and humanities
that was later extended to a four-year Bachelor’s degree program in Philosophy. It was in
the year 1991 when Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary formally became the house of
formation for Capuchin postulants. Since then, the postulants who were accepted in Our
Lady of Lourdes Seminary studied academic courses that concluded with a college
degree, Bachelor of Arts in Religious Education.

Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary has been a place of formation not only for Filipinos.
Through the years, it has also welcomed brothers from other countries such as China,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Korea, New Zealand, and South Korea. They are brothers
who have come to the Philippines for their initial formation with the Filipino Capuchins.

Over the years, Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary will be the home of a great number of
men, young and old, who would be formed in a sound Christian way. The Capuchin
Order in the Philippines have welcomed men into the doors of the seminary to guide
them in the discernment of their respective paths in life. Christian formation is at the
heart of Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary, the integral formation in the seminary has been
envisioned to be a journey that will help men discern and discover the will of God in their
lives and thus be directed to their Christian vocation in the society and in the Church.

“In His goodness God calls all Christian faithful in the Church to the perfection of love through
different states of life, so that the salvation of the world may be advanced by means of personal
holiness… With the greatest freedom, each one must respond lovingly to this call, rooted in
Baptism, so that the dignity of the human person may be in harmony with the will of God.” (The
Constitutions of the Capuchin Friars Minor, no. 16)
 Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary Integral Human Formation
Our life as a Christian Individual (Human Formation)
Those who enter the seminary comes to know the deeper reality of Christian life and enters a
more careful discernment of his Christian vocation. Every brother is guided in the growth of his
human maturity, especially affective maturity, learning more about himself and integrating the
different areas of his personal history to the present reality of his life. One is enabled to
responsibly accept the totality of his personal life so that, in effect, he may fruitfully share this
life with others.

Our life of Study (Intellectual Formation)

Brothers are greatly encouraged to cultivate the mind. Intellectual growth is befittingly important
because every brother will be engaged in a world that he will need to understand and respond to.
It is necessary that brothers study sufficiently to prepare and train themselves for whatever form
of work they will be committing themselves to. True learning leads to responsibility, right
understanding opens that path for a more virtuous life. Sound knowledge and eventually wisdom,
leads to charity.

Our life of Work and Apostolate (Formation for ministries)

Brothers are directed to love and do work as an expression of service in the spirit of brotherly
communion. Great care is taken to ensure that preparation for work are conducted in a true spirit
of availability and cooperation. The brothers are prepared to engage in dignified work that is in
keeping with their gifts and aptitudes in a spirit of self-denial and self-discipline. Through this
formation, the brothers are led to contribute, with their own hands, to the good of the Church, the
society, and the whole world.

Our life of Fraternity (Formation in Gospel brotherhood)

In the seminary, one learns how to be truly a brother. The brothers are formed to walk in
humility that is imbued with a spirit of mutual understanding and sincere esteem for each other.
Fraternal dialogue, trustful sharing of experiences, and the proper manifesting of needs to one
another are cultivated among the brothers. The brothers learn how to be truly at the service of
one another, and while each one’s creativity is fostered, every brother becomes conscious that his
personal gifts contributes to the good of all.

Our life in Prayer (Spiritual Formation)

“Prayer to God is the breathing of love stirred into life by the Holy Spirit through whom
the inner man begins to listen to the voice of God speaking to his heart.” The seminary
atmosphere provides a sacred space where brothers can experience God’s holy activity in
their lives. A spirit of holy prayer and devotion forms the brothers’ deep awareness of the
spiritual life that is central to their daily activities. Every brother is made to understand
that his daily life is always intimately united to the spiritual life growing inside him.