St.

Mary’s College of
Teacher Education
Tagum, Inc.Program

LEARNING
MODULE
IFP 2
Ignacian Spirituality for
Mission
 LESSON 1 (WEEK 1)

Up Close and Personal with Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
BIBLE comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in all
VERSE Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria even to the ends
of the earth.’”

Ignacian Core Value: FAITH Related Value: Prophetic Witness to the Gospel

“Living a life of joyful service, M. Ignacia recognized how God acted in and through people and
events. (1726 Rules I.35,48; III.1)

Learning Outcomes
1. Examine the missionary life of Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo.
2. Support the apostolates and ministries of the RVM congregation.
3. Value the missionary efforts of Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo.

Introduction
The valiant woman, Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, lived a life that is pleasing to God. Her
unwavering faith in the Lord kept her going despite all the obstacles that came her way. Her gazed was just
focused on Jesus alone. Her missionary zeal brought changes in the Church and the Philippine Society
during her time and up to the present through the Religious of the Virgin Mary, the congregation she
founded.
Lesson I of Ignacian Formation Program 2 (IFP 2) will lead the learners to a deeper understanding
and appreciation of the fruitful missionary life of the beloved Foundress of the RVM congregation.

IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)

WARM UP ACTIVITY. Read the lyrics of the SONG and answer the question below.

The Mission
Steve Green

There's a call going out

across the land in every nation
a call to those who swear allegiance to the cross of Christ
A call to true humility, to live our lives responsibly
To deepen our devotion to the cross at any price
Let us then be sober, moving only in the Spirit
As aliens and strangers in a hostile foreign land
The message we're proclaiming is repentance and forgiveness
The offer of salvation to a dying race of man
To love the Lord our God
is the heartbeat of our mission
the spring from which our service overflows
across the street
or around the world
the mission's still the same
Proclaim and live the Truth
In Jesus' name
As a candle is consumed by the passion of the flame
Spilling light unsparingly throughout a darkened room
Let us burn to know Him…

Source: Lyric Find

What line/s in the song struck you the most? Why?

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IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)

 LEARNING CONTENT

The Religious of the Virgin Mary: The Sweet Fruits of Venerable Ignacia’s Spirituality and
Humble Service to God
(Published in the Ancilla Domini Special Issue, March 2008)

          At the proclamation of the Decretum Virtutibus of Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo on February
1, 2008, the historic Binondo Church in the heart of Manila’s oldest district, overflowed with presence of
the Sisters of the Religious of the Virgin Mary, the students of RVM-led schools, their collaborators in the
ministry, supporters and friends.  Many as they were, the significant crowd represented only a part of the
RVM community and its extended family that now stretch beyond Philippine shores into foreign lands.
          In 1684, when the determined young woman of 21 named Ignacia, the daughter of a Chinese
merchant and a Filipina. The young woman focused on her goal to devote herself to God in prayer and
humble service and decided to live alone in a house at the back of the Jesuit College in Manila, taking only a
pair of scissors and a needle by which she might “live by the sweat of her brow.”   
          This exemplary life of piety attracted other young women and Ignacia welcomed them, soon forming
the first community known as the Beaterio de la Compañia de Jesus because they frequented the Church of
St. Ignatius to receive the Sacraments, listen to the Word of God, and perform their acts of devotion.  The
Jesuit Fathers heard their confessions and directed them spiritually.
 The Finger of God
          The community grew with beatas who were Yndias, mestizos and Spaniard recogidas.  When Mother
Ignacia presented a set of Rules and Constitutions to the Archdiocesan office in 1726 so it could gain the
ecclesiastical approval for their religious life, the diocesan official who reviewed the document,
said, “Digitus Dei est hic!   (This is the finger of God).  In 1732, the Archbishop of Manila approved the rules.
          After gaining this approval, Mother Ignacia decided to give up her responsibility as superior of the
house and gave way to the leadership of a younger member, Dominga del Rosario.  Shorn of her prime role
she slid into the life of an ordinary member, a move that proved her humility.  Quietly as she had lived her
whole life Mother Ignacia died on September 10, 1748 at the age of 85.

IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)

 “Unless the seed falls to the ground and dies, it does not bear fruit.”
          King Ferdinand IV of Spain granted proteccion civil to the Congregation on November 25, 1755, a
petition formally sent by Archbishop Arizala of Manila to the king two months before her death.
          Shortly after the death of Mother Ignacia the beatas explored other places for their apostolic work,
fanning out to other areas in Luzon.  In 1874 sisters set sail for Tamontaca in Cotabato in the island of
Mindanao and the nuns, despite dangers to their life because of the hostile culture they faced, spread out
to Dapitan in 1880, Dipolog in 1892, Zamboanga in 1894, and Surigao together with Lubungan and Butuan
in 1896.      
          After the Revolution and the Spanish-American War, the Sisters returned to their mission stations in
Mindanao and opened new schools in Luzon and in the Visayas.
First Mother General
          On June 21, 1902 Archbishop Martin Garcia Alocer, the apostolic administrator of the Manila
archdiocese, approved the petition of the Sisters to have a gathering of all members to elect a Mother
General.  In the same year, Mother Maria Efigenia Alvarez, a native of Ermita, Manila, was elected the first
Mother General in a General Chapter.  She was succeeded in 1938 by Mother Maria Andrea Montejo, who
was appointed by the Holy See.         
          On October 1, 1939, the Holy See granted canonical permission to the Congregation to transfer the
Novitiate from Parañaque, Rizal to its present site at Quezon City.  Pope Pius X, now St. Puis X, promulgated
the Decree of Praise in favor of the Congregation’s Rules and Constitutions on March 17, 1907.  Pope Pius XI
granted the Decree of Approbation on March 24, 1931, which elevated the Congregation to Pontifical
status.  Finally, on January 12, 1948, the 200th anniversary of the death of the holy Foundress, Pope Pius XII
issued the Decree of Definitive Pontifical Approbation of the Constitutions, which placed the Congregation
directly under Rome.         
          In 1938, the Congregation had 26 houses throughout the country.  World War II (1941-45) destroyed
the Motherhouse at Intramuros together with nine other houses of the Congregation.
          In 2007 the RVM Sisters work throughout the Philippine archipelago and several other countries in the
world.  They number more than 700 and have missions in America, Canada, Europe, Africa, Pakistan,
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan.  They administer more than 50 schools and several dormitories,
retreat houses and social action centers.  Indeed these are the sweet fruits of Mother Ignacia’s giving of
herself to God.

IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality APPLICATION

for MIssion)
 If Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo is alive today, what would she DO with these SITUATIONS?
You are an Ignacian Marian student, what will you DO to alleviate these situations?

ASSESSMENT

IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)

 ESSAY. Explain the following statements about Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo.

1. “The Finger of God”

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2. “Unless the seed falls to the ground and dies, it does not bear fruit.”
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SYNTHESIS

All are called to share in the mission of Jesus Christ and this is what Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo
did. She responded lovingly to this noble calling by giving her whole life in the service of her Savior. Thus,
bearing fruits that help change the Church and the Philippine Society and on other parts of the world.

SELF-REFLECTION

Who is Mother Ignacia to you? What inspired you about her life?
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IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)

RVM Education Ministry Commission & Mother Foundress Commission (2008), Ignacian Formation Program
for College –Modules 6-10

The New American Bible

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (2012). Catechism of the Catholic Church. New Edition with
expanded subject Index and Primer. Manila: Word and Life Publications.
https://chermercado.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/cfc-cbcp.pdf
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994). The process and spirit of drafting the text. Broadway,
New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
Quimba, et. al. (2012). The Church. Blue Patriach Publishing House: Buhangin, Davao City
vvvvvMMMMMM006.

http://rvmonline.net/http:// Retrieved 06/14/2020

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2015/02/28/mother-ignacia-del-espiritu-santo-labored-by-the-sweat-of-
her-brow/ Retrieved July 12,2020

IFP 2 (Ignacian Spirituality for MIssion)