81ST FOUNDATION DAY

STC 81st FOUNDATION DAY MASS

June 20, 2014

Good morning, Theresians!

We are gathered here this morning to celebrate the Foundation Day of our school. What is Foundation Day?

Based on the original meaning of the celebration, Foundation Day is a designated date (chosen date) on which celebrations
mark the founding of a nation or state. This holiday can be symbolized by the date of becoming republic or a significant date for
a patron saint or a ruler as the starting point of the nation's history. Institutions such as schools, like St. Theresa’s College, also
celebrate a Foundation Day. Why celebrate a Foundation Day?

First, it gives us a sense of history. A school celebrates its foundation to reminisce and to honor its establishment. St. Theresa’s
College was established upon the invitation of Archbishop Gabriel Reyes, then Archbishop of Cebu, to the ICM Sisters to
establish a school in Cebu. It was on June 1, 1933 that our school was granted permission to operate as St. Theresa’s Academy
after receiving the government recognition on March 29, 1933. However, history goes beyond its chronological date. To have a
sense of history, it is very important to know where we’ve come from. Hence, on this day, we are reminded of how the school was
formed 80 years ago. Today, we reflect on the very early days of the school and how far we have come as a school
community.And so, we present to Godour stories of joy, of sadness, and of painwith gratitudein this Eucharistic celebration.

Second, Foundation Day gives us a sense of mission and purpose. Why should we set aside a time in the busy life of a school
year to celebrate Foundation Day? We celebrate so that we do not forget the vision of the people who established it, so that we
make new again the vision which has inspired the School for the last 80 years. It is a reminder that at its foundation, St.
Theresa’s College was to be a school inspired by the missionary spirit of Mother Foundress in her Passion for God, for People,
and for the Integrity of God’s Creation; that St. Theresa’s College is to be a school where learning forms students to become
leaders for a transformed world-community, as our newly updated vision states. St. Theresa’s College came into existence in
1933 because a group of people, particularly, the ICM Sisters, who were inspired by Mother Foundress, together with the
Archbishop of Cebu, saw the need for such a school in Cebu City, the School we now know and enjoy. There were many who
have given so much to the School over the years. Today is therefore about remembering and honoring all who have served to
make the School the place it is today.

Third and last, Foundation Day is a day of remembrance, a day of honoring, a day to celebrate what has been achieved over
the past 80 years, and a day to look forward to what is yet to come. This day stands as a reminder to us that when we forget
our history, we move into an uncertain future. We celebrate the Day to maintain the school’s principle, so that the teachers,
the staff, and the students will be reminded of it.

Hence, our school has taken June 21 as the designated date for our Foundation Day. This date is a significant one for the
ICM Congregation and for all of us for it reminds us of Mother Foundress, the Valiant Woman, the Great Woman of Faith
who had made it possible for St. Theresa’s College-Cebu to come to being. Her vision-mission is like a guiding star that leads
usto where our school is heading. Today is Foundation Day, a day etched with tradition and history. We remember, so that we
do not forget. And in remembering, we become “light of the world and salt of the earth”. So it is, so it will be.
Dr. Dulce Jesus L. Baricuatro
CFP Coordinator/VMV Champion
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
STC 81st FOUNDATION DAY
June 20, 2014

Good morning!

We praise and thank God for this beautiful morning, a wonderful opportunity for us to be together as one big happy family to
celebrate the founding of our school, St. Theresa’s College, Cebu and the feast day of a great Missionary, Mother Marie
Louise de Meester, the Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

If Mother Foundress were here this morning, I am sure she would be very happy and honored that she is specially
remembered on her feast day by the Theresians of Cebu! Added to her happiness is the presence of an alumnus of our ICM
School in Balamban, St. Francis Academy, in the person of Fr. Joseph Yntig, our celebrant this morning’s Eucharistic
Celebration. Thank you very much Father, for being with us this morning. Thank you, Mrs. Baricuatro for inviting Father
Yntig to officiate out Holy Mass today.

To the Christian Living Formation teachers, headed by Ms. Ella Bonusan, thank you for preparing the liturgy.

To the De Meester Choir, trained by Ms. Therese Paller and Ms. Mary Ann Talaugon, thank you for the beautiful singing,
making our Eucharistic Celebration alive and solemn.

To our commentators, readers, ladies of the altar and offerers, thank you very much!

To Fely, Bien, Henry, Tommy and other maintenance personnel under the supervision of Mrs. Elsie Cuenco, our Support
Services Supervisor, thank you so much for attending to the physical arrangement of this place, for providing the sound
system and other things needed for the Eucharistic Celebration.

To the power point in-charge, Ms. Ivah Piloners, thank you.

For the active participation of everyone, thank you! Keep it up!
Mother Foundress is surely very happy. She is blessing all of us from where she is.
Of course, to the members of the Cluster Truth, headed by Mrs. Emma Gunhuran, who led the preparations of this
celebration, many thanks!
To one and all, Daghang Salamat!

May Truth guide our daily endeavors wherever we are-one way of being Light of the World and Salt of the Earth. God bless
us all!
Sr. Celeste Ma. Purisima L. Pe, ICM
Directress