SCHOLASTIC

TRIUMPHS AT
ATENEO DE
MANILA (1872-
1877)
• Jose was sent to Manila four months
after the martyrdom of GomBurZa
and with Dona Teodora still in
prison.

• He studied in the Ateneo Municipal,

a college under the supervision of
the Spanish Jesuits.
• ATENEO MUNICIPAL
- Bitter rival of the Dominican-owned
College of San Juan de Letran

- Formerly the Escuela Pia(Charity

School)- for poor boys in Manila established
in 1817

- In 1859 the name was changed to

Ateneo Municipal by the Jesuits and later
became the Ateneo de Manila.
Rizal Enters
the Ateneo
On June 10, 1872 Jose,
accompanied by Paciano,
went to Manila to take the
entrance examinations on
Christian Doctrine, arithmetic,
and reading at the College of
San Juan de Letran, and
passed them.
Father Magin Ferrando, college registrar of
Ateneo Municipal, refused to admit Jose
because:

1. He was late for registration and;

2. He was sickly and undersized for his age

(11 years old)

But with the help of Manuel Xeres Burgos,

Rizal was admitted
Ateneo was located in
Intramuros, within the walls of
Manila. He boarded in a house
on Caraballo Street, 25 min
walk from the college. The
boarding house was owned by
Titay, who owed Rizal family
P300.
Jesuit System
of Education
Jesuits trained the character of
the student by rigid discipline,
humanities and religious
instruction. They heard Mass
early in the morning before the
beginning of daily class.
Classes were opened and
closed with prayers.
 Students were divided into two
groups
ROMAN EMPIRE CARTHAGIAN EMPIRE
consisting of the consisting of the
internos (boarders) externos (non-
with red banners boarders) with blue
banners
1 stBest: Emperor
2 Best: Tribune´
nd

3 Best: Decurion´
rd

4 Best: Centurion
th

5 Best: Standard-
th

bearer
Ateneo students uniform is consisted of
“hemp-fabric trousers” and “striped cotton
coat”. The coat
was called
rayadillo.
And was adopted
as the uniform for
Filipino troops
during the
days of the
First Philippine
Republic.
Rizal’s First Year
in Ateneo
(1872-1873)
• Rizal’s first professor in Ateneo was
Fr. Jose Bech
• Rizal was placed at the bottom of
the class since he was a newcomer
and knows little Spanish.
• He was an externo(Carthaginians),
occupying the end of the line. But
at the end of the month, he
become emperor´of his Empire. He
was the brightest pupil in the whole
class, and he was awarded a prize,
a religious prize
• Rizal took private lessons in
Santa Isabel College during
noon recesses to improve his
Spanish language payingthree
pesos for those extra lessons.
• He placed second at the end
of the year, athough all his
grades were still marked
Excellent´
 Summer Vacation 1873
• Rizal didn’t enjoy his summer because his
mother was in prison so Neneng(Saturnina)
brought him to Tanawan. But without telling his
father, he went to Santa Cruz to visit her
mother in prison.
• After summer, he boarded inside Intramuros at
No. 6 Magallanes Street. Dona Pepay, who
had a widowed daughter and 4 sons, was his
landlady.
Rizal’s Second
Year in Ateneo
(1873-1874)
• Rizal lost the class
leadership. But he
repented and even
studied harder, once
more became emperor.
He received excellent
grades in all subjects and
a gold medal.
Prophecy of his mother’s release
• Dona Teodora told her son of her dream the
previous night.
• Rizal, interpreting the dream, told her that she
would be released from prison in 3 months time.
• It became true.
• Dona Teodora likened his son to the youthful
Joseph in the Bible in his ability to interpret
dreams.
Teenage Interest in Reading
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
• His boyish imagination was stirred by the
sufferings of Edmond Dantes (the hero) in prison,
his spectacular escape from the dungeon
of Chateau d’If, his finding a buried treasure in
the rocky island of Monte Cristo, and his
dramatic revenge on his enemies who had
wronged him.
Teenage Interest in Reading
• Rizal read non-fiction. He persuaded his father to buy a
costly set of Cesar Cantus historical work entitled
Universall History.
• He also read Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor
Jagor, a German scientist-traveler who visited Philippines
in 1859-1860. He was impressed by:
1. Jagors keen observations of the defects of
Spanish colonization
2. His prophecy that someday Spain would lose
the Phil and that Anerica would come to succeed her
as colonizer.
Rizal’s Third
Year in Ateneo
(1875-1876)
• June 16, 1875 Rizal became an
interno
• Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez,
one of his professor, inspired him to
study harder and write poetry.
Rizals best professor in Ateneo. Rizal
described him as a model of
uprightness, earnestness, and love
for the advancement of his
pupils´.He returned to Calamba
with 5 medals and excellent
ratings.
Rizal’s Last Year
in Ateneo
(1876-1877)
• Rizal- The most
brilliant Atenean of
his time, and was
truly “the pride of
the Jesuits”.
Graduation with Highest Honors
• On March 23, 1877, Rizal, 16 years old, received
from his Alma Mater, Ateneo Municipal, the
degree of Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors.
• The night before graduation, he could not sleep.
Early morning on the day of his graduation, he
prayed to the Virgin “to commend his life and
protect him as he step into the world”.
Extra- Curricular
Activities in
Ateneo
• He was an active member, later
secretary, of Marian Congregation,
a religious society.
• He is also a member of the
Academy of Spanish Literature and
the Academy of Natural Sciences.
• He studied painting under Agustin
Saez, a famous painter, and
sculpture under Romualdo de Jesus.
• He continued his physical training
under his sports-minded Tio Manuel.
Sculptural
Works in Ateneo
• He carved an image of The
Virgin Mary on a piece of
batikuling (Philippine
hardwood) with his pocket-
knife.
• The Jesuits fathers were
amazed.
• Father Lleonart requested him
to carve for him an image of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Anecdotes on
Rizal, The
Atenean
1. Felix M. Roxas- He related an
incident of Rizal’s schooldays in
the Ateneo which reveals the
hero’s resignation to
pain and forgiveness.

2. Manuel Xeres Burgos- his

anecdote on Rizal illustrates his
predilection to helo the helpless at
the risk of his own
life.
Poems in
Written in
Ateneo
• Mi Primera Inspiracion
(My First Inspiration)-first
written poem of Rizal,
which was dedicated to
his mother on her
birthday.He wrote it when
he was 14 years old.
• In 1875, inspired by Fr. Sanchez, he wrote
more poems, as such:
1. Felicitacion (Felicitation)
2. El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de
Magallanes ( The Departure: Hymn to
Magellans Fleet)
3. Y Es Espanol: Elcano, el Primero en dar la
Vuelta al Mundo (And He is Spanish:
Elcano, the Fist to Circumnavigate the
World)
4. El Combate: Urbiztondo, Terror de
Jolo (The Battle: Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)In
1876, he wrote poems on religion,
education memories and war. (e.g. In
Memory of my Town)
Rizal’s Poem in
Education
• Through Education Our
Motherland Recieves Light-
education plays in the progress
and welfare of a nation

• The Intimate Alliance Between

Religion and Good Education-
showed that ‘Education without
God is not true
education.
Rizal’s
Religious
Poem
• Al Nino Jesus (To the
Child Jesus)- written when
he was 14 years old,
expressing his Catholic
faith devotion.

• A La Virgen Maria (To the

Virgin Mary)
Dramatic
Work in
Ateneo
• Father Sanchez requested
him to write a drama based
on the prose story of St.
Eustace the Martyr. He
finished that request on June
2, 1876 entitled San Eustacio,
Martir (St. Eustace, the Martyr).
First Romance
of Rizal
• He experienced his first romance with
Segunda Katigbak, a pretty 14 year old
Batanguena from Lipa.

• One Sunday Rizal visited his maternal

grandmother in Trozo, Manila with his
friend Mariano Katigbak. One of whom
was an attractive girl, who mysteriously
caused his heart to palpitate with strange
ecstasy was Segunda.
• His grandmother’s guests urged him to
draw Segunda’s portrait. “From time to
time,” he reminisced,”she looked at me
and I blushed”
• Rizal came to know Segunda more
intimately during weekly visits to La
Concordia College, where his sister was
boarding student. Olimpia and Segunda
was a close friend. Theirs was indeed “a
love at first sight”. But Segunda was
already engaged to be married to
Manuel Luz.