If we are going to think about ecclesiastical heraldry in the Philippines, one famous example that comes to mind is the coat of arms (or simply “arms”) of the Archdiocese of Manila: the red and blue tinctures, charged with the castle, the crescent moon, and the half-lion, half-dolphin creature which we colloquially call a “merlion”. The “corporate arms”, as it is called in heraldic terms since it is used by an institution, is always impaled with the personal coat of arms of the incumbent Archbishop of Manila, starting from the Most. Rev. Gabriel Martelino Reyes in 1949, indicating the archbishop’s “marriage” to his Archdiocese. This is just one of the many corporate arms proudly borne by several dioceses here in the Philippines, a testament to how heraldry reflects the visual identity of the bearer.
Now imagine this: what if we did not have corporate arms for dioceses? They would not have a stable visual identity and might resort to either using the arms of the incumbent bishop which changes over time, or by creating a logo instead. It is laudable that these heraldic traditions have continued in our country despite the many heraldic blunders several graphic artists have made.
One begs the question: how did the heraldry of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, unique as it is, evolve into what it is right now? The answer lies in a person unknown, yet his legacy has shaped the visual identity of the church in the country. Let me introduce the man who has undoubtedly made a great contribution to and started a “renaissance” of ecclesiastical heraldry in our country. He is the late archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, the Most Rev. Mariano Aspiras Madriaga.
Archbishop Madriaga was born on May 5, 1902, in Agoo, La Union, and was baptized five days later in his town parish. He entered public schools in 1911 and graduated in 1918 with the highest general average in the whole province of La Union. In addition, he received the Lucero Prize for having the highest written exam average among graduating 7th graders across La Union. In his first year at UP High in 1918, he received the Dean Benitez Prize for winning the Spelling Contest and the Menias Prize in “Current Events” for his speech on “The League of Nations.” He later taught at Luna Academy in Agoo from 1921 to 1922 and graduated from UP High in 1923
In 1925, he entered the Conciliar Seminary of Vigan (now the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary) after discerning his vocation through the influence of Bishop Peter Joseph Hurth, who tutored him in Latin and made him his traveling companion cruising the China Sea to Hong Kong for health reasons. He attended first-year Philosophy at the Seminary-Collge of Vigan, Ilocos Sur, from 1924 to 1925 under the Jesuits. At the end of the school year, he received a Gold Medal from the renowned Jesuit Provincial, Fr. Joaquin Villalonga, SJ, for his highest ratings. He then attended San Carlos Seminary in Mandaluyong as a second-year Philosophy student from 1925 to 1926 under the Spanish Vincentians. He returned to Vigan, completing his Theology studies under the SVD Fathers from 1926 to 1929.
Due to a severe typhoid fever that afflicted him in March 1929, his chances for ordination were slim. However, because of the “mercies of the Most High,” he recovered and received priestly ordination on March 15, 1930, from then-bishop Santiago Sancho. He then served as parish priest in several parishes in the Diocese of Nueva Segovia and worked in the diocesan Curia. Less than a year after his pastoral assignments, he left for Rome on August 3, 1932, to study Canon Law at the Pontifical Institute of St. Apollinare (now replaced by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross) and graduated on January 8, 1937. He was also known to be a good organizer, in which he was assigned as secretary of the Curia in his diocese.
Madriaga was initially appointed by Pope Pius XI as auxiliary to Bishop Francisco Reyes of Nueva Caceres through a secret consistory held on December 16, 1937, but was voided due to the bishop’s death a day before the appointment. Another consistory held on March 17, 1938, appointed him as the successor to Bishop Cesar Guerrero of the Diocese of Lingayen, who was transferred to Manila as auxiliary to Archbishop Michael O’Doherty. He took possession of the diocese on May 23 of that year, and was consecrated the following day by Archbishop Gabriel Reyes of Cebu, together with several other bishops of the Philippine hierarchy. He was only 36 years old when he was made bishop.
The Diocese of Lingayen was one of the worst-hit places during the Second World War, leaving the cathedral in ruins. This prompted Bishop Madriaga to transfer the see of the diocese to Dagupan, officially renamed the Diocese of Lingayen-Dagupan on February 11, 1954. The see was later elevated into an archdiocese on February 16, 1963, with Madriaga as its first archbishop.
Aside from being regarded as a “scholarly bishop”, he was also proficient in sculpting and the arts, which contributed to his expertise in heraldry. The first possible coat of arms he was commissioned to design for a bishop other than his own was that of his colleague, the Auxiliary Bishop Juan Sison of Nueva Segovia, which was published in the local Catholic newspaper The Cathedral Chimes on May 19, 1947, and in the Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas in September of the same year. In that article, he was introduced as “perito en heráldica como es” (an expert in heraldry as he is), which might infer that he was already an established heraldic expert even before the gradual publication of his works in the Boletin. After his successful commissions for the coats of arms of Archbishops Gabriel Reyes of Manila and Julio Rosales of Cebu, Madriaga became the go-to bishop for ecclesiastical heraldry in the Philippines.
Archbishop Madriaga retired on February 7, 1973, at the age of 70, although he continued to be active in designing heraldic works. He died on November 1, 1981, and is buried in his hometown in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Charity.
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References:
Paguergan, Fr. Ral Jaden, compiler, “His Excellency Most Rev. Mariano A. Madriaga” in Carlista Episcopology (unpublished manuscript, 2013).
Peraud, Fr. Pierre, compiler, The Episcopate of the Philippines (1987).
“Excmo. y Revmo. Sr. Dr. D. Mariano Madriaga: Obispo de Lingayen, I. F.,” Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas 16, no. 180 (July 1938): 433-435. https://ustdigitallibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/boleccledef/id/57850.
Abella, Domingo. “More on Episcopal Succession,” Philippine Studies 8, no. 1 (January 1960): 180. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42720436.
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