Introduction
Cor Jesu College is the premier Catholic educational institution in Davao del Sur, Philippines. Into its 58th foundation year; the school continues to promote compassionate leadership through its various programs and activities. Boasting of recent facility improvements such as the separate Basic Education campus, the 5-storey Coindre Building housing the administration offices, college classrooms and laboratories, Graduate and Law School classrooms and offices, and the proposed 6-storey High School building to be constructed beginning 2017, Cor Jesu College has catapulted itself as the pride of Digos City and Davao del Sur in the field of education.
These improvements address the growing school population and the demands of a dynamic education landscape that bring into the fore the ASEAN integration and globalization trends that can only be ignored at the peril of the institution. The investments came as a leap of faith especially with the uncertainties brought about by effects of a national K-12 program that has temporarily suspended the steady stream of college freshmen beginning the school year 2016-2017 up to 2017-2018. Looming large also is the ever-present challenge of keeping the cost of education within reach of Cor Jesu’s target community while supporting globally-competitive teaching standards with adequate teacher’s pay.
With the changing of the school’s edifices and the campus expansion from less than 2 hectares in the 1960’s to almost 20 hectares today, one will miss what were once familiar, prominent and powerful symbols of its heritage – the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus being one of them and the now defunct chapel near the school entrance. For a number of generations of Crusaders (of the former Holy Cross College of Digos) and Cor Jesians, these symbols occupy an important space in their lives, having left lasting positive impressions in the hearts and minds of now productive alumni of the institution.
…from 220 to over 6000 community members today!
A Call to Action
The purpose of this project is to enhance the physical and spiritual landscape of Cor Jesu College’s campus to include familiar symbols that contributed to what the school and its alumni are today. But more importantly, the times demand that a larger place for worship, prayer and contemplation be made available to the members of the community and its guests. By building the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Piazza del Sacro Cuore, we introduce into the geographic heart of Cor Jesu College a place of prayer, a shelter to encourage introspection, discernment, and simple quiet conversations with our Lord, Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.
With the school administration facing many financial challenges and concerns given the rapid and much needed infrastructure expansion, active and concerned alumni and members of the extended Cor Jesu community can help push this project forward. An estimated 20,000 individuals graduated from HCCD/CJC since 1959. To mobilize even a fraction of this population can potentially bank-roll the entire project and see the Sacred Heart Chapel standing proud at the Piazza del Sacro Cuore on or before the 60th Foundation celebration on September 30, 2019.
Let Each Man, Woman, Child carry a Stone
Many a project fail because of they never got started. To ensure the success of the Sacred Heart Chapel Project, a progressive approach is adapted. This approach constitutes achieving smaller successes on the road to completing the grand vision of a chapel standing in the middle of the Piazza del Sacro Cuore.
The proposed project cost ceiling is P 5Million, to be broken down into phases as follows:
- Fund Raising – to be launched on the occasion of the Alumni Welcome and Orientation activity on March 27, 2015 and to continue via road shows in coordination with the various alumni associations until the funding requirement is met.
- Interim Sub-Project
A target minimum of P 50,000.00 will assure the interim construction of a statuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. At P 20,000.00 a piece, six-feet statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be erected at strategic locations in the Piazza de Sacro Cuore garden to be inaugurated on September 30, 2015 on the occasion of Cor Jesu College and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart foundation celebration. With a lead time of 45 to 60 days, the statuary sub-project will start by beginning of August 2015.
As part of the awareness campaign, the wire frame construction will be done at sculptor’s site. Once the wire frames are finished, these will be transported to the piazza to be completed on site. Witnessing the progress of the statues in campus will also serve as a potent marketing tool to encourage the inflow of funds. Progress can be documented in the CJCAAI website https://alumni.cjc.edu.ph.
The statuary sub-project will also commence on August 2015 with the same marketing campaign schedule. Depending on the main chapel construction progress, the two statues will be displayed outdoors until such time when the chapel is ready to receive them.
- Chapel Construction and Inauguration by the end of the School Year 2017-2018, CJCAAI Board of Trustees and select CJC Management officials will meet to decide on the construction schedule of the chapel, depending on the amount of funds raised up to this period. This team will make the critical decision of proceeding with the plans as drawn or modify the design and scope of the project as warranted. It will also manage the conduct of construction from selection of contractor, project management and turn-over.
The House Where We Pray
The Sacred Heart Chapel will be in such form that allows
- Maximum view of the chapel interior from the outside.
- Air to flow freely across and through the chapel interior for maximum ventilation and comfort.
- Sufficient shelter from rain during the monsoon months
- Flexible enclosures to be installed and dismantled as needed
A stylized Brothers of the Sacred Heart Cross will stand 60-feet tall at the back wall of the chapel. It will be visible from outside the school grounds for the Digos City community to see . With sufficient lighting, the cross will punctuate the night sky of the city, reminding its citizens of Christ’s nurturing Sacred Heart.
The chapel will be erected at the middle of the Piazza del Sacro Cuore, with an estimated area of 200 sq.m. The area is bound to the north by the Bouley Bldg, to the south by Polycarp Bldg, to the east by the Thibault Bldg., and to the west by the covered walk way connecting the College and the Basic Education campuses. While the seating capacity will be around 100, the open space design will allow participation by audience scattered across the Piazza grounds and in the surrounding hallways during community spiritual celebrations.
A special feature of the chapel will be the Prayer Walls. These walls are designed to accept calling card size prayer cards that can be inserted into acrylic strips across the wall. Initially, one wall for the departed and one for personal intentions will be erected. Every visitor in the chapel will be encouraged to include in their prayers the intentions in the walls.
As a complementary project, a prayer card will be designed and distributed to the families of our departed alumni as add-on to the usual funeral flowers and the prayer service. Each of the prayer cards will have a corresponding smaller copy to be placed in the prayer wall of the Chapel. Another wall will be dedicated to special personal intentions of students and other members of the community.
Mechanics for Solicitation and Collection
A. A separate Sacred Heart Chapel Project bank account under Cor Jesu College Alumni Association, Inc. (CJCAAI) will be used for easy monitoring of collections. This is the Bank of the Philippine Islands Savings Account 008203-1532-53
B. Manner of submitting donations
B-1 Authorized receiving agents will use a formatted acknowledgement receipt to donor. These ARs will be pre-numbered for audit purposes. Agent submits donation to CJC Cashier for official receiving of donation. Official receipts will be collated at the External and Alumni Affairs Office (EAAO) for recording and proper delivery to donors.
B-2 Donors may deposit directly to the bank account mentioned in (A) and email to alumni@cjc.edu.ph the image copy of their deposit slips for proper validation and acknowledgement. Official receipts will be generated by CJC cashier and collated by EAAO for recording and delivery to donors.
C. Audit – a joint audit team will be composed of the auditors from CJCAAI and appointed school administrator(s). The audit team will conduct periodic audit on the Sacred Heart Chapel Project Fund.
D. Release of funds – all expenses related to the Sacred Heart Chapel Project will be funded by the bank account in (A). Funds will be released based on CJCAAI Board of Trustees resolutions.
“It takes a village to raise a child”
As of October 2022
