Personal meaning of La Basílica
"Here, I grew up, I could say... I dreamed of celebrating Eucharistic Services here one day."
(translated from Spanish).
Father Francisco Echeverría, S.J.
San Felipe Neri alumni, united for La Basílica!
Besides being an icon of cultural heritage, for each former student of Colegio (nowadays Educational Unit) San Felipe Neri, La Basílica is a personal heritage, a heritage of the memory, and a point of reference that -together with the Colegio- identifies us as human beings and as a group. It was in this temple where some important milestones and landmarks were set in our lives -facts that have influenced and defined who we are nowadays. It was here where we were consecrated to another referent of love and gratitude, Our Madre Dolorosa -Mater Dolorosa, or our Sorrowful Mother of Jesus, also our Mother: John 19, 26-27- in a special ceremony, with the symbolic participation of our classmates of the sixth year together with us, new students of the first year -in our eleven years of age. It was these cupolas -replicas inspired by the celestial sky regions-, these walls -and also the adjacent chapel-, these school yards, all in all these places, those who were present like silent and affable witnesses of our growing -in age, intellect, spirit, and humanity- guided by the community of the Jesuits, relying on a responsible team of teachers, our parents and beloved ones, the good old friends of life whom we found in those we met as classmates, and Heaven`s protection. Here we shared unforgettable moments, we had an overwhelming majority of moments of joy, and once in a while we saddened, all with blessings from God and our Lady, mother of Jesus. La Basílica is also us! We all are the Educational Unit, our Unidad Educativa! We all are La Basílica! La Basílica unites us all!
List of alumni and memories
We are collecting a list of alumni of Colegio San Felipe Neri from all years. This list will include only the names for each year of graduation (or last year of attendance), and will be shared (among all alumni, our Colegio, and the Jesuit Community), together with a notebook of memories, that might well contain your thoughts, if you decide to answer the last question. Your email address will remain in reserve, and will only be used to be in touch, and send you the list, and the notebook. We are looking forward to hearing from you:
Institutions
In this fundraising initiative for the internal restoration of La Basílica, GDVA Foundation, Inc. works in coordination and with the mutual support of the following institutions:
Society of Jesus, Ecuador
Groups and asociations
We work with the support and commitment of the following groups, and alumni associations:
* Asia San Felipe Neri, group of alumni from Unidad Educativa San Felipe Neri, Riobamba.