The Seal of the Congregation

The official seal of the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary is characteristically Marian. Encircled by rays which represent the far-reaching zeal and charity with which the Congregation functions in its apostolate, the central motif is the Ave Maria. The rays here also represent the graces that come from Jesus through the hands of Mary and very aptly brings forward the motto of the Congregation, To Jesus through Mary.

Crowning the Ave Maria motif are the twelve stars drawn from the Apocalypse which stand for the twelve privileges of Mary, the Mother of God, through which privileges all children of Mary become recipients of her special and maternal blessings.

Like the description of St. John's vision in the Apocalypse, the Ave Maria motif is further accented by the crescent moon which is also another symbol of Mary. The moon as a contrast to the sun is reminiscent of Mary's humility. The sun represents Jesus as the Sun of Justice, while the moon is the planet which emanates its mellow light only because the sun provides the light. And that is Mary. She shone and she shines only because Jesus, her God and her Son, makes her shine.

Dominating the whole seal is the angular facade of the Beaterio, the pre-war Motherhouse of the Congregation situated at Intramuros, which was totally destroyed during World War II. Its massive solidity stands for the strength and the spirit of unity which typified the moving force which led Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Foundress of the Congregation, to found the first Filipino congregation of women in the Philippines.

Below the picture of the Beaterio is the Latin inscription, Haec Domus Mea, which means "This is My House." Indeed, this is the Lord's House because in it was formed a religious house where Filipinas who heard the Call and who gave up home, relatives, friends, and worldly comfort in order to live wholly and entirely for God, congregated to live a life of dedication and consecration.

Immediately below the Latin inscription is the white sampaguita flower, the national flower of the Philippines. It stands for the Congregation of the Relgious of the Virgin Mary, the first all-Filipino congregation founded by a Filipina, Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, having for its members brown Filipinas possessing the Filipino soul and the Filipino heart, working for their Filipino brothers in their own land as well as in foreign shores.