2021: 57th Foundation of the Sisters of Mary (Korea) and 36th for the Philippines

August 15, 1964 - Fr. Al started the family-unit orphan program and accepted the first group of children in Korea. It became the official foundation day of the Sisters of Mary, the religious congregation of women, now numbering over 400 and currently working in Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Tanzania, Africa.

In 1985,  Fr. Al arrived in Manila at the invitation of then Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin to begin the Boystown and Girlstown program in the Philippines. With a handful of Sisters, he began the medical program for destitute tuberculosis patients at the Quezon Institute while the Boystown/Girlstown complex in Sta. Mesa, Manila was being constructed. [Source: Killing Me Softly: The Inspiring Story of a Champion of the Poor]

August 15 has been designated as well as the universal birthday of each child under the care of the Sisters of Mary in its villages worldwide (Boystowns and Girlstowns).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF FR. AL'S CHILDREN and HAPPY FOUNDATION DAY TO THE SISTERS OF MARY! 

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Here are some throwback photos of the Foundation Day 2002 in Biga Campus from the files of the late Fr. James 'Jim' Ferry, MM. Thanks to Fr. Jim Kroeger, MM.

In photos: Fr. Ferry, MM and Fr. Urrutia, SJ, Sisters, Children, Teachers/Staff and Guests at the 17th Foundation Day Celebration and Inauguration of the SMS Track Oval at the Biga Campus in Silang, Cavite, Philippines

“This is the secret of constant joy: Unselfishness, which means love. You must be unselfish to practice charity. You must go out to others and think of them.”
– Venerable Fr. Aloysius Schwartz