Mariano Madriaga

He was the official heraldist of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and was responsible for designing the coats of arms of dioceses and prelates from the 1950s until the 1970s.

Early life and education

Mariano Aspiras Madriaga was born on May 5, 1902, in Agoo, La Union, and was baptized at his town parish on May 10. He enrolled in public schools for his elementary education in 1911 and graduated in 1918 with the greatest overall average in the province of La Union. He was also awarded the Lucero Prize for possessing the greatest written exam average among 7th grade graduates in La Union. He then enrolled at the University of the Philippines Integrated School for his high school and graduated in 1923, where he won the Dean Benitez Prize for winning the spelling contest in 1918 and the Menias Prize in "Current Events" for his speech on "The League of Nations."

He later accompanied Bishop Peter Joseph Hurth of Nueva Segovia in his travels to Hong Kong for health reasons, and the bishop tutored him in Latin. He attended his first-year Philosophy at the Conciliar Seminary of Vigan (now the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary) under the Jesuits from 1924 to 1925, and at the end of the school year, he received a gold medal from the renowned Jesuit Provincial, Fr. Joaquin Villalonga, SJ, for his high grades. He then attended San Carlos Seminary in Mandaluyong as a second-year Philosophy student from 1925 to 1926 under the Spanish Vincentians, and later completed his Theology studies under the SVD Fathers in Vigan from 1926 to 1929.

Episcopacy

In a secret consistory on December 16, 1937, Pope Pius XI appointed Madriaga as an auxiliary to Bishop Francisco Reyes of Nueva Caceres. However, the appointment was voided because the bishop died the day before. He was later appointed as bishop of the Diocese of Lingayen during another consistory on March 17, 1938, and at one point in the 1950s, he served as the chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Ecclesiastical Art & Construction.

He repeatedly requested the Holy See for the transfer of the seat of the diocese from Lingayen to Dagupan after the former was destroyed during World War II. Pope Pius XII heeded to the request and renamed the diocese to "Lingayen-Dagupan" on February 11, 1954. Pope St. John XXIII later elevated the see into an archdiocese on February 16, 1963 Bishop Madriaga was installed as archbishop on May 10, 1963.

He laid the cornerstone for the new Dagupan Cathedral on May 31, 1964.

He participated as a Council Father in the first and second sessions of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 and 1963. Most notably, he blazoned the arms of one of the Filipino bishops declared Venerable (Teofilo Camomot), three Filipino cardinals (Julio Rosales, Jaime Sin, and Ricardo Vidal), as well as the arms of their respective archdioceses (Manila and Cebu).

Majority of his work during the 1950s are published in the Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas, a monthly interdiocesan bulletin managed by the University of Santo Tomas. He also published a series of articles in the Atenean journal Philippine Studies from 1957 to 1958, explaining the coats of arms of the Philippine ecclesiastical territories during this period.

His heraldic work may also be seen in the stained glass windows of Santo Domingo Church, Quezon City, depicting the coats of arms of all incumbent bishops in the Philippines during the construction of the church in the 1950s. The windows were executed by his fellow heraldist and National Artist Galo Ocampo.

Aside from being a heraldist and scholar, he was also an artist and a sculptor, modelling plastic and bronze. His works include a bust of Pope St. John XXIII in the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, the statues of St. John the Evangelist in the Dagupan Cathedral, Pope St. Paul VI in the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila, and Pope St. John Paul II at the Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Charity which was his last sculpture.

Resignation and death He resigned on February 7, 1973, at the age of 70, and was succeeded by Federico Limon, who had previously been coadjutor of the archdiocese.

Gallery