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History: In the year following the establishment of the Diocese of Legazpi in 1951, it was immediately apparent that a seminary was needed to take charge of the formation of young boys who planned to join the ordained ministry of the Catholic Church. To respond to this need, Bishop Flaviano B. Ariola, the first Bishop of Legazpi, with the generous support of some families in the province, organized the Minor Seminary of St Gregory the Great. At the start of the school year 1953-1954, 28 young boys were admitted to the first year high school class of the seminary with Msgr. Jose N. Belleza as their Rector-Principal and the second floor of the former Liceo de Albay building as their classroom and living quarters. Since it was urgently needed to have a more permanent site for the building and grounds of the new seminary, Bishop Ariola laid the cornerstone and proceeded to build a sturdier building in a vacant lot in Panal, Tabaco, Albay (now Tabaco City). His decision was timely because in 1960 Typhoon Olive swept through the entire province and destroyed many buildings, the old Liceo building among them. Thus in the second semester of 1960-61, the seminary moved to its new site in Tabaco, although the building was still unfinished. Shortly afterwards, the seminary gained a name as an excellent academic institution with its students winning prizes in various contests and placing among the top achievers in national and local examinations given by the Department of Education. In addition to the emphasis on moral formation and character education, the academic reputation of the seminary enjoyed an all-time high in the community and many boys of high school age were attracted to enrol. It was clear that the parents of the boys were putting a premium on the quality of the curriculum that formed and trained the students in their intellectual, moral and spiritual lives, and imbued them with a strong sense of discipline. However, the focus on entering the priesthood was losing primacy in the mind of the students. Therefore, it was seen that the graduates of the Minor Seminary were not necessarily candidates for the major seminaries. Enrolment started to dwindle. The Seminary valiantly carried on its mandate to nurture priestly and religious vocations, and continued to accept students every school term. However, a re-examination of the mission of the school as a seminary, a seedbed of vocations, was needed. At one point there was even more to recommend that the seminary be closed and instead find another use for the buildings and the campus. However, this recommendation did not gain the approval of the church authorities. Today, the school continues to exist, and is expected to identify its relevance to the lives of the young boys and re-define itself as an institution to prepare them for a life of full-time service to God. Its survival as an institution rests on the wisdom of the decisions made regarding its operations and on the providence and goodness of the Almighty God. - from Earthen Vessels, historical book for the Golden anniversary of the Diocese of Legazpi ________________________________________ Succession of Rectors: • Rev. Msgr. Jose N. Belleza • Rev. Msgr. Demetrio Villar • Rev. Fr. Honesto Sarmiento • Rev. Fr. Antonio Rabadam • Most Rev. Lucilo Quiambao, D.D. • Rev. Fr. Lorenzo de Leon • Rev. Fr. Eulogio Lawenko • Rev. Msgr. Ramon Tronqued • Rev. Fr. Rolando Bongalon • Rev. Fr. Adrian Ranola • Rev. Fr. Leandro de la Cruz • Rev. Fr. David Ramoso • Rev. Fr. Romeo Cirujales Jr.