Dom Ambrose Agius

His Excellency
Ambrose Agius
O.S.B.
Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines
Native name Tancredi Agius Jr.
Church Roman Catholic
Province Palmyra
Metropolis Syria
Appointed 3 September 1904
In office 1904-1911
Predecessor Donato Sbarretti
Successor Guglielmo Piani
Other posts Titular Archbishop of Palmyra
Orders
Ordination 16 October 1881
Consecration 18 September 1904
by Rafael Merry del Val
Rank Archbishop
Personal details
Born (1856-09-17)September 17, 1856
Alexandria, Egypt
Died December 13, 1911(1911-12-13) (aged 55)
Manila Philippines
Buried Manila Cathedral
Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat Mendiola (Interred)
Nationality Maltese
Denomination Roman Catholic
Residence Philippines
Parents Tancredi Agius and Saveria Sammut
Occupation Archbishop
Profession Roman Catholic priest
Sainthood
Shrines Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat Mendiola

Dom Ambrose Agius O.S.B., born as Tancredi Alfred Agius (September 17, 1856 – December 13, 1911) was a Maltese[1] Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

A member of the Benedictine Order, Agius served under the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII and was appointed the Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines by Pope Saint Pius X in 1904. Agius was delegated to canonically crown the image of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila in 1906. More prominently, he founded the first Benedictine monastery in Malta, and ordained the first Filipino bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.

Early life

Born on September 17, 1856 in Alexandria, Egypt, the second son (third child) of a Maltese merchant named Tancredi Agius and his wife Saveria Sammut.[2] Tancredi's children were:

Agius was baptized as Tancredi Alfred Agius at Saint Catherine's Cathedral in Alexandria on November 5, 1856. He returned with his family to Malta during his early years. Agius later attended St Augustine's Benedictine College in Ramsgate Kent, England where he became a diligent academic student.[3] Having been influenced by his Alma Mater, Agius joined the Benedictine Order at St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate in 1872 and took a new name as Dom Ambrose. On October 12, 1873, Ambrose Agius fulfilled his perpetual vows and travelled to Rome to complete his Degree on Philosophy and Theology.

Priesthood

With permission from Pope Saint Pius X, Dom Agius crowned the image of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila.

Agius was ordained into the Catholic priesthood on October 16, 1881 by the Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Rafael Merry del Val at the Subiaco Abbey.[4]

Agius' Maltese ancestry was traced back to 1550 before his appointment in 1904.[5] Ambrose Agius was greatly immersed in the Maltese culture as he also travelled extensively in his early years.

In May 1881, Dom Ambrose was sent by the Holy See to join the Benedictine congregation of Subiaco, Lazio and to open the first Catholic monastery in Malta. In December 1881, Agius, along with a group of Benedictine monks finally settled in Nigret, Malta.[6] Under his supervision, a canonical religious community was begun, an novitiate open to international seminarians was set up. The first and only Benedictine monastery in Malta at the time was founded and dedicated to the Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1884, the monastery was closed down due to the Italian-Maltese political turmoil. and Agius returned to Ramsgate, England to continue his religious mission. In 1893, he was summoned to Rome by the Holy See and was appointed secretary to the procurator of the Subiacan Curia by Pope Leo XIII.

Appointment to the Philippines

The interior of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, where the body of Monsignor Ambrose Agius was interred in the underground crypt until 1945

On August 27, 1904, Pope Saint Pius X appointed Agius as the Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines[7] while receiving his Episcopal Consecration for the Diocese of Palmyra, Syria on September 18, 1904 at the St. Ambrose of Marsina church in Milan, Italy. Upon his appointment, Agius donated his celebratory funds of entertainment to the impoverished parishioners of Saint Ambrose Basilica.

In the Philippines, Agius was known for canonically crowning the famed ivory statue of the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila on October 5, 1906, at the request of the Holy See by Pope Saint Pius X.[8]

Agius was also known for having convoked the 1907 Provincial Council of Manila with other Filipino bishops at the Manila Cathedral, rededicating the Philippines to the Immaculate Conception, which later became the country's official patroness under the pontificate of Pope Pius XII in September 1942.[9]

As Filipinos were previously barred from priestly ordinations and officially joining religious orders under Spanish colonial rule, on June 29, 1906, Agius ordained the first Filipino bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, Monsignor Jorge Barlin y Imperial.

Death and burial

On November 1911, Pope Saint Pius X appointed Agius as the new Papal Legate to Washington D.C., United States. While preparing to travel to Rome for the appointment, he died of an acute attack of Peritonitis on December 13, 1911, at 55 years of age. On December 15, 1911, Agius was given a solemn necrological mass and was buried in the underground crypt of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines. The tomb survived the destruction of the Cathedral due to bombing during The Battle of Manila in 1945. His remains were set into a smaller casket and moved to a new grave inside the Benedictine Abbey Church of Our Lady of Montserrat in San Beda College, Mendiola Street, Manila. The inscription translates as:

Ambrose Alfred Agius (1856 - 1911), Monk of Ramsgate, Titular Archbishop of Palmyra, Apostolic Delegate to the Islands, lies buried here; whose bones were formerly buried in the Cathedral basilica; which, destroyed by war, they were transferred to this Abbey church in the year 1945.

Nicknames

Agius was baptised as Tancredi Alfred Agius by his parents and was often called Alfredo until his perpetual vows at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. After which, Agius became known as Don or Dom Ambrosio Agius and was commonly referred to as Padre Ambrosio, Padre Ambo or Father Dom by the Filipino and Maltese faithful who knew him during his lifetime.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60811F8395414728DDDAC0A94D0405B848CF1D3
  2. ↑ Denaro, Marie (2003). Daughter of an Empire. A Family History. St. Julian's, Malta: David Arrigo Publishing. ISBN 99932-656-0-8., p.18-21
  3. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=87070508
  4. ↑ "Archbishop Ambrogio Agius, O.S.B.". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Denaro, Marie (2003). Daughter of an Empire. A Family History. St. Julian's, Malta: David Arrigo Publishing. ISBN 99932-656-0-8., p.18
  6. ↑ http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120108/life-features/Sudden-death-of-Maltese-Benedictine-prelate-in-the-Philippines-100-years-ago.401664
  7. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60811F8395414728DDDAC0A94D0405B848CF1D3
  8. ↑ http://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2001/Oct-Dec/Our_Lady_of_the_Rosary.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09597b.htm
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