The first Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) who came to the Philippines arrived in Surigao on 08 December 1908. There were eight of them and they were all from the Netherlands. Eventually, almost 180 other foreign MSCs came to do mission in the Philippines. The letters of the pioneering MSCs show how impressed they were with the Philippines and the Filipino people, with their culture and religiosity, but also how overwhelmed they were by the amount of work that awaited them.

The early missionaries had to face a number of challenges – the distances, the hardship of transport via sea or mountain trail, the lack of financial means, the sorry state of church buildings and rectories, among other things. It was not rare for missionaries at that time to walk for hours or even days. Some of them traveled by horses. They had to learn new languages and get used to the climate, culture, and religiosity of the Filipino people.

But they did not mind these hardships. Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are men with a mission. They have the undying determination to fulfill their mandate – to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved everywhere. It is their mission to proclaim God’s love as the remedy to all social ills and evils by communicating and witnessing to that same compassionate love.

Victor Viola and Vicente Celeste, who would become the first Filipino MSC priests, joined the MSCs in 1923. The first Filipino MSC to be ordained bishop was Pedro Magugat.

Aside from building schools and churches throughout Surigao, the MSCs also established parishes. They also initiated formation programs, cooperatives and other livelihood projects for the poor. Soon, the MSCs undertook other missions outside Surigao. They spread out to Agusan, Cebu, Nueva Ecija, Manila, Pampanga and Bataan. Since 1908 up to the present, the MSCs have served more than 70 parishes all over the Philippines.

Parish ministry is but one of the works the MSCs do. Inspired by their founder, impassioned by their spirituality and charism, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines have intiated projects to help farmers, educate the youth, teach children about faith, organize ecclesial communities, and deepen people’s awareness of social realities. They do specialized apostolate with indigenous people, with the urban poor, with the youth, with lay people or in the media. They are also involved in Justice and Peace advocacies as well as in the protection of the environment.

The seed planted by the first MSCs who came to the Philippines has undoubtedly borne fruit. At present, there are more than a hundred Filipino MSC priests and brothers doing mission not only in the Philippines but also in other parts of the world – in Korea, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Netherlands, U.S.A. and the Marshall Islands.