On November 24, 1954 Fr. George Etienne Beauregard, S.J. was appointed to be the first parish priest. The initial location of the parish was in 2437 Zamora St. Pasay City. Nine years later, Fr. Luis Chia was appointed as parochial vicar in May 1963. It was on May 31, 1963 that the parish was transferred to Greenhills, San Juan and on this day, His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D., Archbishop of Manila blessed the laying of the cornerstone of a 5,000 sq. meter lot between Immaculate Conception Academy and Xavier School in West Greenhills (formerly called Little Baguio), San Juan City. The first mass was celebrated on December 24, 1963 though the construction of the edifice that time was still underway. It was only on May 31, 1965 that the church was blessed by His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D. On December 15, 1965, Fr. Felix Maiza, S.J. was appointed to be the second parish priest of Mary the Queen succeeding Fr. Etienne who was assigned to a new mission in Taiwan. It was on April 18, 1966 that the former parish church in Pasay City was officially closed. Subsequent to this event, Fr. Luis Chia was also assigned to a new mission in Taiwan.
Mary, the Queen Parish
Greenhills
Mary the Queen Parish was established on September 20, 1954 by His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D., Archbishop of Manila by virtue of the authority given to him by the Sacred Roman Consistorial Congregation which was issued to him on July 23, 1954. The apostolate to the Filipino-Chinese of Mary the Queen was given to the Jesuits.
Those Jesuits were: Fr. Jean Desautels Fr. Cornelius Pineau, Fr. Paul Guerin, Fr. John Ho, Fr. Tarcisius How. Some scholastics were also were with the group of Jesuits who arrived from China Bernard Chu and Joseph Hsia.
In 1955, Fr. Jean Desautels SJ was commissioned by his superiors of the congregation to begin a school. A property was bought at 814 Echague St. Manila to commence a new school. The school was blessed by the Papal Nuncio His Excellency Eligio Vagnozzi on May 29, 1956. The school initially had a one-storey building with 7 classrooms, a gym, a chapel, an administration building and the priests’ rectory. Fr. Jean Desautels S.J. became the first director of the school and Fr. Cornelius Pineau, S.J. was appointed as the first principal. At the beginning, they just had 12 teachers who were Jesuits and other 6 lay teachers. The first year of the start of the school had 176 students ranging from kindergarten, grades 1-4 and, first year high school.
With the growing number of students who are enrolled every year, they Board of Trustees and the priests decided to sell the property in Echague St. and purchase a 7.5 hectare lot in San Juan for a more convenient place for students and learning. On January 13, 1960 the transfer was finally done and Hsu Kuang Chi School was now named as Xavier School.
Xavier School
Greenhills
Xavier School began on June 6, 1956. It had its former name Hsu Kuang Chi School. The school was named after him because he was the Prime Minister of China who was converted to Christianity and allowed the Christian religion to set foot in China. The pioneers of the foundation of the school were the Jesuits who came to the Philippines after the political problems that transpired in China in 1949.
Immaculate Conception Academy
Greenhills
The Immaculate Conception Academy was founded by the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception who were nuns taking care of the sick in hospitals. The hospital was their primary apostolate in 1921 in the Philippines and they managed to work at the Chinese General Hospital. It is a congregation founded by Venerable Delia Tetreault in Quebec, Canada in 1902 and the first batch of nuns arrived in the Philippines in 1921. With the increasing number of pastoral needs among the Chinese in the Philippines, catechetical works have begun to be realized until such a time that a school was conceived in their pastoral thoughts and vision. With the encouragement and request of the Filipino-Chinese communities to build a school, subsequently the nuns began to shift from mainly hospital apostolate to the education of the young.
A school began to find its initial existence in 1936 in Binondo managed by the missionary nuns and they rented a space at the upper rooms of Siglo Bazaar in San Fernando St. With the growing influx of students, the school transferred in Tayuman after being transferred from Benavidez Street, and Azcarraga Street due to the growing student population. The School was named Immaculate Conception Anglo-Chinese Academy. The school was closed during the Second World War. After the war, there was an option given to the missionary sisters to go home or to stay but they opted to stay in the Philippines. The school reopened after the war and it was now in Narra St. in Binondo. In 1956, the school was transferred in General Luna St. in Intramuros Manila and was blessed by His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos, D.D. Archbishop of Manila in 1957. It was only in 1960 that the new building in San Juan was opened for classes.