File:Coat of Arms of Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa.png

English: In 1916, Rome appointed the 39-year old Servant of God Alfredo Verzosa as the first Filipino Bishop of the Diocese of Lipa, an area covering the Southern Tagalog Provinces of Batangas, Tayabas (Quezón), Laguna, Mindoro and Marinduque. He succeeded Giuseppe Petrelli who was appointed as new Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines. Verzosa was ordained bishop at the Cathedral of San Sebastián in Lipa by his predecessor, Archbishop Petrelli on January 20, 1917, Bishop Alfredo Verzosa arrived in Lipa enriched by his pastoral experience in Nueva Segovia. Learning from the perils of the Aglipayan schism, he believed that catechetics was the primary need at that time. He established catechetical centers and formed local catechists. It was said, that catechetical programs spread in the vast Diocese of Lipa like a wild fire. Catechism became the order of the day. A fruit of Verzosa's catechetical drive was the foundation in 1923 of the Religiosas de María de la Enseñanza Cristiana (Religious of Mary of the Christian Education), later named the Misioneras Catequistas del Sagrado Corazón” or Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart. He also brought the Carmelite Fathers, Pauline Fathers, Pauline Sisters, and a number of other religious congregations of the Diocese of Lipa. Verzosa built schools, seminaries, catechetical centers and convents.