Lenten Exercise Paralipomena

In a prior article, we discussed the Exercises proper to the Brothers during the summer. Since it is now the penitential Ember Week of September, this article will return to discussing the Lenten Exercises and how we concluded with them this year. Our previous article on the Lenten Exercises can be found here. 

Chorus Breviarii Murrieta at Mass

Murrieta Visits

On March 17, Chorus Breviarii Murrieta and others came down to San Diego as part of a Mission Pilgrimage in honor of St. Junipero Serra. Gabriel Palencia has a write-up on the purpose of the pilgrimage available on the Chorus Breviarii Murrieta blog. After attending Mass and praying the Stations of the Cross, these pilgrims prayed the rosary in the Mission courtyard in front of the statue of Fr. Serra, concluding with various hymns.

The Pilgrimage Flyer

After some hesitancy over what the pilgrims would have for dinner, followed by a failed attempt at getting a table at another restaurant, they settled on a nearby IHOP location. Despite being a "24-hour location," this location was just about to close because one of the cooks was feeling a bit under the weather. Nonetheless, they were able to secure their breakfast-for-dinner while enjoying a good few laughs around the table over various jokes.

After an exchange of goodbyes amongst themselves in the IHOP parking lot, some of the pilgrims concluded their visit by joining the Brothers for Friday Exercises at St. Anne. The Brothers were delighted by their presence, and they were all excited for the upcoming Tenebrae services.

Saturday Stations in Spanish

Lauds of the Dead at the Mission

Some affiliates of Chorus Breviarii paid another visit to the mission the following day as part of a pilgrimage in honor of the Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, as well as for the general needs of the children of the Spanish Empire. After attending the morning Low Mass and receiving a blessing from one of the priests at St. Anne, the pilgrims made their way to Mission San Diego to pray the Stations of the Cross according to an early 20th-century Spanish translation. The Most Holy Rosary followed the Stations.

The Pilgrimage Flyer

After the Rosary, Chorus Breviarii members led Lauds of the Dead for the repose of the souls of those killed in the Spanish Civil War who were not listed among the martyrs. It had probably been decades since even laymen had sung the Office of the Dead in the old mission church, so it was certainly an opportunity to feel united to the traditional expressions of the faith that had long been neglected. Following the conclusion of Lauds, the pilgrims chanted the noon Angelus and exited the church into one of the courtyards. A couple that had been visiting the mission asked the pilgrims what they had been singing, saying that it sounded beautiful. The pilgrims both explained what it was and why they were praying these things at the mission, especially emphasizing the importance of the Office of the Dead to pray for the departed souls.

The humble St. Junipero Serra likely prayed these same Hours for the Dead after his fellow Majorcan Franciscan, Father Luis Jayme, was brutally killed at the hands of the Kumeyaay Indians following the burning of Mission San Diego in 1775. Father Jayme is now buried under the sanctuary of the current mission, and it would be profitable to pray for his future canonization as Protomartyr of California. 

When the Kumeyaay came with their clubs, stones, and
arrows, Father Luis Jayme greeted them with the
traditional Franciscan invitation to love God.

As Father Luis Jayme was martyred at the hands of enraged native warriors for conducting his ministry, so was an Oratorian on the path to sainthood martyred at the hands of cruel soldiers during the Spanish Civil War. The Blessed Salvio Huix Miralpéix, Cong. Orat., was Bishop of Lleida in Spain when he was imprisoned by the Spanish leftists along with other priests and laymen. During his time in prison, he continued to provide the sacraments, and when the leftists decided it was time for the good bishop to die, they brought him out to the cemetery so that he would dig his own grave. The leftist soldiers tried to make the Blessed Salvio renounce the faith to save his earthly life, but the bishop refused, instead choosing to be the last to die among the prisoners so that he could bless each one. Despite having his right arm shot by one of the soldiers to interrupt the blessings, the bishop continued with his left arm until the soldiers finally shot him in the head. Father Luis, Blessed Salvio, and the Martyrs of both the Spanish Civil War and the Cristero Wars serve as great examples for Catholics today to stand strong in the face of persecution by earthly powers.

Blessed Salvio Huix, an Oratorian

In Passiontide

The Brothers' last set of exercises was prayed on the Friday in Passion Week (also called the Friday of Sorrows), and thus, the illuminated crucifix was veiled in the violet cloths specific to Passiontide. The darkness of Friday Exercises was made more apparent by the hiding of the figure of Our Lord, the Light of the World, from the eyes of those praying before the Cross. At the conclusion of Exercises, the Brothers were now only five days away from the beginning of Tenebrae.

Photos and Flyers: Gabriel, Martin
Art Courtesy: Unknown artists

• The sketch of the martyrdom Fr. Jayme is from The Journal of San Diego History via Wikipedia.
• The portrait of Blessed Salvio Huix, C.O., was obtained via the Birmingham Oratory