The Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego have been meeting again on Friday nights during this holy season of Lent to pray the Exercises and enjoy supper with one another. Our first meeting was the Friday after Ash Wednesday at Fratellino's house, and I believe that there were around ten Chorus Breviarii members in attendance that night. The following week, about seven of us met at the house of Marlon Munguia, our newest San Diego Brother. Supper that night included vegetable soup and two loaves of homemade sourdough bread.
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| Crucifix, candles, and pax-bredes prepared for Exercises. |
Our next host was Brother David Latorre, though Brother Rich Dawes served as our cook for the night, preparing cream of mushroom soup for us in David's kitchen. Rich also provided other foods such as pumpernickel and assorted panes dulces. It would have been fitting to have Exercises in David's private chapel, but squeezing seven men into a room the size of a walk-in pantry would have been a difficult feat, so we opted for the more spacious living room. Following Exercises that night, the younger guests visited the barn and fed David's horse, while the older Chorus Breviarii members reminisced about previous years getting lost while trying to access David's property in the San Diego backcountry. We also looked at various mementos organized in David's shelves; some parish anniversary books provided some interesting information, such as that the relics in the main altar at St. Anne are those of the obscure martyrs Ss. Gratus and Beatus, or that the vestments in vogue in the 1990s were indeed quite hideous.
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| David's mantle includes a illuminated sticker depicting the stained glass window above the high altar of St. Anne. |
The most interesting memento from David's archives was a recording of a Spanish-language news segment on the Traditional Latin Mass that aired on Univision around November 2006. The late Carl Horst, sacristan of San Diego's original TLM congregation at Holy Cross Cemetery, likely distributed the DVD copies of this recording to various members of the Holy Cross TLM as a keepsake, since the majority of the Univision segment consisted of footage from the usual Sunday TLM at Holy Cross alongside interviews with various members of the congregation. Many of the faces in the news segment are familiar since they still attend Mass at St. Anne. David himself was interviewed for the segment, with Brothers Tom Gray and Ron Clemente standing behind him.
Fr. Victor Szczurek, O.Praem. and Archbishop Cordileone were also interviewed in English and Spanish respectively. Following the days of Holy Cross, Fr. Victor served as a regular chaplain to the Traditional Latin Mass communities in North County before they were exiled to Pala, and his chaplaincy was from there succeeded by the chaplaincy of Fr. Peter Adrian Miller, O.Praem. Fr. Victor was also often the celebrant or hebdomadary for many of our events, including Missa Cantatas at St. John the Evangelist in Encinitas and All Hallows Vespers at the Serra Chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano. During his interview, Archbishop Cordileone (who was at that time still an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of San Diego and the Titular Bishop of Natchez, Mississippi) made references to the liturgical conservatism of then-Pope Benedict XVI. The opinions on reverence, beauty, and tradition expressed by His Excellency today seem to have remained unchanged since this interview from nearly two decades ago, when Summorum Pontificum had yet to be published. We pray that we may be able to celebrate Mass or Vespers with His Excellency again in the future, and we hope that whoever is appointed to our diocese to succeed McElroy is gracious enough to permit His Excellency to celebrate the Traditional Rite whenever he comes through town.
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| Frater Jon T's picture of us at Martinmas supper |
For our American readers keeping up with our blog, we hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we pray for your acclimation to whatever penances you have planned for the rest of St. Martin's Lent and Advent. The Brothers and Chorus Breviarii give thanks to God for their ability to continue their activities, both liturgical and recreational, throughout the liturgical year. To commemorate the end of the 2024 liturgical year, we present some photos from events much earlier in the year that we were unable to post earlier. We have a large backlog of photos from earlier in the year and from years past, so stay tuned for more.
First Visit to the Chaldean Cross
Our poster designer Martin helped to organize the St. Anne Young Adult Group's first hike up to the Chaldean Holy Cross in Jamul, CA on Passion Saturday. Fr. Jesus Valenzuela, F.S.S.P. led the young adults in praying the Stations of the Cross while climbing to the summit of the hill, which was about 900 feet above sea level. We were joined by Mr. Peter O'Connor, F.S.S.P., a seminarian at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, NE. Mr. Grant Dunn, who was leading the young adult group at the time of the hike and has sung in choir with the Brothers for a few Vespers events in the past, is also currently enrolled in his first year at the Denton seminary. Our climb to the top was very penitential, as aside from the steep incline and loose dirt, we also had to deal with a cold drizzle that eventually intensified into windy rain. The rainy conditions died down when we were halfway down the mountain.
Set on private land between rural and suburban East County, this cross commemorates the persecuted Christian communities of the Middle East, many of whom have been martyred for their embrace of the faith. Many persecuted Middle Eastern Christians have come to the United States, with a large percentage of them being Chaldean Catholics such as the family who installed this cross last December, the Attishas. Counting the Catholic communities alone, there are also Melkites, Maronites, and Syriacs. The Chaldeans have established a large presence in El Cajon and adjacent communities, with a monastery located just east of Montgomery Field. The prominent placement of the Chaldean Cross makes it visible from the southern edge of Rancho San Diego, a community located just south of El Cajon proper which is home to St. Peter's Chaldean Cathedral and an adjacent convent. The future site of an expanded St. Anne Catholic Church is located on the northern edge of Rancho San Diego, only a brief walk from the Chaldeans' seminary in El Cajon.
Interestingly, the unity between the Chaldean communities of El Cajon and Rancho San Diego was the subject of a lawsuit filed a couple years ago by LiMandri & Jonna LLP that disputed the legality of the new San Diego County Supervisorial District boundaries. As business-oriented Catholics who have suffered at the hands of Muslims, the Chaldeans have generally voted along conservative lines like the rest of East County. Both the Chaldean community and the County's Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) admitted that the redraws were made in the interest of "BIPOC" activism, with the Chaldean Coalition claiming that "BIPOC" / BLM / anti-conservative interests motivated the push to dilute the Chaldean vote. Meanwhile, the County claims that the IRC was acting in the interest of immigrant and refugee communities, which may highlight that Arab Muslim communities in East County are politically closer to fellow Muslim refugees in San Diego's Mid-City neighborhoods than Chaldeans in East County. Regardless of the validity of the IRC's justification, the lawsuit was rejected in 2023, leaving Rancho San Diego's Chaldean community in the county's most diverse Supervisorial District, with some of the areas represented including immigrant neighborhoods, Black communities, and homosexual enclaves. In general, the District votes solidly liberal.
Many of our younger Chorus Breviarii members are familiar with both Fr. Andrew "Andy" Younan, chorbishop and seminary rector, and Fr. Ankido (Enkidu) Sipo, abbot, due to their positions as professors at JPCatholic University in Escondido. Fr. Andy also offers the Sunday Divine Mysteries in the Chaldean Rite ad orientem at Mar Narsai Chaldean Catholic Mission, which shares facilities with Holy Martyrs of England and Wales Anglican Ordinariate Parish, the home parish of our Chorus Breviarii brethren in Murrieta.
Delayed Tenebrae Scenes
We currently have multiple days of Tenebrae videos from both 2023 and 2024 that we plan on uploading to YouTube around Ash Wednesday of 2025. We also have a large collection of photos from both St. Anne and Holy Martyrs. As at last year's Tenebrae services at St. Anne, Fr. Valenzuela was our hebdomadary. Mr. Peter O'Connor, F.S.S.P. and Mr. Grant Dunn also joined us for Tenebrae, each one reading a Lesson. Since 2022, a few of us have made it a custom to visit the Ruthenians at Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church following Tenebrae of Holy Saturday for the celebration of Jerusalem Matins, where we always see Chorus Breviarii associate Gary Huber leading as cantor.
The Crown Point Country Club
Our annual Paschal Gaudeamus took place on April 22 at the highly-exclusive and extremely secretive Crown Point Country Club. Chorus Breviarii members from down near the Mexican border all the way up to Murrieta gathered to enjoy the end of Lenten fasting to engage in Paschaltide feasting. Our potluck dinner, which included bratwurst, "Tasting is Believing" chicken, and various other dishes was delicious. Highlights at the club that night included an outdoor grill and tiki bar, heated and unheated saltwater pools, and live coverage of the San Diego Padres. My own dip in the pool was followed by some cozying-up by the fire-ring. Considering the cold air that often passes over Crown Point, some modest drinking also aided in warming up the body. For information about the club's history, membership dues, and actual existence, please contact Mr. John B. Polhamus.
Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum, habitare fratres in unum!
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| Our views at lunchtime. |
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| The 7-Eleven at the end of Hawthorne Boulevard (LA County Road N7) plays crime-deterrence music (classical music) from its loudspeakers. |
We will hopefully be posting more of our backlog before the end of the year.
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| Tea with milk, soda bread, and Kerrygold butter |
Exercises
During Lent, the Brothers prayed the Lenten Exercises at each other's houses, with each week's host providing a soup supper as usual. We visited Frater Tom Gray's house twice during Lent, and we enjoyed garlic bread, corn chowder, and grapes as part of our meals. Recounting his time in the Navy, Frater Tom also passed the rum bottle around.
One of our Chorus Breviarii members not yet made a Brother also hosted Exercises, with supper consisting of soda bread with butter, three kinds of soup (lentil and potato leek were certainly the standouts), and various beverages, including tea and hot toddies.
Frater Ron Clemente hosted us once again Walsingham Burrow and provided us with a tom yum soup and Vietnamese-style fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce.
Courtesy: Fratellino
A New Case for the Pax-Bredes
After spending a few years in a disheveled Amazon delivery box, our pax-bredes have found a new home in a carry case procured to us by Frater Ron. The paxes can now sit comfortably in custom-fitted foam rather than resting haphazardly on bubble wrap inside a crumbled piece of carboard.
Courtesy: Vaticanguard
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| Open-air Mass in Pala c. 1910-1911, from an unknown photographer |
A Small Historic Note
There are various photographs hanging inside Peterson Hall at UCSD that document the lives of San Diego's various bands of Mission Indians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One such photo depicts a Low Mass being celebrated under a green canopy in Pala around 1910 or 1911. An organ is present near the carpet the priest celebrates on. A man who can be visually discerned as the priest's server is not present in the photo, the suited man to the priest's left may be the server for the Mass. The priest may be a Franciscan, as the Franciscans were in charge of Mission San Antonio de Pala and the surrounding chapels up until the 1940s. However, the priest lacks the beard typical of a Franciscan friar.
The reason for the Mass being celebrated out in the open is unknown to us. The Mission church was probably still intact at the time this photo was taken, so it could be from a nearby village, there could have been a need for temporary repair, or there could be some kind of special event. The Luiseño Indians in the photo have accustomed themselves to the Mass attire typical to the American Southwest, with calico dresses and suits, as well as hats for women's head coverings rather than mantillas.
