Congratulations to Fr. DeFour on his Anniversary of Ordination

The Brothers of the Little Oratory and members of Chorus Breviarii San Diego would like to extend their congratulations and manifold thanks to Fr. Reginald Defour, C.S.S.P., who celebrated the 44th anniversary of his priestly ordination today. Father was ordained on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary in 1964, and continues to celebrated the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite Monday through Saturday at St. Anne's Church, Sicard Street for the TLM San Diego congregation. Fr Defour has been of enormous support to the Oratorians even since coming to San Diego some five years ago. We have all benefitted from his spiritual guidance and priestly ministry, and hope to continue this relationship well into the future.

Lest there be any further confusion, some people know Fr. as "Rex", which is his nickname, since he was born on the Feast of the Three Kings, the Epiphany.

It is perhaps our sin of omission that, during the entire time we have known him, Father had not mentioned to us the date of his anniversary, so since he had mentioned it in his homily, a plan was quickly hatched, and immediately following mass, Father was fetched from the sacristy and, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament with cantors John Polhamus and Roberto Lionello, the Te Deum was sung with the congretation in gratitude for his forty-four years of priestly service. We feel rather sure that next year the celebrations will be somewhat more elaborate!

Thanks be to God, Our Lady, and to you Father. Happy Anniversary!

Brothers in our Prayers and General Intentions this Philiptide

This Philiptide, the Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego give particular thanks and offer their prayers for the following brothers and causes:

For our Brother James Cross, who is successfully recovering from a serious illness in London.

For our Brothers Wayne Lam who was with his family in Orange County;

For our Brother Robert Keim currently resident in Kansas;

For our Brother Ashley Paver currently resident in Cincinnatti;

and for our Brother Christopher Velasco currently resident in Arizona;

all of whom could not be with us this year.

For our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and for all his intentions.

For our friends and benefactors, lay and clerical, living and departed.

For the work we are graciously given to do, and for the ability, patience and strength to do it for the praise of God, and the unity of the Church.

For all these things, we say Deo Gratias!

More Photos from Philipmas '08

Here are a few more views of the activities post-missam. The Brothers of the Little Oratory can be distinguished by their white collars, which are in fact based on the traditional Roman Collar, as seen in the picture of St. Philip at the top of our blog. Dr. Roberto Lionello, also one of the brothers, had already left for the airport by the time we took the group photo. Those not wearing collars are postulants to the secular brotherhood.

Fr. Defour then offered our first class relic of St. Philip for veneration. This relic was saved from the internet by Octavio Dulay some five years ago, during the period when Chorus Breviarii was the only extant group. The Brothers of the Little Oratory had yet to be formally organized, but St. Philip Neri had been taken as our patron Saint from the very beginnings of our group in 2001.

Photos of St. Philip's Day '08 in San Diego

The Brothers of the Little Oratory observed St. Philip's Eve and Feast day this year according to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite this year at St. Anne's Church, Sicard Street, San Diego, through the kind permission of TLM San Diego, who are currently holding weekday masses there.

Fr. Rex DeFour, C.S.S.P. was the hebdomadary for the Vespers and Benediction. The congregation numbered approximately thirty (mostly sitting out of frame, towards the rear of the church), and included several longtime congregants of that church, which has for many years been a neigbourhood Chapel of Ease to the Jesuit run Our Lady of Guadalupe parish church some five blocks away. All expressed their delight that such services were taking place in their church. The brothers were correspondingly happy to oblige!


Following the Vespers, the annual Gaudeamus was held at the Polhamus family home in Pacific Beach. The festivities included a display of Oratoriana collected by Ronald Clemente;

...and the digital projection of photographs taken during the January pilgrimage to the London, during which no fewer than six new secular brothers were added through the auspices of the Fathers of the London Oratory.



The following morning, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form was sung at 8:00am in St. Anne's, to a congrataion numbering sixty, helped again by the inadvertant publicity from the San Diego Union!


All in all, this has been a Philiptide, and a year to remember. The Secular Oratory in San Diego continues to progress and solidify structurally; we've ranged from St. Margaret's in Oceanside to St. Mary's in El Centro, to London; we've added six new brothers; we've simultanaeously sung and served for Pontifical Requiem Mass; we've sung First Vespers of All Saints, and our eighth consecutive Tenebrae to a congregation of over one hundred. In short, we have continued to expand our liturgical lives, to our benefit and hopefully that of those around us. May these activities be but a shade of things to come.
Special thanks are due to Fr. Reginald DeFour C.S.S.P., Mr. Carl Horst and the board of TLM San Diego, Mssr's Hans Mosler and David Lopez, MC's, and to the intercession of Our Holy Father St. Philip and Our Lady.



Happy Feast!

Philiptide Events Flyer

The Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego
& CHORUS BREVIARII SAN DIEGO

MAY 2008 EVENTS:

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 25 MAY 4:30pm
1st Vespers of the Feast of St. Philip Neri
Office of Evening Prayer and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
(Approximate length of service, 45min.)

Fr. Reginald DeFour, C.S.S.P., Hebdomadary
______________________

MONDAY MORNING, 26 MAY 8:00am
MISSA CANTATA
FOR THE FEAST OF ST. PHILIP NERI
(Extraordinary Form)

Fr. Reginald DeFour, C.S.S.P. Celeb.
______________________

St. Anne’s Catholic Church
621 Sicard St., San Diego 92113
(Parking is on-street)
_________________________

For further information see our blogsite at:
http://sandiegooratorians.blogspot.com
Or visit our website at: www.chorusbreviarii.com
Or call Director John Polhamus at: 858 997 8636

A Picture worth a Thousand Words

The Holy Father's weekend visit to Genoa was notable in many way, not only for his strong and encouraging remarks on resisting compromise with the spirit of the world, and his prayers at the tomb of Cardinal Siri, a staunch defender of the Hermeneutic of Continuity even before the phrase was coined, but also for his reception of a gift of a painting showing the Holy Father praying at the shrine of the Madonna of the Genoa Oratory! Here are some details from Shawn Tribe at New Liturgical Movement:

"You may be aware that this coming weekend Pope Benedict will visit Savona and Genoa. Sunday morning, he will visit the Shrine of the Madonna della Guardia near Genoa. There, the Archiepiscopal Curia of Genoa will present him with a painting by the Greek artist Giorgio Oikonomoy. It is an oil painting (1,30 x 1,50) which shows Pope Benedict praying before the Madonna of the Oratory of St. Philipp Neri. The picture, according to the artist, "represents the baroque continuity, most noble artistic expression of Genoa"."


The Oratory of Genoa was founded in 1645, and is currently served by four priests. One wonders just how coincidental it is that the Madonna of the Genoese Oratory was chosen for this depiction, or just what the Oratorian connection is, but whatever it is we are thankful for her prayers and intercession on behalf of our Holy Father Benedict XVI.

Oratorian Tidbits

According to the website of the Confederation of the Oratory, this past 25 March a new Oratory was cononically erected in Vilnius, Lithuania. This is the first Oratory in Lithuania.

Further, the Confederation has amended its list of American Oratories to include a rather nice looking church of St. Peter the Apostle in New Brunswick, New Jersey (pictured right). This brings the total number in the United States to Eight including Rock Hill, N.C., Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Monterey, Pharr, TX., Sparkhill, N.Y., and Philadelphia (Secular Oratory).

With the two to three formative projects which will be more fully elaborated upon in time, as well as the secular oratory of the Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego, the Oratory in America seems to be expanding! More profile information on these foundations and their developments as they become available!

St. Philip's Vespers and Mass '08

On the afternoon of Sunday 25 May 2008 at 4:30pm, 1st Vespers of the Feast of St. Philip Neri will be sung in the Church of St. Anne, 621 Sicard Street, San Diego 92113.

The following morning, Monday 26 May at 8:00am, there will be a special Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form for the Feast of St. Philip Neri also in St. Anne's, Sicard Street.

Fr Reginald DeFour, C.S.S.P. will be Hebdomadary for vespers, and will celebrate the mass. Music will be provided by the Brothers of the Little Oratory.

The Brothers are most grateful to Fr. DeFour, and the board of TLM San Diego for the use of St. Anne's for this our first Philiptide mass in the Traditional Roman Rite.

The Public are cordially invited to both celebrations.