Oratory of the Passion

The altar during Friday Exercises

On Friday nights during Lent, the Brothers and postulants in San Diego gather to pray the Friday Exercises according to the Manual of the Little Oratory. As the Brothers in San Diego lack a church building of their own, they usually gather either at someone's residence or in a church. Like last year, the Brothers have usually gathered at St. Anne Catholic Church on Fridays in Lent, though while last year we started about 20:45 (8:45 p.m.), this year we have started closer to 21:30 (9:30 p.m.)

The Friday Exercises are conducted in the dark, save for the illumination of the crucifix, the candles lit at the altar at the Nunc dimittis, and the necessary booklights. Fratellino mentions how in London, the drawing of curtains around windows keeps the Oratory near pitch black during the Exercises. One of the most interesting parts of the Exercises is the sharing of the Kiss of Peace after the Nunc dimittis using the pax-brede, a long-forgotten liturgical object that was used to distribute the Peace among the faithful without intimate contact. By the end of the 19th-century, the pax-brede had fallen out of use, similar to many other liturgical objects and rituals such as unconsecrated wine for the laity, pain-bénit, and the quasi-clerical customs of European monarchs. 

According to Fratellino, our pax-bredes were originally Syroco (woodite) plaques, which was a moldable pulp-resin composite material popular in the early 20th-century. Their depiction of Our Lord and Our Lady serve as close substitutes for the image of Our Lady of Vallicella depicted on the pax-bredes in London.  Being of the perfect size to be used as pax-bredes, the plaques were silvered by a friend of Frater George Pecoraro and given iron handles through another friend. These handles allow for the pax-bredes to stand on their own upon the altar during Exercises, be held by the Brothers conveniently during the distribution, and hold the cloths used to wipe the pax-brede after each Brother has kissed it. Other parts of the Exercises include a period of silence, the reading of a summary of Our Lord's Passion, and other Psalms, Hymns, and Collects.

The altar at Frater Ron's

When gathering at someone's residence on a Lenten Friday, the Brothers enjoy a soup supper at table together following the conclusion of the Exercises, which are lengthened into the full Oratory of the Passion with the praying of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. According to Frater Ron, the songs after each Mystery were selected by Fratellino years ago, with some selections being:

• 1st: Fratellino's harmonization of In monte oliveti from Tenebrae
• 3rd: O Sacred Head Surrounded
• 5th: Christus factus est (Gradual from Maundy Thursday)

Dinner at Frater Jon T.'s

In 2021, Frater Jon T. hosted us at his house, where we prayed at a side altar built for the chapel adjacent to his foyer. Afterward, we enjoyed our simple supper of lentil soup with bread and beverages. This year, we were hosted by Frater Ron at his house, where we were able to appreciate the various depictions of the London Oratory and other sorts of memorabilia at his house, dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham. During Exercises, we were accompanied by the sound of frogs and rain during a particularly wet weekend. After Exercises, we enjoyed a dinner of vegetable soup with roasted peppers and coconut milk very reminiscent of a Thai coconut curry. Dinner came with drinks, bread, and a small dessert. The soup supper after Friday Exercises each year reminds the Brothers to enjoy the company of one another in the midst of Lenten penance. 

A good vegan soup

Courtesy: Fratellino, David