Additional 2024 Festa Videos

Thank you to Kaylee Anne on Instagram for allowing us to share these scenes here.

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We also have found a video of Benediction on Facebook.

Michaelmas and Festa 2024

We would like to thank Fr. Joe Tabigue for being hebdomadary for First Vespers of St. Michael the Archangel at Our Lady of the Rosary, as well as for once again inviting us to assist with the Eucharistic Procession at this year's Our Lady of the Rosary Festa. It was our first time celebrating a liturgy at Our Lady of the Rosary since All Hallows 2019, and since that time, many of the church's Vatican II wreckovations such as art whitewashing and sanctuary carpeting have been undone.

Courtesy: Fratellino (from the choir loft, as usual)

Courtesy: Vaticanguard

The Our Lady of the Rosary Festa once again had us walking in our Precious Blood Robes through the streets of Little Italy down to the Hornblower Pier, drawing the attention of tourists, restaurant workers, and local apartment dwellers. Reactions from tourists ranged from total confusion about what the priest was holding to restaurant customers (who were at least raised Catholic) taking a small break to make the Sign of the Cross while the Blessed Sacrament passed by. We were accompanied by many priests during the procession, with Fr. Bradley Easterbrooks and Fr. Guillermo Hernandez (both ordained in 2022) taking turns with two other priests in holding the Blessed Sacrament.

Courtesy: Gabor (from bedwere's Latin group G.L.A.DI.VS)

Chorus Breviarii member Shaun is never able to walk with us during the Festa as, since he is part-Sicilian, he is a member of Our Lady of the Rosary's Society of Madonna del Lume, the Patroness of the Sicilian fishermen once active in Little Italy. He has provided for us the picture above as well as the video below of the men of Madonna del Lume interacting with their fellow Sicilian, Vince, general manager of Nonna and member of the Busalacchi restaurant family.

Courtesy: Shaun Rossettos

Courtesy: Vaticanguard

A discussion on the different varieties of Greek

Eternal Rest, Father Louie

"And so, Fr. Louis Solcia, C.R.S.P., passes from the scene, aged 91 years. This was a priest of extraordinary personal charisma, a true believer in the supernatural reality of the Catholic faith, and a unique credit to the Clerks Regular of St Paul. Lux aeterna luceat ei, Domine. Requiescat in pace. St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, St. Philip Neri, and St. Padre Pio, pray for him." - Fratellino

After over 30 years of serving the Barnabite (C.R.S.P.) church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Little Italy, San Diego, Father Louie has passed into the next life on Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 3:30 a.m. to meet Our Lord. We pray especially that Our Lord may have mercy upon his poor soul and reward him for his merits on the Last Day, and that if he must endure the cleansing of Purgatory, that the Saints above pray unceasingly for his quick entry into Heaven. 

The Last Judgement at Our Lady of the Rosary

The Office of the Dead is a powerful prayer for the repose of departed souls. As Father Louie was a priest, his Collect reads as follows:

Deus, qui inter apostolicos sacerdotes famulum tuum Ludovicum sacerdotali fecisti dignitate vigere: praesta, quaesumus; ut eorum quoque perpetuo aggregetur consortio. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

O God, who among the apostolic priests made thy servant Louis to flourish in priestly dignity: grant, we beseech thee; that their association may also be perpetually united. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

c. 1950

Born near Milan on November 15, 1931, during the reign of Milanese Pope Pius XI, Louis Mary Solcia was inspired to become a priest by his uncle Fr. Enrico Solcia, P.I.M.E., who was a missionary priest in India under the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. He enrolled at the Barnabite seminary at age 14 and was ordained as a priest in the Clerks Regular of Saint Paul at age 26 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. After years of being transferred across North America to teach at schools and minister to parishes, Fr. Louie was appointed associate pastor at Our Lady of the Rosary in 1991. During his three decades of service in Little Italy, Fr. Louie promoted devotion to Padre Pio, inspired vocations to the priesthood (including a current priest in the F.S.S.P.), and served as a confessor to both clergy and laity alike. He was also chaplain to many lay groups across San Diego and taught classes on history and Scripture both at the parish and through Facebook livestreams. Father's notability is emphasized by his presence among the "famous Italians" banners attached to street lamps throughout Little Italy, placing him among the likes of Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia.

Fr. Louie's banner on Google Street View

Even in the face of persecution for upholding the moral teaching of the Church, Fr. Louie stood firm against pressure to offer a Funeral Mass for a lapsed Catholic who lived in public sin.  

Father is shown walking past a street lamp

Members of Chorus Breviarii can testify to Father offering Traditional Low Mass at times, and Fr. Louie was certainly not a stranger to the activities of the Brothers. During the Seven Churches Tour of 2012, Fr. Louie was among the clerics who joined in the Eucharistic procession between Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Joseph's Cathedral. Father was likely familiar with the Precious Blood Robes of the Brothers in San Diego, having seen them worn during both the Seven Churches Tour and the annual Eucharistic procession at the Little Italy Festa. 

The Brothers and the faithful of San Diego will certainly miss the presence of Fr. Louie. After his funeral in San Diego, he will be buried at the Barnabite complex in Lewiston, NY. Please pray for him so that he may soon become our intercessor in Heaven, and that, if he does indeed hear our prayers, through his intercession we may join him with Christ and all the Saints. 

Father at the Thanksgiving Mass of
Rev. Fr. David Lopez, F.S.S.P. (2022)

Recently ordained Fr. Lopez
gives a blessing to Fr. Louie

Courtesy: Shaun, Fr. Louie's Facebook page, Peg Demetris, The Southern Cross

Scenes from Little Italy Festa 2022

The pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary in Little Italy, Fr. Joseph Tabigue, C.R.S.P., invited the Brothers to once again carry the processional canopy for the Blessed Sacrament procession between Our Lady of the Rosary Church and the Embarcadero for the annual Blessing of Boats during the Little Italy Festa on the First Sunday of October. As is typical for processions, the Brothers wore the red and black Precious Blood Robes associated with the Oratorians in London (CLICK HERE for more information on the Archconfraternity of the Precious Blood from Fratellino's 2009 blogpost). 

Courtesy: Judith

Floats for the numerous devotional societies, including that of the Madonna del Lume, patroness of the Sicilian fishermen who made Little Italy their home, followed behind the canopy. Fr. Tabigue, C.R.S.P. blessed the boats and recited the Holy Rosary to and from the church, while Fr. Albino M. Vecina, C.R.S.P. carried the Blessed Sacrament, concluding with Benediction on the steps of the church. Those in procession enjoyed cake, drinks, and mortadella-salami-provolone sandwiches in the parish hall afterwards. 

The Madonna del Lume float

The Maria S.S. Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows) float

We are thankful for making the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament known in the streets of Little Italy, especially during this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The increasingly secular, immodest, and murderous world of today requires Catholics to bear witness to the longstanding Faith of their ancestors, and public processions such as these help to make our Faith known, even if we are subjects of scorn and mockery, or sources of bewilderment, for the average pedestrian or restaurant-goer in Little Italy on a Sunday afternoon. May Our Lady keep us this October, the month of the Holy Rosary, which triumphed over the heathen at Lepanto.

Fr. Tabigue C.R.S.P. leading the Rosary via car loudspeaker

Fr. Vecina C.R.S.P. at Benediction

Courtesy: Judith (all photos)