March 2021 Serran Magazine Web.Pdf
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Vol. 67 No. 4 | March 2021 Serrthe an FROM ADVERSITY, OPPORTUNITY The spirit of Serra soars against all odds When I was the rector of a seminary I asked about 50 seminarians we had at that time, ‘What led you to the seminary most of all?’ ... The thing that really led them – about 45 of the 50 – was the example of a priest. Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto “ Serra International Episcopal Adviser The Serran Calendar April 10, 2021 Serra Meets Lecture Series via Zoom In This Issue: (see p. 14) 3 Preserving a Shared Legacy April 24, 2021 Anne McCormack Serra Global Rosary for Vocations 4 The Legend of “La Dolorosa” finds new life in the ruins of Mission San April 25, 2021 Gabriel World Day of Prayer for Vocations Gregory Orfalea May 8, 2021 8 Not Even Covid-19 and a Year of Disasters Can Keep a Good Serran Down Serra Meets Lecture Series via Zoom Col. (Ret) John Halloran, Jr., Serra Club of Lake Charles President (see p. 14) 10 The Desire and Will to Never Stop October 7‐10, 2021 Emanuele Costa, Serra International Trustee Serra’s 78th International Convention 12 Calling, Forming and Choosing Priests Chicago, IL, USA Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto 15 The Serra Monstrance Program Anne Shepherd-Knapp 16 Help Us Pray for Vocation Directors Judy Cozzens, Serra‘s USA Council Past President 17 Building Our Holiness with the Help of Those Who Came Before Dr. Ruben Gallegos, Serra International President 18 From Challenges Come Opportunities Richard Arians, Serra’s USA Council President 18 Serra International Foundation Welcomes New Director of Development 19 Serra Club Charter Anniversaries, January - June 2021 20 SPARK Tool #1: Adopt-a-Seminarian Dr. Anne Roat, Serra’s USA Council Vocations Vice President 21 The Call to Mission Morie Ratuiste, Serra’s USA Council Pacific Northwest Region Director 22 Serra in Action: Club Activities Around the World ON OUR COVER: The Serran magazine is the official publication of Serra International. It is published quarterly. Views The Serra delegation to bring a monetary gift to expressed in this publication may not reflect the views of the Board. Send letters or manuscripts to Mission San Gabriel, L to R: Pat Manzo, Serra Foun [email protected]. The Serran does not accept advertising. dation Board member; Anne Champagne, District 79 Governor; Fr. John Molyneux, CMF, Mission San The Serran Editor: Anne McCormack Gabriel Pastor; Ed Lupton, Pacific Regional Director; Serra International Executive Director: John Liston Mary Lou Roberts, past District 4 Governor; Pat Liv 333 W Wacker Drive, Suite 500 Chicago, IL 60606 ingston, District 4 Governor. www.serrainternational.org (L-R) District 4 Governor Pat Livingston; Archdiocese of Los Angeles Vocation Director Fr. Sam Ward; Pacific Regional Director Ed Lupton; Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez; and Serra Foundation board member Pat Manzo pose with the $25,000 check the Serra Interna- tional Foundation donated to the Mission San Gabriel Restoration fund. Photo by JohnMichael Filippone. Preserving a Shared Legacy Serra International Foundation Boosts Restoration Fund for Fire-Damaged Mission San Gabriel ast July, when news of a mysterious fire damaging the A second check with further funds raised over USD $7,000 was roof and interior of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel presented to Pastor Fr. John Molyneux, CMF, and Fr. Ray Smith, reached board members of the Serra International Foun- CMF at Mission San Gabriel on Feb. 2, 2021. Lupton, Manzo and Ldation, they quickly moved to establish a special campaign to raise Livingston were accompanied this time by District 79 Governor funds for its restoration. The donations poured in from Serrans Anne Champagne, and Past District 4 Governor Mary Lou around the world, and within weeks it topped USD $20,000. Roberts. The group were able to see firsthand the mission under About 15 minutes east of Los Angeles, Mission San Gabriel sits at construction. The renovation is expected to be complete in time the second location of the original mission founded in 1771 by for the 250th anniversary of the mission’s founding this September. Fray Ángel Fernández de la Somera and Fray Pedro Benito Cam- In total, the Serra International Foundation raised over USD bón, which was destroyed by flood in 1776. Our patron and name- $35,000 for the renovation of Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. sake Saint Junípero Serra oversaw the founding of its present As for progress, a temporary roof has been installed to protect the structure. San Gabriel is of special significance to our organization: mission until the rainy season has passed. At that time, construc- its bell tower is the one depicted on the Serra International logo. tion of the final roof will commence, followed by the repair of the By the time arrangements were made for a delegation from Serra’s interior of the structure. Pacific Region to officially present a check to Los Angeles Arch- “We have not yet received a determination as to the cause of the bishop José H. Gomez on Dec. 16, 2020, the gift total had reached fire and continue to await patiently,” says Terri Huerta, Director of USD $25,000. Serra USA Pacific Regional Director Ed Lupton, Development and Communications for Mission San Gabriel. She District 4 Governor Pat Livingston, and Serra Foundation board continues, “We are certainly grateful for the thoughts, financial member Pat Manzo met with Archbishop Gomez and the Voca- support, prayers, and most of all patience as we move towards fix- tions Director for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Fr. Sam Ward, ing our beloved Mission San Gabriel and bringing her back to her at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in LA to present the check. glory.” % the Serran | Vol. 67 No.4 3 A centuries-old mysterious painting of “La Dolorosa” was pulled out of the rubble of the fire-wrecked Mission San Gabriel on Sept. 15, the feast of Our Lady of Our Sorrows. Photo by Daniel Macias The legend of “La Dolorosa” finds new life in the ruins of Mission San Gabriel by Gregory Orfalea n Sept. 15, 2020, as workmen bilee celebration planned for next year. yet to begin. For now, the process remains were clearing away rubble Only Our Lady of Sorrows, hung above the in the debris clean-up phase. from the baptistry of the fire- baptistry, had been left exposed. “The damage to the roof, which is pretty Owrecked Mission San Gabriel, they found And she survived, despite some holes and much gone, the walls, the choir loft and something under the burnt timbers and blistering around her clearly Hispanic altar, the ceilings all blackened and charred plaster that startled them. morena (“brown-skinned”) face. The in- is pretty substantial,” Huerta said. There in the debris, underneath a burnt surance company has pledged to restore There is no dollar estimate yet of costs for crossbeam, was a painting showing the her, along with any other damage to art- the rebuilding, though the team thinks it Virgin Mary in dark clothes in front of a work suffered from the fire. will take at least a year to complete. As a foreboding dark landscape: Our Lady of The surprise discovery comes as a small, result, the jubilee festivities next fall may Sorrows. seemingly miraculous silver lining in a need to take place outside the church. Amazed, they went and found the mission devastating episode of the mission’s his- I asked Huerta if the painting of the dark- director, Terri Huerta. The timing of the tory. So has the more than $200,000 raised clad Lady of Sorrows was the one famously discovery, she immediately realized, could through donations to help rebuild the mis- unfurled to the Tongva Indians nearly 250 not have been more appropriate. sion. years ago, on Aug. 15, 1771, the feast of the “My God,” she exclaimed. “This is the feast Investigators are still looking into the pos- Assumption, just as San Gabriel was being day of Our Lady of Sorrows.” sibility of arson, not yet proven, though, founded by the Franciscans. according to Jill Short of the Archdiocese The painting, in fact, was the only one in Franciscan missionary Father Francisco Construction Department, “No one has the church that survived the mysterious Palóu described the scene in his 1785 bi- been able to link it to an accident, like an July 11 fire. Most of the mission’s priceless ography of St. Junípero Serra, Relación, electrical short.” paintings and sculptures had been re- writing that the Tongva were “conquered moved months earlier for restoration work After 2 ½ months since the fire, recon- by that beautiful image” displayed to them in anticipation of the mission’s 250-year ju- struction, not to mention restoration, has by the Spaniards. 4 the Serran | Vol. 67 No. 4 “They threw down their bows and arrows related another painting, one of the Virgin The grief Angelenos have experienced and the two chiefs rushed forward to place Mary with the Christ Child, that so since learning that the literal birthplace of at the feet of the Sovereign Queen the amazed the Kumeyaay in San Diego Los Angeles was nearly burned to the beads they wore around their necks to around the same time that their women ground will take some time to be restored, show their great esteem,” wrote Father tried to nurse the baby, again thinking the too. Meanwhile, the bricks and mortar call. Palóu. image was real. Its whereabouts are un- The intense heat of the fire twisted the steel known. “They called together the Indians of the beams installed as part of a retrofitting nearby villages, whence a growing number I inspected the smaller “La Dolorosa” un- after the 1987 Whittier Narrows earth- of men, women, and children came to see furled for the Tongva.