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Views from the Choir Loft

(Ecuador) • Archbishop Poisoned on Good Friday

Jeff Ostrowski · December 2, 2020

HIS PHOTOGRAPH shows the (dead) Archbishop José Ignacio Checa y Barba, on his throne wearing full pontifical vestments:

We have mentioned abstruse rubrics in the past:

*  Revealed! • A Fascinating Mass Rubric Very Few Know
—Published on 7 September 2019.

…but there is another ceremony involving wine.

For pontifical Masses in the Extraordinary Form, there’s a rubric allowing an altar server to “taste” the wine to make sure it’s not poisoned. The archbishop of Quito’s murder was the last (documented) case of poisoning a bishop during the liturgy. He was 47 years old.

UITO IS THE CAPITAL of Ecuador. José Ignacio Checa y Barba was the Archbishop of Quito. Together with the president of Ecuador, they were the first in the world to devote their country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Archbishop Checa y Barba—in the past—had tended to remain aloof from all quarrels with the government, but things changed in 1877. On March 10, the archbishop issued a pastoral warning the faithful against heretical publications, and this angered the government, which protested on 12 March. Checa y Barba answered in a note of March 17, in which he “refused to give to Caesar what did not belong to Caesar.” A visit from Veintemilla on March 24 failed to change the archbishop’s mind.

On Good Friday (March 30) after consuming the SACRED HOST during the Mass of the Presanctified, the archbishop took some wine to purify the chalice. At the time, he remarked to the deacon on its bitter taste. He completed the services, but died amid horrible convulsions as soon as he returned to his palace. The autopsy revealed that he had been poisoned by strychnine. No one was ever punished for the crime.

Source: Polish Website

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: December 2, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is unworthy that the stone holds Him, Who encloses everything in His hand, Locked in by the forbidding rock. (“Indígnum est cujus claudúntur cuncta pugíllo | Ut tegat inclúsum rupe vetánte lapis.”)

— SALVE FESTA DIES (Eastertide)

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