On December 4, 2020, a small group of friar students from the Provincial Custody of Mary, Mother of Mercy in Central America, made a pilgrimage to the most significant places in San Salvador related to the life and martyrdom of St. Óscar Arnulfo ROMERO. The Custody belongs to the Province of Our Lady of Consolation (OLC) in the USA. The students attend the José Simeón Cañas Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador. They made the pilgrimage to give thanks to God at the conclusion of their theology studies during the 2020 academic year.
The student confreres who participated in the pilgrimage were Friars José Isael SARMIENTO SARMIENTO; Leoncio Obed PIC ASUNCIÓN; Ronaldo Francisco CRUZ GONZÁLEZ; and Pedro LÓPEZ. They were accompanied by Javier Ernesto GUERRA, a solemnly professed friar of the Custody of Central America. In the morning, the friars visited the Dominican Church of San Salvador, where Our Lady of the Rosary is venerated—a place of great devotion in El Salvador’s capital city. The Dominican community and their collaborators there greeted the friars with courtesy and hospitality. The friars went on to visit the “Divino Salvador del Mundo” Metropolitan Cathedral [Divine Savior of the World] in whose crypt the remains of “San Romero de América” are reposed inside a beautiful mausoleum next to a chapel. The confreres prayed there and sang a Franciscan hymn to offer thanks.
Next, they visited the Divina Providencia Hospital, where the Holy Martyr Oscar ROMERO once resided together with cancer patients. They also visited the hospital’s chapel where Oscar ROMERO was murdered on March 24, 1980, while presiding over Mass. The Carmelite Sisters of Santa Teresa welcomed the friars to the hospital and kindly guided them. The hospital has become greatly significant to the Church of El Salvador and Central America, thanks to the efforts of Ms. Aurora (a collaborator).
The friars conducted this pilgrimage with enthusiasm and a spirit of brotherhood. In addition to concluding the academic year, they took the opportunity to bid farewell to Friar Pedro LÓPEZ, who will soon be returning to his native OLC Province in the USA. We thank God for our brother Pedro and the service he has performed in the Custody. May God bless and be with him always!
Friar Ronaldo Francisco CRUZ GONZÁLEZ.
