SCHOOLMATE FROM SPAIN — Father Vincente Pena, 96, of the Province of Spain, a classmate of the six friars who were martyred in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, points to the name of a friend on the monument prior to Saturday's dedication ceremony. At left is Father David Caron, O.P., and at center, Father Emiliano Zapata, O.P.

PONCHATOULA — A monument to six friars martyred in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War was dedicated Saturday in the Dominican Friar’s Cemetery on the Rosaryville Campus off Hwy 22 west of Ponchatoula.

The six served at Rosaryville prior to going to the Philippines for mission work and then back to Spain.

The dedication ceremony was preceded by a Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ponchatoula. It came a year after the six friars were beatified in Rome on Oct. 28, 2007, in a ceremony that included Pope Benedict XVI.

Although the six Spanish martyrs are not buried at Rosaryville, 16 other Spanish Dominican friars who died between 1908 and 1916 are buried there.

Approximately 20 friars from throughout the United States and the world attended the ceremony. Among those in attendance was Father Vicente Pena, O.P., 96, of the Province of Spain, who was a schoolmate of the six martyrs.

Father Martin J. Gleeson, O.P., prior provincial, celebrated the Mass with Father Bonifacio Solis, O.P, of Manila.

Sister Angeline Magro, O.P., prioress of St. Mary’s Dominican Sisters, in giving the welcome, described Rosaryville as “holy ground.” In the late 1800s, the area now known as Rosaryville was part of the apostolic mission of the Carmelite fathers, although they did not establish any permanent chapels or churches.

In 1890, the Benedictine Fathers from St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana purchased 2,000 acres. A minor seminary for the diocese was established and called by the Biblical name “Gessen.”

In 1911, the Spanish Dominicans purchased Gessen and renamed it Rosary-ville after the Holy Rosary Province and established a House of Theology.

In 1938 the Dominican Sisters purchased Rosaryville and established a novitiate and retirement home for its sisters, Magro said.

Father Thomas Lorente, called the Founder of Rosaryville, was a household name among Catholics in the area, she said. A marble bust of Lorente is in front of Rosaryville Hall, built in 1954, the first permanent building constructed on the campus after the wooden buildings were demolished.

The Dominicans continue to minister in Ponchatoula, Hammond, Indepen-dence, Tickfaw, Husser and mission chapels in the area, she said.

Commenting on the martyrdom of the friars, she said that “afflictions produce endurance and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope.”

Father Carl B. Trutter, O.P., who has researched Rosaryville’s history and helped coordinate the dedication observance, said the six friars felt that to die for the faith was a privilege of the very few.

Even in a supposedly civilized world, Trutter said, church workers continue to be martyred for their faith and works.

See MARTYRS, 2A

He said the Holy Rosary Province was dedicated to foreign missions, especially to the Philippines. Because of the need for the friars to learn the English language and to avoid civil conflicts in their native Spain, Father Tomas Lorente Ibanez of New Orleans arranged for them to come to Tangipahoa Parish. Trutter said many of those were later martyred during the Spanish Civil War.

He said Father Buenaventura Garcia Parades was instrumental in bringing the theology seminary to Rosaryville in 1911. At the same time, his Holy Rosary Province assumed the pastoral ministry of all Catholic parishes in Tangipahoa Parish. Father Parades was martyred at age 70 on Aug. 12, 1936.

Father Jesus Villaverde Andres was the prior at Rosaryville from 1921-1924. After leaving Spain, he went to the Philippines to teach, then served his term as superior in Louisiana. He went back to Manila and became dean at Sano Tomas University. Upon his return to his native Spain, he was arrested the night of Oct. 15, 1936, and martyred the next day.

Leoncio Arce Urrutia studied theology at Rosaryville from 1920-1922. In 1924, he was ordained to the presbyterate by Archbishop John W. Shaw of New Orleans. Father Arce was arrested in July, 1936, after returning to Spain and was martyred on Sept. 10, 1936.

Antonio Varona Ortega was ordained a priest at Rosaryville in 1926. He went to the Philippines as a missionary, but contracted tuberculosis and in 1933 returned to Spain, where he was martyred on July 25, 1936.

Father Jose Maria Lopez Carrillo was ordained a deacon at Rosaryville in 1918 by Auxiliary Bishop Jean M. Laval. He was ordained a priest on Jan. 15, 1919. He served missions in Manila and China from 1919 to 1935 before returning to Spain due to serious illness. He was martyred in Madrid on Aug. 27, 1936.

Pedro Ibanez Alonso lived at Rosaryville from 1914 to 1916 before going to Manila, where he was ordained a priest in 1917. Father Alonso served as a missionary to the Philippines and China before returning to Spain, where he was killed for defending his Catholic faith.

A seventh Dominican martyr, Father Vicente Rodriguez Fernandez, though not connected with Louisiana, lived at Cuero, Texas, about 21 miles northwest of Victoria. He served in Chihuahua and Tampico, Mexico, where he encountered religious persecution from President Plutarco Elias Calles and was expelled from Mexico.

Father Fernandez escaped to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Cuero where other exiled Spanish friars were caring for the people in Dewitt and Lavaca counties. Although he survived the Mexican persecution, he was martyred in Madrid on Nov. 7, 1936, after returning to Spain.

Trutter said the bronze plaque on its marble pedestal cost $4,000 and was paid for by the Southern Dominican Province, including $1,000 from the St. Mary’s Dominicans.