(LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic family whose longtime home tragically burned to the ground amid this week’s raging Los Angeles fires returned to the site where the house once stood and sang a beautiful hymn of praise, “Regina Caeli,” O Queen of Heaven, in Latin.
In a spontaneous act of faith, members of the Halpin family, including parents Peter and Jackie and their six adult children who were raised in the family’s Altadena home, lifted their voices and broke into beautiful harmony:
Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
People find solace in singing ‘Regina Caeli,’ O Queen of Heaven, after witnessing the devastation of the fire in California.
Video: Gianna Halpin pic.twitter.com/ENfA4tCceS
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) January 10, 2025
“Only those with real faith can sing so beautifully in praise of Our Blessed Lord on the ashes of what used to be their own home,” observed Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute.
“I already feel so much healing because we were able to be there together as a family, and we were able to bond over this song that means so much to our family,” son Andrew Halpin, 36, told the National Catholic Register later in the day.
“We have to give everything to God,” he continued. “And if that means our home at this time, we choose to trust that we’re in the palm of his hand.”
“Our parents bought that home over 35 years ago, and it was a center of hospitality, joy, support, and familial love for a wide and deep circle of loved ones over those three decades. As with many others, they lost absolutely everything,” wrote son Pete on a GoFundMe page set up to help his parents family recover from their devastating loss.
At the time of the fire, the home was occupied by Pete’s parents, Peter and Jackie, and his sister Gianna and her daughter Beatrice, all of whom escaped harm.