Follow the goings-on of the silver anniversary Sacred Music Colloquium in Pittsburgh via the Church Music Association of America. As always, Kathy is there and learning some new ways to torture us help us sing better.
Meanwhile, Fr. Paul Fazio will be saying the monthly TLM this Friday evening, July 3, at the Cathedral. It starts at 6:30, with a potluck dessert to follow.
Five minutes before making this post, I had no idea Simon and Garfunkel had done a "Benedictus." It's off their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which I just acquired. We won't be singing it anytime soon, but I was pleasantly surprised to come across it.
But it's not the same Benedictines who made chant fashionable again two decades ago. This time, it's the Benedictine monks of Norcia, Italy (birthplace of St. Benedict) who have released a Marian chant album called Benedicta. It includes an original composition called "Nos Qui Christi Lugum." It's hard to imagine that chant was not sung at the Norcia monastery for nearly 200 years. Oh well, better late than never.
A year it was and what a year it was for RPC, to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel. Or perhaps a line from Genesis (the band, not the Biblical book) might be more appropriate:
"Alive at both ends but a little dead in the middle." We were quite busy through the fall and Christmas to make the most of Fr. Francisco's time with us, then we had a couple-month respite while we saw how things played out at the Cathedral. They played out rather well, with us singing at several Sunday Masses and the annual Red Mass. We also kept our regular dates at (a snowless) St. Peter Canisius, St. Rose of Lima, and Holy Spirit Mission.
Time for our annual gratias list:
To the tireless Kathy Reinheimer whose vision, guidance, and direction for RPC has made it what it is today.
To all the sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses who made it happen each and every week, many of whom were doing double and even triple time with other scholas. This includes those who were only able to join us at certain times of the year.
To all the pastors and priests who allowed us to sing at their Masses.
To the cantors and organists who assisted us.
To Fr. Larry Morrison for allowing us to rehearse at his church.
To the RPC members who contributed in any way to the Friar's Pantry. Donations are taken through the summer at the Cathedral sacristy or gift shop.
To our benefactors. May you be blessed many times over for your generosity.
And most importantly, to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for making us sound better than we are.
Have a great and blessed summer, enjoy having your Tuesday nights free. and recruit some basses! Maybe this chap is available:
Yet another honor for us in Regina Pacis Cantorum as we get to sing for newly ordained Fr. Timothy O'Brien, FSSP. Tonight's Solemn High Mass for Corpus Christi at Holy Spirit Mission turned out to be his Second Mass, as evidenced by the card above that he handed out as he was giving blessings afterward. Still, to be part of a new priest's early ministry is something we don't get to do every day. (ETA: I have since learned a newly ordained priest can have more than one First Mass in each different church.)
Fr. Timothy will also say the Solemn High Mass tomorrow night at the Cathedral at which an unaffiliated group of us will be singing and our old friend Fr. Francisco Nahoe will serve as deacon. According to this link, Fr. Timothy will then be saying Masses at missions all over California, including San Juan Capistrano.
From the other card Fr. Timothy distributed:
For the sake of Jesus, Your Son, bestow grace on the priests and uphold them. Do not let them fall into temptation and tarnish their noble vocation.
