So, That's That

Another Regina Pacis Cantorum season is now in our rearview mirror. Last year at this time, we really weren't sure what we were going to be doing, having lost access to St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral with the departure of the Friars. But God, as He so often does, opens a window when He closes a door.

Last summer, we began a new relationship with Assumption Church in Truckee. We ended up singing there nine times, and the parishioners kindly hosted a reception for us after Christ The King Mass! We enjoyed the eagerness of Fr. Vincent Juan and the congregation to have us, and we hope to be back this fall.

Snow cancelled a couple of our rehearsals and what would have been our tenth visit to Assumption in February.

Our other main venue was, of course, Holy Spirit Mission. We wish Fr. Loy Torrente well as he heads into retirement at last, but maybe we'll still see him saying the EF from time to time. We also appreciate Fr. Charles Ike of the FSSP filling for Corpus Christi. We again thank the Chocolate Nugget for making their parking lot available for well-attended Masses.

We had the honor of singing for Fr. Patrick Klekas' First Mass at Immaculate Conception in Sparks. We may sing for him in the future at St. Albert the Great; stay tuned.

With not as full a schedule as in prior years, Kathy was able to devote rehearsal time to something we can never learn enough of: solfege. Some of us are hearing "Factu-US est repente" in our sleep as an example of a fifth interval.

Kathy had to put up with medical issues of her own and with her loved ones. She had surgery on the second of her eyes, took care of her husband Bob after he had a ladder collapse under him, and spent time with daughter Marli in Henderson when she broke both her bones in her forearm. That visit, however, launched some ties between the schola at St. Bridget's of Las Vegas and RPC. (Oh, and she and Sandy helped rescue this tenor from the ER in Grass Valley.)

We bade farewell to former member Art Hakes. Resquiescat in pace.

Hope you enjoyed the season and have a blessed summer! Kathy, as usual, is heading to the Sacred Music Colloquium in Philadelphia next week (she'll be there on July 4th!).

See you this fall, and bring some sopranos and basses with you! We need 'em. And if you have a Facebook account, like us there.

Your webmaster, who occasionally looks at Kathy for the cutoff,
Paul

You Don't Bring Me Flowers...Oh, Wait

Following a lengthy but excellent Corpus Christi Mass, procession, and potluck brunch, Holy Spirit Mission surprised Kathy with a bouquet of flowers for all her service to the Mission, not just with RPC but the Sunday choir as well. It was a fitting close to our season.

Here are some other photos from the procession, led by Fr. Charles Ike of the FSSP:

Our good friend Suzi Lunt snapped this vertical shot of a few of the tenors (sorry, sopranos, altos, and basses!). Then again, she must have wanted to get a good photo of her son Zach.

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday was our final Mass at Assumption Catholic Church in Truckee for the year. It was our only a cappella Mass there, and we thank Jennifer Cotter for the accompaniment she was able to provide for our other appearances.

It was also Father's Day, so Fr. Vincent Juan asked the fathers to stand so he could pray a blessing over them. He then followed up with a sprinkling of holy water for the congregation...more like a dousing, actually, thanks to the wisk broom he uses! Fr. Vincent even made us choir members feel like we'd just been through the Ice Bucket Challenge.

We enjoyed our year at Assumption, and we hope we're not done there yet! We only missed one Mass due to snow. If you're interested, you can partake of Assumption's 150th anniversary celebration on August 15 (the Feast of the Assumption...we see what you did there). More information is available on Assumption's website or Facebook page.

Congratulations to Fr. Klekas

It was an honor for us to sing for another new priest's First Mass and our third since 2015. Fr. Patrick Klekas is shown here blessing his parents at the end of the Mass at Immaculate Conception in Sparks. He and Fr. Eduardo Gutierrez-Sandoval received the Sacrament of Holy Orders from Bishop Randolph Calvo on Friday night at St. Teresa of Avila in Carson City. Please pray for them, as well as all our priests and for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life!

And Down The Stretch We Come

You can be forgiven for not remembering the name of the horse that won yesterday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. War of Will got some justice after being forced to slow up in the controversial Kentucky Derby by winning the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. But stealing the show was Bodexpress ("boh-dee" express), who got caught up in a snafu leaving the starting gate, threw his Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez to the ground, and ran the entire race riderless...and didn't finish last. Twitter took to Bodexpress right away.

This is now the home stretch of our season, and we don't have distractions like riderless horses to get in our way. We have plenty of time to prepare for it with our next Mass not until Pentecost which is Sunday, June 9 at Holy Spirit Mission. After that, however, we have 3 Masses in 8 days, or 4 in 14 counting Pentecost:

• First Mass of (soon-to-be) Fr. Patrick Klekas on Saturday, June 15 at Immaculate Conception Church in Sparks, 9 AM (likely an 8:15 call time);
• Trinity Sunday at Assumption in Truckee (snowless this time, we hope!) on Sunday, June 16, 9 AM (also likely an 8:15 call time); and
• Corpus Christi at the Mission with a guest FSSP priest saying a High Mass on Sunday, June 23, 8:30 AM (7:45 likely call time).

We got this.

Fun Fact: I thought Nevada didn't have any horse racing tracks, especially considering you can bet on horse races all across the country at any sportsbook. But each year in Ely, there is horse racing associated with the White Pine County fair in mid-August, and a card in Elko for its county fair just before Labor Day. More info here.

Another First Mass Opportunity

From Kathy. Please contact her if you haven't done so already:

I was contacted...by Rev. Mr. Patrick Klekas [above, courtesy of the Diocese of Reno], a transitional deacon, who will be ordained to the priesthood in June.  He has asked us to sing for his first Mass on Saturday, June 15, at 9 AM at Immaculate Conception Church in Sparks. He has heard a lot about us from Fr. Joe Walsh, whose first Mass we sang for last year, and he assures me that, if he is assigned to a local parish (never a sure thing), he will want us around a lot. Mid-June is always a busy time, but I'm asking that you please make a special effort to do this.  It is so important to support any priest who wants the traditional music of the Church.  Will you please let me know of your participation as soon as possible, so that I can give him an answer? Thank you!

Pax Christi, 

Kathy

While we're speaking of the rest of our schedule, unless you hear something to the contrary, it looks like we will not, repeat, not be singing at Our Lady of Tahoe on Saturday, May 11.

Chocolate Carpooling

(The Giant Prospector near the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory. Photo credit: Denita Graham, RoadsideAmerica.com; HT to Reno-Tahoe Living on Facebook)

We at RPC greatly appreciate the willingness of the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory to let us use the unpaved portion of their parking lot to facilitate carpooling to nearby Holy Spirit Mission when the church will be crowded for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday Masses. The only condition is that they ask us not to use the marked, paved spaces right in front of the store, a reasonable request. Perhaps we can repay the Nugget with a purchase or two; they can certainly use the business.

If you're interested in carpooling with another member or members from the choir to HSM, bass Bill Cotter has volunteered to help coordinate this. Please don't call/email Kathy; you know how not busy she is. You can conceivably walk to HSM from the Nugget lot on the shoulder of Old Highway 395, but even though the traffic volume is nothing like it was before I-580 was built, the speed limit remains 50 mph, so use your own discretion.