Month Archives: June 2025

Pastor's Column

Chant Workshops
  On Sundays that fall during the summer recess, the choir director will offer short (15-20 minute) chant workshops after the High Mass. The faithful will be invited to attend these in order to foster a fuller participation in the chanting of the ordinary and hymns of the Mass. Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of Gregorian chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times (Tra le sollecitudini #3). …
Pastor's Column

Enthronement to the Sacred Heart
  Father Mateo was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. His health was restored at the shrine of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart in Paray-le-Monial, France, and that is where he conceived the bold plan of conquering the world, family by family, for the Sacred Heart. Pope Saint Pius X “commanded” him to devote his life to this work of Christian and social regeneration, and thus the Work of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart was born. Father Mateo’s idea was that by …
Pastor's Column

Choir Summer Recess
  As we did last year, the choir will be on recess for the summer. This means that from Trinity Sunday until the first Sunday of September, the men’s schola will assist at all High Masses; the only exception will be the parish festival, cele-brating the finding of the relics of St. Stephen.   The most appropriate place for a schola (as opposed to a choir) is literally between the choir stalls, that is, in the chancel – also called the choir or presbyterium. The chancel is often located between …
Patrimony Update

Sound System Upgrade
  Recently we have: 1. resolved the electrical problems plaguing our property (we had a low but fluctuating voltage on neutral); 2. installed a dedicated 20A circuit to the sacristy sound cabinet; 3. upgraded the sound mixer in the sacristy and parish hall sound cabinets, which should improve sound quality in the church and the parish hall; 4. installed five microphones to the choir loft, which will direct sound from the choir to the vestibule, courtyard, and parish hall speakers; 5. upgraded the courtyard speaker; 6. upgraded the power sequencer …
Pastor's Column

Relics of the Parish
  All the relics of the parish have been authenticated where necessary. We are very indebted to Fr. George Snyder, the pastor of St. Claire in Roseville and the Custodian of Relics for the Diocese, for his assistance in this. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. These are the authentic relics that the parish is in possession of:   The authentication records have been organized in a file that is kept in the parish safe. I also digitized the records and they are now backed up on …

St. Stephen the First Martyr Catholic Church is a Personal Parish of the Diocese of Sacramento, served by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

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