THE ANGELUS
Volume 7, Number 28, May 29, 2005
The Weekly Newsletter from the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

From the Rector: A Pilgrim People

I think it is hard for many of us to appreciate how radically different the worship of this parish was from that of almost all other New York parishes when it was founded in 1868.  In the nineteenth century, most Episcopal leaders railed against anything that seemed vaguely “Catholic.”  Protestant Episcopal parishes simply didn’t look like the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.  No candles.  No crosses.  No flowers.  No vestments.  No chanting.  All of these elements and more of the liturgical tradition have been with us since the beginning.  One hallmark of our worship has always been the centrality of the Eucharist and devotion to the Lord present to us in this Sacrament.

Processions of the Blessed Sacrament have been associated with Corpus Christi since the Middle Ages – an era of intense theological and devotional focus on Eucharistic Bread and Wine.  In the wake of the liturgical movement of the early twentieth century, processions have come to be associated in a new way with the Church’s understanding of itself as a pilgrim people.  At Corpus Christi, the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is a particular public witness that Christ accompanies us on our journey in this life.

During the course of the year some processions take place during Mass – the most familiar being the processions to the font for Holy Baptism and the procession of the Sacrament to the Altar of Repose on Maundy Thursday.  The most popular non-liturgical procession surely is the carrying of an image of the Christ Child to the nativity shrine on Christmas Eve.

Our processions through Times Square on Palm Sunday and on Corpus Christi originate in some sense in the city of Jerusalem in the fourth century.  After Christianity became a legal religion in the Roman Empire, it was in Jerusalem that public rites on a citywide scale developed.  Remember, Christianity is in origin an urban religion.  The rites that bind us together in Christ were developed and shaped largely by congregations in cities – the normative location of cathedrals.  Days like Palm Sunday and Corpus Christi open up much of the abiding genius of Christian liturgical tradition.  These public rites invite us into a broad communal understanding and experience of our faith.  Our pilgrimage continues through all of the years of our lives.

One sign that our journey as a parish community is changing in wonderful ways is that for the first time since I have been rector the Sunday attendance for four consecutive Sundays has been over 300.  We haven’t had an ordinary Sunday with four hundred in church yet, but it’s going to happen.  We are pilgrims as individuals and as a community.   And all pilgrims are welcome to come on the great journey to which God has called this community.  The journey we make is sustained by sacramental signs.  We have no greater sign of God’s love for us than the Blessed Sacrament.  Saint Mary’s has always been is a place of pilgrimage and a place for pilgrims.  Stephen Gerth

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Ana, Robin, Michael, Daniel, Virginia, Roxanne, Tony, Christina, Charlton, Patrick, Elizabeth, Eileen, John, Virginia, Mary, Ruth, William, Jane, Thomas, Brian, Deborah, Ibo, Penn, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Bart, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Jonathon, Patrick, Bruce, Joseph, Brenden, Christopher, David, Nestor, Freddie, Patrick, Derrick and Christina . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . May 29: 1992 Robert William Anderson; May 31: 1995 Louis Stephen Stancill; June 1: 1993 Kenneth William Cloughley.

LITURGICAL NOTES . . . The Sunday Proper: Genesis 1:1-2:3, Psalm 150, 1 2 Corinthians 13:11-14, Matthew 28:16-20 . . . Father Mead will be the celebrant and preacher for the 9:00 AM Mass and the 5:20 PM Mass.  The Rector will be the celebrant and preacher for the 10:00 AM Sung Mass and the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass . . . Tuesday, May 31, is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  A Sung Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM . . . Friday, June 3, is the Feast of the Sacred Heart.  A Sung Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM . . . On Saturday, May 28, Father Mead will hear confessions . . . On Saturday, June 4, Father Beddingfield will hear confessions.

SUMMER SUNDAY SCHEDULE . . . Solemn Evensong & Benediction is sung at Saint Mary’s from the first Sunday in October through the First Sunday after Pentecost: Trinity Sunday.  Beginning on the Second Sunday after Pentecost: Corpus Christi, Evening Prayer is said at 5:00 PM and Mass is said at 5:20 PM.  During the summer months 8:30 AM Sunday Morning Prayer is said rather than sung.

NOTES ON MUSIC . . . This Sunday at the Solemn Mass, the prelude is Pange lingua from Le Tombeau de Titelouze, Opus 38 by Marcel Dupré (1886-1971) and Improvisation (Élévation) from Suite médiévale (1947) by Jean Langlais (1907-1991).  Both pieces are based upon hymns in praise of the Blessed Sacrament.  The postlude is Final from Symphonie I, Opus 14 by Louis Vierne (1870-1937).  For many years organiste titulaire of Notre Dame, Paris, the blind Vierne died at the organ during a recital. The setting of the Mass ordinary is Missa Resurrectionis (1976) by Gerre Hancock (b. 1934).  Dr. Hancock, organist and master of choristers of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue from 1971 until 2004, composed this brief and festive setting for use on Easter Day (as the title suggests).  It is set for choir, brass ensemble (which we will enjoy on Sunday) and organ and is based upon the hymn tune St. Magnus (Hymn 483, The head that once was crowned with thorns).  The motets at Communion are O sacrum convivium by Elliot Z. Levine (b. 1948), a distinguished New York composer and singer who joins our choir on occasion, and Ave verum corpus of Francis Poulenc (1899-1963).  Poulenc, one of the greatest of French 20^th century composers, wrote a number of exceptionally fine and beautiful liturgical motets.  Composed in 1952, Ave verum corpus is for three-part choir of sopranos and altos . . . This Sunday is the final day of the “choir season.”  The full choir sings on the Assumption, August 15, and returns on a regular basis on Sunday, October 2.  Many thanks to our superb singers for their extraordinary gifts and service to this church; it is an honor and pleasure to work with them.  Robert McCormick

WORDS OF THANKS. . . After fifteen years of service Howard Christian has ended his flower ministry.  The amount of time, energy and self-sacrifice is recorded, I am sure, by his name in the Book of Life.  There are flowers on the altar most weeks of the year and most of the time Howard has done them, again, for a decade and a half.  If one considers that 3500 to 4000 people per week walk through the doors of this church the breadth of his ministry begins to come into focus.  Each of us is given different gifts for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ, Saint Paul tells us.  Howard has used his gifts so generously and for so long that we can only be thankful.  As we go to press the Executive Committee of the Trustees is working on the next phase for this ministry in our common life.  Again, for all that Howard has done we can be very, very grateful and thankful.  S.G.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . The parish office will be closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.  The church will be open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  The Noonday Office will be offered at 12:00 PM and Mass will be said at 12:15 PM . . . We are delighted that Father Mead is to preach at the Solemn Mass for Corpus Christi at the Church of the Advent, Boston, where Corpus Christi is observed this year on Thursday, May 26.  Father grew up at Advent, where his father served as rector from 1985 to 1996 . . . Father Mead’s Bible study will not meet during the summer months . . . Many thanks to Terry Carlson for resetting the lighting in the church and Saint Joseph’s Hall with the assistance of our head sexton, Wilfredo Zapata . . . Many thanks to all who helped with the Hancock recital on May 13 and the other recitals this year of “Concerts at Saint Mary’s” . . . Father Beddingfield will be on vacation June 5 through July 2 . . . Attendance last Sunday 310.

MOVIE NIGHT AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Join Father Beddingfield and Father Mead in Saint Joseph’s Hall on Friday evening, June 3, after the Sung Mass for our inaugural voyage across the silver screen.  We will be showing the classic biblically inspired movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Please bring a few extra dollars if you are able for food so that we can all order pizza and soda.

SPIRITUALITY AND READING GROUP . . . Coordinated by Rosemary Kulp, the group will meet on the third Sunday of each month, from approximately 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, in Saint Benedict’s Study.  Participants are asked to bring a little something to eat and some to share, if possible.  The book that will be discussed at the June 19 meeting is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  For more information, see the Spirituality and Reading Group flyer in the back of the church or the summer edition of Life at Saint Mary’s.

LOOK CLOSER . . . The Visual Arts Program at Saint Mary’s is pleased to present a new photography exhibition by parishioner Heather Kopelson.  More than Graven Images: Architectural details from the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin invites us to notice some of the carving and sculpture we see every week in our church.  The exhibition runs through July 9.