Volume 8, Number 13, February 19, 2006
From the Rector: Liturgical Formation
Recently I’ve come across on the Internet two excellent articles that people in our community who are interested in liturgical theology might enjoy. One is by Aidan Kavanagh, professor emeritus of liturgics at Yale Divinity School. It is called “The True Believer” and was published in 1978. Almost three decades later it still reads with an exciting and fresh edge.
The other is the transcript of a lecture given at Yale University by Paul Bradshaw, professor of liturgy and director of undergraduate studies for the London program of the University of Notre Dame. Father Bradshaw is also a priest vicar of Westminster Abbey and has been a guest preacher here at Saint Mary’s, most recently on Epiphany 2004. The lecture online is the 2002 Kavanagh Lecture at Yale Divinity School, an annual lecture given in honor of Father Kavanagh. It’s called “Liturgy in the Absence of Hippolytus.” He’s discussing a liturgical document from the early Church and how it has been used well and not so well since its discovery.
Kavanagh, who lives in retirement in Connecticut, writes as a practicing Roman Catholic. I believe, though, he was baptized and grew up in Saint Paul’s Church, Waco, Texas. (Yes, that’s an Episcopal parish church.) He became a Benedictine monk and he remains a monk of the Archabbey of St. Meinrad in Indiana. Aside from one specific reference to the number of baptisms in the American Roman Catholic Church in a given year, just substitute the word “Christian” for “Catholic” the three other times it occurs. The article will ring true.
Bradshaw goes at a different set of issues. He discusses what he believes were mistakes made with a text known as The Apostolic Tradition, which since its discovery in the nineteenth century had been ascribed generally to Hippolytus, a priest in Rome of the late second/early third century. Many scholars now think it is a much later work. Yet this material had a huge role in shaping many of the liturgical texts that were revised in the 1960s and 1970s, a role this material probably would not have if the revisions were being done today.
Bradshaw is a careful and accessible scholar. His discussion of the reintroduction of the exchange of a sign of peace will interest and challenge. No, it’s not that the reintroduction was a mistake. If I read him correctly, the problem is that we didn’t get to the heart of the thing. In the time of the first Christians, kisses were only exchanged with members of one’s family. We shake hands with everyone in our culture. Isn’t it amazing what fuss the Church went through (and still goes through in some places) over a handshake? The real issue is whether the person next to us is our sister or brother, our mother or father, whether we and they are doing the will of God (cf. Matthew 12:46-50).
I commend the articles to you. The reference for the Kavanagh piece is http://catholica.pontifications.net/docs/true.pdf. It’s on the blog of a priest who left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church. The Bradshaw lecture is at http://www.yale.edu/ism/colloq_journal/jpages/bradshaw1.html
Note, these articles will not discuss how a priest should swing a thurible or the ceremonial details of Christian worship. They will speak about conversion in Christ and living in him, which is the point of liturgy. Stephen Gerth
PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked especially for George who is hospitalized, Loretta, Roy, Henry, Clare, Jan, Ida, Brian, Mary, Michael, MaryAnne, Ray, Betty Ann, Mikhail, Deborah, Virginia, William, Mary, Ana, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Rich, Marion, Jeanne, Joseph, Rick, Henry, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest; and for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Christopher, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Dennis and Derrick . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . February 19: 1958 Harry Osmond; February 20: 1985 Theresa Anne Furlong; February 23: 1999 George Everston Dix.
AROUND THE PARISH . . . As we go to press, George Blackshire continues at Long Island College Hospital. Please keep him in your prayers . . . The parish office will be closed on Monday, February 20, in observance of Washington’s Birthday. The church will be open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The services of the day will be the Noonday Office at 12:00 PM and Mass at 12:10 PM . . . Many thanks to the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, not only for singing the Mass ordinary last Sunday but for returning to sing Evensong when the choir of Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut, was unable to come because of the blizzard of 2006 . . . It was an honor for us to welcome the Board of Trustees of the Church Pension Fund to Saint Mary’s on Wednesday, February 15. Over the past year, the board has been worshipping at parishes here in Manhattan before a dinner meeting. It was great to have a large crowd for the regular Evening Prayer and Mass. Their dinner followed in Saint Joseph’s Hall . . . Spirituality and Reading Group meets on Sunday, February 19, at 1:00 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study. The group will read Peace in the Post-Christian Era by Thomas Merton . . . Flowers are needed for Sunday, February 26. Please contact Sandra Schubert . . . There are several spots still open for the Lenten retreat. Contact Father Beddingfield if you are interested . . . Father Mead will be on vacation this Sunday. He returns to the parish on Monday evening . . . The Rector will preach at the institution of the Reverend Ian Bruce Montgomery as rector of All Saints’ Church, Palo Alto, California, on Wednesday, February 22. Father Gerth will leave on Monday afternoon, February 20, and return to the parish on Friday evening, February 24 . . . Confessions will be heard on Saturday, February 18, by Father Gerth and on Saturday, February 25, by Father Beddingfield . . . Attendance Last Sunday 204.
NOTES ON MUSIC . . . This Sunday at the Solemn Mass, the prelude is Psalm-Prelude, Opus 32/1 by Herbert Howells (1892-1983). The postlude is Pièce pour grand orgue, W. 28 by Joseph Jongen (1873-1953). It is based upon Psalm 34:6, “Lo, the poor man crieth, and the Lord heareth him; yea, and saveth him out of all his troubles.” The setting of the Mass ordinary is Missa super ‘Ich stund an einem Morgen’ by Jacob Handl (1550-1591). Handl (also known as Jacobus Gallus) was a Roman Catholic composer who spent most of his life working in Austria and Bohemia. His output, mostly sacred and including 20 masses, is marked by influences from both the Netherlands and Venetian styles of the day. This setting for 5-part choir was introduced to this parish when McNeil Robinson was music director, and was recorded by our choir during his tenure here . . . The recital at 4:40 is played by Robert McCormick and Robert McDermitt . . . Many thanks to all who helped make last week’s concert a success . . . Corrections: In this space last week, composer Frank Martin was incorrectly identified as Swedish; he was, in fact, Swiss. His Mass for Double Choir was not his only sacred composition. Among other activities, the composer conducted the premiere performance of his Requiem in 1973. Robert McCormick
THANK YOU . . . Many thanks to John Rust, a friend of Saint Mary’s and of our organ, for his generous gift for the re-leathering of our organ’s swell division. An organ like ours depends on nearly constant care and maintenance (immaculately undertaken by curator Larry Trupiano), and financial donations to this end are always welcomed. The leather in our organ’s swell division (an important part of an organ’s mechanism) was last changed around 1980, and it is well past time for new leather. The work will take place this coming summer. Thank you, Mr. Rust, for making this project possible.
MISSION NOTES . . . On Sunday, February 19 at 1:00 PM in the Mission House, Mr. Clyde Kuemmerle will speak about Ecclesia Ministries . . . On Monday, February 27 at 7:00 PM we will offer a Honduras evening of Stories and Slides (along with a light dinner). Join us in Saint Joseph’s Hall to hear about the ongoing relationship with our friends in Honduras . . . Also on Monday, February 27, beginning around 11:30 PM, some of us from Saint Mary’s will be helping Common Ground Community with its winter count of the homeless in west Midtown.
See http://www.commonground.org or talk with Father Beddingfield for more information.
THANK YOU, CON ED . . . Saint Mary’s is proud to be part of Con Edison’s program of energy conservation called Lighting Express. At no cost to us, we will be provided with new energy-saving incandescent bulbs throughout our entire facility. Additionally, at very little cost, we will be provided with replacement linear fluorescent fixtures. The benefits of this program are three-fold: Saint Mary’s will save money on its utility bill, the color and quality of lighting will be improved, and energy will be conserved.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION & FORMATION . . . The Tuesday Night Bible Study will continue to examine the crucifixion narratives in the gospels at 7:00 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study. This week we will read the crucifixion accounts . . . Sunday School meets on Sundays at 10:00 AM in Saint Benedict’s Study . . . See the Saint Mary’s website for more information about forthcoming programs for Lent, including a class by Father Peter Powell on Jeremiah . . . On Monday nights in Lent, Father Beddingfield will teach a class on the theology of the cross at the Center for Christian Studies. To learn more or register for the course see http://www.christianstudies.org.
| The Calendar of the Week |
| Sunday |
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY |
| Monday |
Weekday – Federal Holiday Schedule in observance of Washington’s Birthday |
| Tuesday |
Weekday |
| Wednesday |
Weekday |
| Thursday |
Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr of Smyrna, 156
Eve of Saint Mathias the Apostle |
| Friday |
SAINT MATHIAS THE APOSTLE Abstinence |
| Saturday |
Of Our Lady |
