FROM THE RECTOR: CAROL OSUCHOWSKI SELLE, 1932-2019

Carol Selle died on Sunday, November 10, at Lenox Hill Hospital, near her apartment on Park Avenue. She was eighty-six years old. She had not been able to come to church for several years now. I visited her regularly to bring her Communion and to spend some time with her. I saw her for the last time on Wednesday afternoon, October 30. She was the last of a group of four very remarkable women whose advice and encouragement helped my life unfold. I don't think the four of them were ever in the same room, but I was blessed to know them all. The direct and indirect links among them were many. Let me start with the first of the four whom I came to know, Elizabeth (Betsey) Shaw Bobrinskoy (1927-2008). She was Carol's best friend.

Betsey Shaw grew up on the Universalist side of the Unitarian-Universalist tradition. However, as an adult, she married George Bobrinskoy, Jr., and became an Episcopalian. I met Betsey at church in the spring of 1977. I was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. Betsey was looking for a student to live in their house in the city. They also had a weekend place in McHenry County, so they wanted someone to look after things in Chicago when they weren't there. If memory serves, I met Carol in 1978. Betsey and Carol were both Smith College graduates. Both were married to attorneys. They shared a love of music. Living with the Bobrinskoys was a real blessing for me at that point in my life.

After ordination and two years in Dallas, I moved to Baton Rouge. There I came to know some folks from St. Francisville, about forty minutes north of Baton Rouge. Among those new friends was Elizabeth (Libby) Kilbourne Dart. Libby had grown up in St. Francisville and had married a man from New Orleans, Stephen Plauché Dart (1924-2005). When I was instituted as rector in Michigan City, Indiana, a box arrived from Libby and Stephen. It was a beautiful bowl made by a St. Francisville potter, Michael Miller.

Georgia Watson Craven (1906-1998) was from Georgia. She lived in Porter County, Indiana, and was a parishioner at Trinity Church, Michigan City, where I became rector in 1988. Carol and Richard (Dick) Selle (1921-1996) had a home in Porter County, too. Georgia was for many years at the Art Institute of Chicago. Back in the day, she hired Carol Osuchowski for a position there.

When I knew Georgia, she was a widow and lived in a remarkable house built by the painter Konrad Juestel (1924-2001). For my institution as rector, she gave me a copy of a book by her late husband, the southern historian Avery Craven (1885-1980), Rachel of Old Louisiana. In the preface Professor Craven wrote, "I must first give thanks to Mrs. Stephen P. Dart, who also loves Rachel and who has searched out and copied for me the documents germane to Rachel in St. Francisville, Louisiana."

In my first year at Saint Mary's, while Betsey was visiting Carol here in New York, they found their way to church. I'm usually not nervous in our pulpit-I was that Sunday. Over the years, I visited Carol many times and had the privilege of having her as a supper guest in the rectory. She was a significant collector of drawings, a collection that will now go to the Smith College Museum of Art. She herself was an artist and she drew. She was very supportive of piano students. She had a wonderful piano and a large apartment, where she welcomed students from the Manhattan School of Music to play and friends to listen. Carol grew up in Chicago. She loved Chicago, she loved Paris, but she loved living in New York City most of all. She was part of my parents' generation; I miss them all. The Burial of the Dead will be celebrated for her on Saturday, November 23, at 2:00 PM. Carol's ashes will be buried later in Carter Cemetery, Porter County, Indiana, next to the grave of her husband. She rests in the peace of Jesus. -Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Gloria, Margaret, Mel, Richard, Nathan, Carlos, Ken, William, Linda, Denis, George, Kenneth, Mary Hope, Pat, Ann, May, Willard, Alexandra, Karen, Marilouise, Takeem, John, James, Michael, Ivy, Carolyn, Shalim, Nam, Philippe, and Abraham; Monica Clare, religious; and Horace, Gene, Gaylord, Louis, Edgar, priests; the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Edward; all the benefactors and friends of this parish; all victims of natural disaster and extreme weather conditions, especially the people of Australia, California, Guatemala, Japan, and Venice; and for the repose of the soul of James Le Mesurier . . . GRANT THEM PEACE: November 17: 1913 George Mullins; 1919 Harry Albert Stuart; 1921 Evelyn Selden Delaney; 1941 Francis Wright; 1976 Pauline Madeline Poviano.

THE ORDINARY FRIDAYS OF THE YEAR are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial in commemoration of the Lord's crucifixion.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2019-2020 . . . Our stewardship campaign has begun, and pledge cards are beginning to arrive in the mail. Some statistics may be helpful. We mailed packets to 122 households that pledged last year and to 770 households that have expressed an interest in supporting the parish. Once again this year, our goal for the campaign is $425,000. As of November 6, we have received $81,526 in pledges from 30 households, 19.2% of our goal. We still have a long way to go. We encourage all the friends and members of the parish to return their pledge cards on Sunday, November 24, the Last Sunday after Pentecost and our Commitment Sunday. This will help the Budget Committee in its work. However, if making a commitment by that date is not possible, we will gladly receive pledge cards at any point during the coming year. Our needs are urgent. Our mission is clear. We invite your support.

OUR CLOTHING MINISTRY COULD USE YOUR HELP . . . It's cold out there this week! Hats, gloves, thermals and the like are flying off the shelves. We're so glad we can help. A visitor to the church stopped to say how generous we were. So we'd like to say how generous YOU are. Your gifts are keeping God's people warm! Current biggest need is for blankets, sleeping bags, and thermal underwear. You can drop them at the church any time, or order them to be shipped here, or make a monetary donation toward our monthly orders. Thank you!" -Brother Damien SSF

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY'S . . . Sunday, November 17, Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, Sung Matins 8:30 AM; Mass 9:00 & 10:00 AM; Adult Forum 10:00 AM; Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Solemn Evensong and Benediction 5:00 PM . . . Wednesday, November 20, Clothing Ministry: November Drop-in Day, 2:00-4:00 PM, Mission House, 133 Forty-sixth Street; Bible Study Class 6:30 PM, Saint Benedict's Study . . . Friday, November 22, Centering Prayer Group 6:30 PM, Morning Room, Parish House, 145 West Forty-sixth Street.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . The Adult Forum will meet this Sunday, November 17, at 10:00 AM, in Saint Benedict's Study. The class will be led by Father Peter Powell . . . On Wednesday, November 27, at 6:00 PM, The Eve of Thanksgiving Day, there will be a Sung Mass in the church. Father Jim Pace will be the celebrant and preacher. This will be our main Thanksgiving Day celebration, since the parade on the day itself makes life complicated here in Times Square. However, the noonday services will be offered on November 28, Thanksgiving Day itself . . . Flowers are needed for many Sundays in January and February. Please be in touch with Chris Howatt in the parish office if you would like to make a donation for one of these dates. Donations to support the work of the Flower Guild at Christmas are always welcome . . . Attendance at all Offices and Masses: Last Sunday 201.

ADVENT QUIET DAY . . . On Saturday, December 7, 9:30 AM-3:00 PM, Sister Monica Clare, C.S.J.B., will lead a quiet day here at the church. Sister Monica Clare's theme for the day is, "How to Maintain a 'Recollected' Manner in a Chaotic Time." She writes, "What is a 'recollected manner'? The concept, and the term, crops up in reference to prayer and worship, but the meaning is different from the recollection of recalling past events. Herbert Benson, M.D., in his book The Relaxation Response (Harper Collins, 1975), has written, 'Preparation for contemplation, according to Saint Augustine, involves recollection, a term later used by many Christian mystics, which corresponds with the idea of a passive attitude. Recollection is an exercise of abstraction, of recollecting and gathering together thoughts ["memory"] and concentrating the mind. The object is to shut off the mind from external thoughts and to produce a mental solitude.'"

During the quiet day, Sister Monica Clare will be asking, "How can we cultivate a recollected manner as we move through a world of noise, distraction and tension?" If you would like to attend the Quiet Day, please contact Father Jay Smith by e-mail.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . Father Peter Powell is teaching the Adult Forum on Sunday mornings during the month of November. Father Powell writes, "On the four Sundays in November, we will be reading from the last twelve books of the Old Testament. All you need to participate is curiosity about the Bible. Why should this interest you? The issues each prophet addressed are relevant today as we work out how to be faithful in a divided society. These books, known as The Twelve or as the Minor Prophets, include Hosea, Amos, Jonah, and Habakkuk. We will examine them in their original setting and then move into how they speak to us today. We will begin with Hosea and Amos and then get as far into the others as we can. Amos and Hosea tell us about how to be faithful in a time in which conservative religion appears to be in control of our culture. The twelve prophets lived in a time when religion dominated, but faith was absent. Our time is much like that. I invite you to join me in November as we begin this important study of how God works in our world." These classes will meet at 10:00 AM on Sunday mornings in November, in Saint Benedict's Study, in the Parish House, 145 West Forty-sixth Street . . . The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class, led by Father Jay Smith, is studying the forms of prayer in the Hebrew Bible, while exploring the ways in which we ourselves pray, asking ourselves: what does it mean to complain, lament, seek, inquire, meditate, intercede, praise, or give thanks. After an introduction to the topic, the class will study and read closely one or two biblical texts each week. The class meets next on November 20 at 6:30 PM. The class will not meet on November 27 or December 4. The class takes place in Saint Benedict's Study in the Parish House . . . On three Sundays in January-January 12, 19, and 26-Father Jim Pace will lead the Adult Forum in a discussion of healing ministry, hospice ministry, and end-of-life care. Father Pace is the senior associate dean for academic programs at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, where he holds the rank of clinical professor.

ABOUT THE MUSIC ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 . . . The setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is Missa brevis in d, Opus 83, by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901). Rheinberger was a prodigy of his time; at the age of seven he was already serving as organist of the parish church in his hometown of Vaduz, a small town along the Rhine River, and compositions of his were performed shortly thereafter. In 1851 he entered the Munich Conservatorium where, not long after graduating, he was appointed professor of piano and composition. Influences upon Rheinberger include his more famous contemporary Johannes Brahms and earlier notable German composers including Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Franz Schubert. Rheinberger's works include two operas, two symphonies, songs, piano works, chamber works, and assorted other compositions. His twenty sonatas for organ, the next most significant body of organ pieces after Felix Mendelssohn's organ repertoire, continue to stand at the center of German romantic organ literature. Rheinberger's sacred choral works include a Christmas cantata, fourteen Masses, three requiem settings, two settings of Stabat Mater as well as motets and miscellaneous other compositions. Missa brevis in d is for four-voices unaccompanied. While Gloria and Sanctus are clearly in the major mode, Benedictus is in F Major and Agnus Dei returns to the Mass's original key of D minor.

The beloved English priest and poet George Herbert (1593-1633) offered his reflection and prayer to Jesus as the way, truth, and life in "The Call" (The Temple, 1633). Herbert's prayer-poem has inspired many musical settings over the years. One of the most well-known is from Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), which has been distilled into many modern hymnals. (See 487 in The Hymnal 1982.) The setting of Herbert's "The Call," sung on Sunday morning as the Communion motet, is by Richard DeLong (1951-1994), a prolific American composer whose life was unfortunately cut short. Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Delong flourished as an organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and composer in the orbit of Dallas, Texas. He served the Roman Catholic parish of Saint Mark the Evangelist, Plano, Texas, for the last twelve years of his life. Many of his choral compositions were first given voice by the choir of that parish. Published in 1992, DeLong's Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life for unaccompanied mixed voices was commissioned by Barbara Ilacqua in honor of her parents' fortieth wedding anniversary. It is dated June 16, 1987.

The organ prelude before the Solemn Mass on Sunday is the Ciacona in C minor, BuxWV 159 by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707). A Ciacona or Chaconne is a stately dance in triple meter which, not unlike a Passacaglia, is characteristically a series of variations on a ground bass theme. BuxWV159 is one of two Buxtehude organ pieces named Ciacona, the other being BuxWV 160 in E minor. Of interest as well is a close cousin, BuxWV 161, which is named Passacaglia and is in D minor. The Ciacona in C minor is the most extended of the three ground bass pieces. Buxtehude used ground bass variation compositional technique in portions of many other pieces for organ and other forces. In the present piece, as well as Buxtehude's Ciacona in E minor played as the prelude last Sunday, the four-measure repeating ostinato pattern is as much a recurring harmonic progression as a repeating bass melody. There are also several pairs of virtually identical variations. The postlude at the end of Sunday's Solemn Mass will be improvised. -David Hurd

THE VISUAL ARTS PROJECT . . . A new art exhibition is now on view in the Gallery in Saint Joseph's Hall: Equidistancia/Equidistance. It is a solo exhibition of work by the interdisciplinary artist Daniel Djuro-Goiricelaya. The work was created during Daniel's recent residency in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. For more information, please contact gallery curator, José Vidal.

DIOCESAN CONVENTION 2019 . . . The 234th Diocesan Convention of the Diocese of New York took place at the Westchester Marriott Hotel, Friday-Saturday, November 8-9, 2019. Father Gerth, Father Smith, Father Jacobson, Mr. Blair Burroughs, and Mr. Clark Mitchell represented Saint Mary's. A summary of the convention's work is now available on the diocesan website. On the website you may read the text of the bishops' addresses to convention, as well as the Bishop of Cuernevaca's sermon, which was delivered during the convention Eucharist on Friday (in Spanish). There is also a list of those elected to diocesan boards, councils, and committees, and as delegates to general convention. (Father Matthew Mead was chosen to be a delegate to the next General Convention to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2021.) A number of resolutions were introduced and moved for a vote. The resolutions addressed climate change, anti-racism training, the diocesan budget, clergy compensation, the work of the diocesan reparations committee, and the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision not to invite the same-sex spouses of several Anglican bishops, including assistant bishop, the Right Reverend Mary Glasspool.

One such resolution drew a great deal of interest during convention and was passed by a unanimous vote of the assembled delegates. The reparations committee, in its recent historical and archival work, had discovered that in 1860, just before the beginning of the Civil War, John Jay II, abolitionist grandson of John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States, had introduced and vigorously defended an anti-slavery resolution at diocesan convention. Because of proslavery sentiment among its delegates, the 1860 diocesan convention had "left the resolution on the table," where it "sat" until last week, when it was finally passed at convention after 159 years. The desire of some nineteenth-century Episcopalians, lay and ordained, to appease their brethren in the South and to profit from businesses dependent on slave labor has been revealed anew because of these efforts by the members of the reparations committee. Convention also passed resolutions that call on the diocese and its parishes to confront the legacy of racism and slavery in New York City and in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The texts of those resolutions may also be found on the diocesan website.

OUTREACH AT SAINT MARY'S . . . The Clothing Ministry's next Drop-in Day will take place this coming Wednesday, November 20, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, in the Mission House basement. On those Wednesdays when a Drop-in Day does not take place, we continue to offer our Grab-and-Go days-from 2:00 to 3:00 PM-in the former Gift Shop, just off the church Narthex. On those days, basic, even emergency, items can normally be provided-socks, underwear, toiletry articles, and, in the winter months, cold-weather clothing. Please contact Brother Damien if you would like to donate cash, clothing, or toiletry articles, or to volunteer for this important ministry. We have a particular need at the moment for cooler weather clothing: gently used jackets, coats and sweatshirts of varying weights, jeans, slacks and sweatpants. We always need new socks and underwear in various sizes. Our number of guests continues to grow, and we are always grateful for your financial contributions to this project. We can also use a few more volunteers for our once per month drop-in days . . . We continue to receive donations of canned goods and other nonperishable food items for the Saint Clement's Food Pantry. Donations may be placed in the basket next to the Ushers' Table at the Forty-sixth Street entrance to the church.

CLICK HERE for this week’s schedule.

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