FROM THE RECTOR: WE’RE OPEN

Saint Mary’s opened for worship and private prayer on Wednesday, July 1, at 11:00 AM. The Holy Eucharist was celebrated at 12:10 PM. There were fourteen us in the church for Mass. Father Jay Smith was celebrant and preacher. Usher Guild Chair Marie Rosseels, Br. Damien Joseph, and I assisted visitors and regulars. All went well. People are used to masks and safe distancing—decals along the entire main aisle helped a lot (more for the side aisles are on the way—tape is down in the meantime). A few people came in to pray and light candles at the shrines.

On Sunday, July 5, our Sunday Eucharist will be celebrated at 11:00 AM. The church will open at 10:00 AM and close at 12:30 PM. Forty people (twelve of whom can be couples) can be seated at a safe distance in the pews of the church. Dr. David Hurd will be here to play. It will be the Lord’s Day.

Saint Mary’s without cushions, kneelers, Prayer Books, hymnals, and lots of informational materials on the almost completely empty ushers’ table, seemed alive and welcoming. We do have service bulletins for the Masses—one-time use! Sextons Harka Gurung and Jorge Trujillo have done a really good job in cleaning, disinfecting, and organizing the environment. It was wonderful to see people coming in just to say a prayer and light a candle. The 47th Street doors are closed. There’s a sign to direct people to the main entrance on 46th Street and to let them know our opening hours and Mass schedule. I invite you to read our guidelines for our reopening. We continue to consult and read the New York State Guidelines for reopening of churches to insure compliance. Safety for everyone is our priority.

Other things. The Board of Trustees has begun the serious work of redrafting the budget for the remaining months of this year. There are so many unknowns at this point in time. But significant cuts must be made. Our income depends, among other things, on our buildings being used, not only for worship and prayer, but for the many support groups and other non-profit organizations who meet here. We are glad that the New York Repertory Orchestra and the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus rehearse here. Like the rest of Broadway, our resident theater group, Royal Family Productions, Inc., is closed too. There has been no outside use of the church since Saturday, March 14. Saint Mary’s has been from the beginning a place for people to pray whenever the church is open. That support from donations will return when business, entertainment, and visitors return to Times Square. In the meantime, we are actively exploring the ways in which we can maintain our witness and ministry. Our plan to reopen is firmly in place. That plan continues to evolve as we gain further information.

Now some very good news on the restoration of the 46th Street façade of the church. The restrictions on our contractor by the Department of Buildings have been lifted. The contractors will return to work on Monday, July 6. In May, wet plaster in the hallway of the fourth floor of the rectory told me that we had a small leak in the flat roof (not the slate roof) above. This roof and the roof of the fifth-floor apartment of the parish house were replaced at the same time. We asked our architects to evaluate both roofs. Fortunately, the roofing material does not need to be replaced on either roof, but the material used for the seams does. On Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting, they will reseal the flat roofs on the rectory and the fifth-floor apartment in the parish house. For the rest of the week they will continue with stone removal and testing façade stone on upper sections.

The resident friars and priests have maintained the Mass and Evening Prayer daily since Sunday, March 15, when we closed. One of my own spiritual disciplines for the shutdown has been to read Morning Prayer daily by myself. It took me a couple of weeks to settle into the office as individual prayer. I have begun to read the appointed psalms from a new translation of the Hebrew Bible by Robert Alter, a professor emeritus of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a gifted translator—and there are great and helpful footnotes.

Familiar prayer and new prayer sometimes can be a real help in challenging times. This morning instead of the Prayer Book’s, “My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope” (Psalm 17:9), I read from Alter, “So my heart rejoices and my pulse beats with joy, my whole body abides secure” (The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary [2019], III:52.) Physical joy and physical peace are especially welcome graces at this time. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Michael, Larry, Scott, Samantha, Luis, Leroy, Shalim, Philippe, Donald, Emily, Nam, John, James, Marilouise, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, and Dennis; for Ronald, Rafael, and Curtis, religious; for Gene, Gaylord, Charles, Louis, priests; and Charles, bishop; for the members of the armed forces on active duty, especially Isabelle; for all health-care workers; for all those who work for the common good; and for all the members, benefactors, and friends of this parish. We pray for justice and peace for the people of this nation. We pray for the safety and welfare of our city and for those who dwell herein . . . GRANT THEM PEACE: July 5: 1884 Edith Centre Burleigh Justh; 1902 Martha Frances Brown; 1939 Eyland Jarvis Hall; 1948 Hector Recousie.

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

SOME GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDING SERVICES AT SAINT MARY’S:

We are now open for public worship. In order to ensure the health and safety of all, we have instituted the following procedures and guidelines:

-           The 47th Street Doors are closed. Entry is only on 46th Street.

-           Exit only through the most western 46th Street door (near the former gift shop).

-           The Mercy Chapel and Saint Joseph’s Chapel are closed.

-           The Lady Chapel is open, but all chairs, kneelers, candles, hymnals, and Prayer Books have been removed.

-           Face coverings must be worn in the church.

-           Hands-free sanitizer dispensers are available by the doors and at the head of the center aisle, where Communion will take place.

-           From New York State Guidelines for Religious and Funeral Services: “Encourage, but do not mandate, attendees to complete a screening and provide contact information, so they can be logged and contacted for contact tracing, if necessary.” The celebrant make this announcement at all Masses.

-           Everyone must maintain safe distancing (at least 6 feet apart).

-           Pews have been marked with blue tape to indicate where seating is allowed

-           Only 40 people will be allowed in the nave at any time (this includes 6 couples or pairs—

people who live together—who may sit together.

-           All cushions have been removed from the pews.

-           All prayer books and hymnals have been removed from the church.

-           One-time use bulletins for Mass will be provided. Please take it with you. There is a basket for used bulletins at the ushers’ table.

-           All electric fans have been removed from the church.

-           There will be no hand-held fans available at the door

-           Communion (wafers only) will be administered at the foot of the chancel steps.

-           Gluten-free hosts are available. Please inform an usher or a member of the clergy.

-           All communicants must proceed down the main aisle, maintaining social distance as

indicated by the decals on the floor, and return to their seats via the side aisles.

-           There will be no collection taken by ushers.

-           A donations basket will be placed at the head of the center aisle, near the Communion

area. Donations are encouraged and gratefully received!

-           There will be no offertory procession.

-           There will be no congregational singing.

-           Restrooms will be available only to those who are attending the service.

-           There will be no coffee hour.

-           These guidelines are to ensure the health and safety of all.

Please follow the directions of the ushers and the members of the clergy.

The rector welcomes questions and suggestions. Please be in touch with Father Gerth him by email.

THE FLOWER MARKET HAS REOPENED . . . We now welcome donations for flowers for the high altar. The suggested donation for those arrangements is $250.00. Please be in touch with Chris Howatt by email if you would like to make a donation.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Parishioner Michael Merenda was discharged from the hospital and is now at home at home and receiving palliative care. He is gravely ill. Please keep him and his spouse, Leroy Sharer, in your prayers . . . Bishop Andrew M.L. Dietsche’s Guidance on Re-Opening Churches for Public Worship, Outreach, and the Accommodation of Outside Groups is available on the diocesan website . . . The New York State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Religious & Funeral Services During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is available online . . . Many parishioners will remember parishioner, George Handy. George died on May 8, 2012, a month shy of his ninety-fourth birthday. He had been a member of Saint Mary’s for eighty-five years and two days. George had for many years led the Saint Raphael’s Guild of Ushers. George loved that ministry and was very good at it. But he also loved his ushers. One of the things of which he was most proud was that he’d enlisted a number of parishioners into the guild of ushers, some of them new to the parish, who went on to serve as leaders of several guilds and ministries, including the Board of Trustees. Following in that tradition, after George’s death, we were lucky enough to recruit a number of parishioners to assume the leadership of the Saint Raphael’s Guild, among them Randy Morgan, Jason Mudd, Eloise Hoffman, Pat Rheinhold, and Mary Robison, to say nothing of the cadre of very capable team captains. We have been blessed to have such excellent leaders, all of them, like George, well suited to the ministry of welcoming members, friends, and visitors to Saint Mary’s. We are happy to announce that parishioner and board member, Marie Rosseels, recently agreed to assume the leadership of the guild. We are grateful to Marie for assuming this responsibility at a time when the work of welcomer and usher is particularly challenging. We hope that it will also be rewarding.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, June 28, The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Mass 11:00 AM. The church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 12:30 PM. The celebrant and preacher is Father Jay Smith . . . Monday, July 6, Jan Hus, Priest and Martyr, July 6, 1415. Mass 12:10 PM . . . Tuesday–Friday, July 7–10, Weekdays after Pentecost, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Saturday, July 11, Benedict of Nursia, Abbot, Mass 12:10 PM.

CONFRONTING RACISM: WORDS & DEEDS . . . In light of recent events and ongoing realities in our society, some members of Saint Mary’s have begun weekly conversations about racism and about how we as individuals and as a community can respond. At present, conversations are informal, and are being held via the online Zoom platform. Participants will decide the shape and content of the discussion moving forward.  Options might include a structured curriculum, book and film discussions, or other routes.  If you’d like to join in these discussions, please email Brother Thomas or Brother Damien. 

SAINT MARY’S ONLINE CENTERING PRAYER GROUP . . . The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group continues to meet! The Group meets online, via Zoom, every Friday evening at 7:00 PM. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to this address. The convenors of the group will then send the link to the Zoom meeting.

FROM THE FRIARY . . . The meditations of our resident Franciscan brothers and the other brothers of the Society of Saint Francis are archived on the Society’s website. (Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the titles of the archived meditations.) Brother Thomas posted a new meditation his week that is entitled “Digging at the Roots.” We are grateful that the brothers are sharing their reflections, rooted in their reading of Scripture, the Franciscan tradition, and their experience with us. We recommend them to all of our readers.

ONLINE RETREATS . . . Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York, is offering several online Zoom retreats this summer. Among them are Praying with the Spanish Mystics: Dark Night and Interior Castle, led Carl McColman, Tuesday, July 21–Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 2:00 PM on Zoom. Visit the monastery website for more information about registration, suggested donations, and information about online retreats to take place during the month of July.

AT THE MUSEUMS . . . A Talk at the The New-York Historical Society, Religious Liberty and the American Constitution. This talk took place on November 9, 2019, and has been archived on the museum’s website. The audio file may be downloaded. Speakers: Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.; Akhil Reed Amar; Marcia Coyle, moderator. During this talk Professor Glaude discusses the legal precedents, protections, and debates surrounding religious liberty in the United States with legal experts Akhil Reed Amar and Marcia Coyle. Duration: 1:24:24. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., is chair of the Department of African American Studies and James S. McDonnell Distinguished Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University, and a distinguished author. Akhil Reed Amar is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and author of several books, including The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era (Basic Books, 2016). Marcia Coyle is Chief Washington Correspondent for The National Law Journal, where she covers the Supreme Court of the United States, and national legal issues.

A CLASSIC AMERICAN MUSICAL ONLINE . . . On Friday, July 10, at 8:00 PM, the New York Philharmonic will present a recorded performance of its 2013 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. The now-controversial musical, with its classic songs, opened on Broadway in 1945. The Philharmonic production starred Kelli O’Hara as Julie Jordan and Nathan Gunn as Billy Bigelow. Nathan has long been a good friend of Saint Mary’s. The July 10 performance will air on the Philharmonic’s Facebook page. For more information, visit the Phil’s website.

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Stephen Gerth and Father Jay Smith. Father Gerth is responsible for posting the newsletter on the parish website and for distributing it via e-mail.

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