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FROM THE RECTOR: BREAD AGAIN

There have been many surprises for all of us since March. I want to tell you about a COVID-19 bread surprise. To do so, I need to go back to Lent 2010. In the Angelus, for the Second Sunday of Lent, March 7, 2010, I announced that we would be using bread, not hosts, and table wine for the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday. It was a special Holy Week for us. The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, XXV Presiding Bishop and Primate, would be celebrant and preacher for Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. On the morning of Maundy Thursday, he presided at the Eucharist at the Washington National Cathedral. He arrived at Saint Mary's in time to be in the congregation that evening. When he realized we had used bread and wine at the altar, he wanted to know if we could use it at the Easter Vigil. My answer was, “Yes, Bishop.”

In a nod to the seventh rector of Saint Mary’s, the Reverend Donald Lothrop Garfield (1924-1996; rector 1965-1978), I chose the Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 25, 2010—known as “Good Shepherd Sunday to begin to use bread, instead of hosts, and New York State red wine for all Sunday Eucharists and Evening Solemn and Sung Masses. (Hosts remain available for whoever wants to receive in this way.)

Now I had heard about High Masses without Communion for the congregation while I was at seminary. That had been the practice at Saint Mary’s main Sunday service since its founding. When Father Garfield became rector in January 1965, people who wished to receive Communion would come for an earlier Said Mass without a sermon. On Sunday, May 2, 1965, Good Shepherd Sunday that year, Father Garfield announced that Communion would be offered at all Eucharists. He wrote for that Sunday's service bulletin, “To be a good shepherd, I must feed the sheep. Therefore, at every Mass, including High Mass, on this and every Sunday will be offered to all.”

I’m sorry I never had the chance to talk with one of my seminary professors, the Reverend Dr. James E Griffiss (1928–2003) Saint Mary’s in 1965. Father Griffiss was the much-loved and respected professor of philosophical and systematic theology at Nashotah House when I was a student. It was in one of his classes that I first heard the phrase, “Low Mass for Communion, High Mass for Worship.” In the winter and spring of 1965, he was in residence at Saint Mary’s to assist with services and finish writing a book. He was here that Sunday in May when something essential was recovered, to use the words of the Reverend Dr. Paul F. Bradshaw: “feeding on the life-giving Jesus” (“The Eucharistic Sayings of Jesus,” Studia Liturgica 35 (2005), 11).

That first spring with bread and wine for Communion, I experienced the Eucharist in a new way as the weather grew warmer. When we began using bread, and not hosts, and red wine for Communion for all Sunday Masses and all evening Solemn and Sung Masses at the end of April, leftover bread could be reserved for ministration for one or two days. But on the third, whatever was left needed to be consumed. As summer arrived, we learned that whatever bread was not needed for Communion needed to be consumed during the ablutions. For the first time, eating more than a small piece of bread and drinking enough wine or water to do so, I experienced the Eucharist as table food. Now, it’s happened again.

With the changes necessitated by COVID-19, the celebrant alone handles and consumes the larger host. Communion is ministered with smaller hosts (the largest we know of to buy) from the ciboria in the tabernacles. These hosts have not been touched by an ungloved hand. They are consecrated with the ciborium lid on. The celebrant uncovers the ciboria after he or she has put on, in addition to a facemask, a face shield, and a glove on the hand that will minister the host.

When using hosts, it’s always been my practice to break the celebrant’s host into four pieces—eight can be had if needed. At present, while wanting to eat quickly, but not irreverently, the broken larger host, I am experiencing the Eucharist as food—it’s the chewing of each half, one after another, the that lets me know I’m eating. At first, with the shutdown, I wasn’t consecrating enough wine to help me clear my mouth so I could easily say the words of ministration, “The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven.” I’m getting better at pouring enough but not more than needed. I look forward to the return of real bread and wine at Mass for all who desire to it. —Stephen Gerth

REMEMBER SAINT MARY’S . . . “The Minister of the Congregation is directed to instruct the people, from time to time, about the duty of Christian parents to make prudent provision for the well-being of their families, and of all persons to make wills, while they are in health, arranging for the disposal of their temporal goods, not neglecting, if they are able, to leave bequests for religious and charitable uses”—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), 445.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Ingrid, Paul, Carmen, Richard, David, Tony, James, Shalim, Jennifer, Mary, Margaret, Larry, Bill, Eric, Samantha, John, Marilouise, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, Rita, and Abraham; for Jonathan and Sean, religious; for Matthew, Gaylord and Louis, priests; and Charles, bishop; for all those who work for the common good; and for all the members and friends of this parish; and for the repose of the souls of Rose Grzella, Donald Gustav Almquist, and Carmelita Amann and all those who have died of COVID-19. Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of Friday, September 18, and ends on the evening of Sunday, September 20. Please keep our Jewish brothers and sisters in your prayers as they celebrate the New Year this weekend . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . September 20: 1878 Elizabeth Curtis; 1880 Frank Hernandez; 1950 Robert Gilman Dort.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Rose Marie Grzella, the mother of parishioner Paul Grzella, died on Friday, September 11, 2020, in Bridgewater, New Jersey. She was 100 years old. Mrs. Grzella was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Linden, New Jersey. She was working for General Motors in Linden during World War II, when the GM factory was converted to producing airplanes in support of the war effort. Mrs. Grzella worked as an inspector, ensuring the safety of the planes and, in the end, of those who would fly them. She married Joseph Grzella in 1945. Mr. Grzella died in 2008, after a long illness. Rose and Joseph were active in their local parish and in a number of local groups, including the Warren Senior Citizens. Rose is survived by Paul and his husband, Ed Edwards, and Paul’s siblings, Joan and James. Please keep Rose, Paul, their family and friends, and all who mourn in your prayers.

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

AROUND THE PARISH . . . The Stewardship Committee has been producing short videos in which members and friends of the parish reflect on their ministries at the parish, past or present, and try to address the question: Why is Saint Mary’s a priority for me? The videos are being sent via e-mail blaster about once a week or so. Please be on the lookout for them. If you think you’d like to make and share such a video, please contact MaryJane Boland . . . The Brothers of the Society of Saint Francis celebrated the Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi on Thursday, September 17, 2020, along with many of their brother and sister Franciscans around the world. In order to mark the feast, Brothers Desmond, Damien, and Thomas sang Evening Prayer in their new chapel on the fifth floor of the Parish House. The service was livestreamed. Brother Desmond preached at the service, and his homily is available by following this link . . . Clothing Ministry: On Wednesday, September 16, Brother Desmond Alban SSF, Naam Rattan, Marie Rosseels, and Sharon Stewart hosted the weekly Drop-by on Forty-seventh Street. Marie Rosseels prepared clothes and filled bags with toiletry articles beforehand. The volunteers were able to welcome and assist around twenty-one folks from the neighborhood, providing toiletry items and articles of clothing, especially socks, underwear, T-shirts, and pants. The porch at the Forty-seventh Street entrance is proving to be useful for distribution while maintaining social distance. If you would like to volunteer for this ministry or make a donation of cash or items to distribute, please contact Brother Damien or Brother Thomas . . . Former parishioner A. Christopher Lee was ordained priest by the Bishop of Long Island on Saturday, September 12, 2020, at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, where Chris is serving as Assistant to the Rector for Youth, Young Adult, and Family Ministries. Father Jay Smith was one of the clergy presenters . . . The New York Service and Justice Collaborative (NYSJC) is a community for emerging young adult leaders who are committed and dedicated to service, justice, and spiritual growth as a catalyst for leadership development and positive community change. NYSJC is affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Episcopal Service Corps. Brother Thomas and Brother Damien Joseph will be working with the new cohort of student-leaders this year, teaching the theological and spiritual foundations of social-justice ministries . . . Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish on vacation from Friday, September 18, through Monday, September 21.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, September 20, Sixteenth 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 Stephen Gerth . . . Monday, September 21, Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Monday through Saturday, the church opens at 11:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM. Mass is celebrated daily at 12:10 PM. Please see the Calendar of the Week below, and on the website, for this week’s commemorations.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . We will be experimenting with some different ways of doing Christian Education this year. Beginning in October, the Adult Forum will meet from 9:30–10:30 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall. First up is parishioner Grace Mudd, who will teach a series on the Black Death in fourteenth-century Europe, focusing on the effects of the plague on both church and society. Then, Father Peter Powell will lead the Adult Forum in a discussion of the Christian Bible’s final book, the Revelation to John, on Sundays in November and December, ending before Christmas. In January, after the Christmas break, Brother Damien Joseph SSF will provide the Adult Forum with an introduction to Christian mysticism and to the lives and spiritualities of several mystics. All of these sessions will be in-person, in Saint Joseph’s Hall, with social distancing, and without refreshments. Teachers and students will all need to wear masks. We will need to decide whether it is possible for us to livestream and archive these presentations.

Father Jay Smith plans to lead a Wednesday evening discussion of Saint Augustine’s Confessions from 6:30-7:30 PM via Zoom, depending on sufficient interest in participating in such a discussion. Members of the class would be expected to read portions of the Confessions in advance and be prepared to discuss that work during the sessions. Since we’ve not done this before, and since using Zoom for such purposes can be tricky, this will be an experiment, but, we hope, an experiment worth trying. The discussion would begin either in October or January. Stay tuned for more details. If you would like to participate in such a discussion, please contact Father Smith.

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The musical setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is Mass IV as found in the Liber Usualis (“Usual Book”), a comprehensive anthology of medieval Roman plainsong compiled in the nineteenth century by the monks of Solesmes, France. Like the several other numbered Masses of the Gregorian Missal, Mass IV (In Festis Duplicibus 1) is a collection of chants for the Ordinary of the Mass which likely were originally independent pieces brought together and associated with one another by later custom. This particular combination was traditionally sung on certain feast days in the Roman calendar. The Gloria of Mass IV dates from the tenth century and is in Mode 4. The Sanctus is in Mode 8 and is dated eleventh century. The Agnus Dei is probably from the thirteenth century and is in Mode 6.

Sunday’s cantor is Mark Risinger, bass. During the ministration of Communion, he will sing O Jesus, joy of loving hearts by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s. The text originates in the twelfth-century Latin hymn Jesus dulcis memoria, attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091–1153). The hymn Jesu, rex admirabilis, a cento of the earlier text, was translated and paraphrased by Congregational minister, Ray Palmer (1808–1887), and first published in 1858. Palmer’s translation entered the Episcopal Church hymn repertory in 1892 and continues, in a substantially altered form, in the present 1982 edition. David Hurd’s setting of Palmer’s revised text was composed in 1976 and was intended to be sung as a vocal solo, a unison anthem, or a congregational hymn. It is an “art song” style hymn setting in which continuous music connects four stanzas of poetic text.

Mark Risinger, a Texas native, has been a member of the Choir of Saint Mary’s since 2005 and is also currently a member of the parish’s Board of Trustees. He teaches music and English literature at Saint Bernard’s School on East 98th Street and serves on the Education Committee of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. As a soloist, he has performed opera and oratorio throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico, including appearances with New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the New York Choral Society, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Opera Orchestra of New York, Boston Baroque, and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. In addition to degrees in English literature, he holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from Harvard University, where he completed a dissertation on the compositional process of G.F. Handel and where he was Lecturer on Music for five years. In addition to teaching and singing, he is a frequent guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and an editor of the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (“Halle Handel Edition”). —David Hurd

CLOTHING MINISTRY AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Over the last month, we’ve begun our weekly clothing assistance distributions again, working from the steps outside the 47th Street entrance to the church. This allows us to get items to those who need them without creating non-socially distanced situations around our former indoor distribution points. As a result, we’ve also streamlined our process by creating kits of hygiene items and socks for each individual to take, again avoiding a crowd or long line developing. In addition to these kits, we are able to offer men’s and women’s undergarments, T-shirts, and a limited number of other clothing items, including shoes, hats, pants, and shirts. We’ve been seeing an average of about twenty-five guests per week during a one-hour distribution period.We continue to be grateful for those who bring donations of gently used clothing to the church, and we can always use these items.

Much of what we are now distributing is actually new (we give only new socks, underwear, and hygiene supplies). We’ve done a little math, and we’ve found that for just about $20.00, we can provide a single guest with all of the following: a T-shirt, undergarments, socks, and a hygiene bag. The bag contents vary slightly based on our current stock, but they typically include soap, shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, razor and shaving cream, lotion, deodorant, hand sanitizer, single-load size laundry detergent, body wipes, facial tissues, and a comb. We also include feminine hygiene products as appropriate, and seasonal needs like an emergency rain poncho or warm hats and gloves. We provide a reusable bag for guests to take items with them. Then, in addition to these basics, guests can choose from a selection of the donated items we have on hand.

We think that’s a pretty good bang for the buck (well, twenty bucks). Still, serving an average of 100 guests each month (in just four hours!) means $2000 in new supplies. Will you consider purchasing one or more of these kits to share with our neighbors in need? You really will be making a difference. The gratitude expressed by our guests, the smiles on their faces, the time they spend talking with us and telling their stories—these are paybacks that don’t have a price tag. You may contribute by check or through the church’s online giving page, using a credit or debit card. In either case, please leave a note telling us that your gift is for our clothing program. Thank you in advance. —Brother Damien Joseph SSF

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.

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, though open for ventilation, won’t be used for entry into the church. Entry is only via 46th Street.

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

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

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

-Facemasks must be worn in the church at all times, except when consuming Communion. Masks should cover both mouth and nose.

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

-The city, state, and diocese of New York encourages all those attending services to sign a registry and to provide one means of contact. This will be used only if it emerges that an infected person has been in attendance at a particular service and contact tracing is required.

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

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

Only 44 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. Service bulletins will be provided, but will be removed from the church after each service.

-Electric fans have been removed from the nave of the church. There will be no hand-held fans available at the door.

-A basket has been placed at the head of the main aisle, where pledge envelopes and other donations may be safely placed. There will be no collection taken by ushers.

-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, maintain social distance as indicated by the decals on the floor, and return to their seats via the side aisles.

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

If you have questions or wish to make a suggestion, please contact the rector.

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.

The Calendar of the Week