FROM FATHER SMITH: THE LOVE OF LEARNING

In March 2020, it was not apparent to many of us how disruptive COVID-19 would be to everyday life in New York and in the lives of people around the world. But disruptive it has surely been. One of the great disruptions has been to education. Those of us who are neither teachers nor students have a hard time imagining what it must be like to learn reading, social studies, algebra, chemistry, Mandarin, or the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible “from a distance.” True, many of us have learned that Zoom, Skype, Facebook, Vimeo, Patreon, YouTube, and webinars have created new possibilities for learning and have introduced us to subjects, people, and communities that were beyond our reach just a few years ago. Still, we are also beginning to discover that virtual learning has also had some negative effects. For instance, it seems to have created significant difficulties for many of our nation’s children, and here at Saint Mary’s we are aware that some, though not all, of our customary patterns of study and learning were significantly disturbed.

As the fall approaches, we are now ready to announce some of the elements of our program of Christian education for adults. There will be both in-person and virtual learning. Some of our customary and much-loved classes will continue as they did during much of the epidemic. And there will be some new opportunities for study. We hope that it will be possible to restore and also expand our educational offerings even as we continue to confront the epidemic and its realities.

On Sunday, September 18, at 12:45 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study, the Saint Mary’s Book Club will meet for the first time. We will be discussing Marilynne Robinson’s 2004 novel, Gilead, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. It is a deeply American novel that manages to deal with issues of race, slavery, abolitionism, war, pacifism, Christian faith, Calvinism, sin, family, estrangement, love, and forgiveness without ever being “about” any of those things. Robinson’s touch is light and the book subtle in its treatment of “issues.” Issues are lived out in the lives of human beings who are often wayward, confused, lonely, and lost. But these same human beings experience moments of surprising grace and possibility. I think our discussion should be lively. I invite you to read and talk about this most unusual thing: a modern American novel in which revelation and faith are of central importance. I will do my best to lead the discussion. If sufficient interest in the Book Group emerges, we will plan on additional meetings—and books—later in the year.

On Sunday, September 25, at 9:30 AM we will begin our in-person, Sunday Morning Adult-Education Class, which will continue throughout 2022–2023, taking us beyond Easter and into the spring. These classes will also take place in Saint Benedict’s Study.

In 2022–2023, the 9:30 AM Sunday morning class will consist of two different, but not unrelated, parts: first, a consideration of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist in all its aspects and, second, the study of three New Testament Letters, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.

I will introduce the Eucharist class on September 25. Other teachers in the Eucharist series will be Brother Thomas Bushnell, BSG, Dr. Liza Anderson, Father Matthew Jacobson, and Father Sammy Wood. The first part of the Eucharist series will take place on September 25 and will continue on the Sundays in October. Then Father Peter Powell will return to the classroom to teach the New Testament letters in November and on the first two Sundays in December. The Eucharist series will resume in the New Year and will take place on many Sundays in the first half of 2023. However, Father Powell, I am happy to say, will continue his Bible study classes, as he often has, on all the Sundays in Lent.

Father Powell and all of our teachers are able and committed to the tasks of study and learning, and I am grateful to all of them for helping us to do just that. The evolution of the two halves of the Sunday morning class—Eucharist and Bible— has been somewhat serendipitous, but both subjects will prove useful to us, I think, as we think about discipleship in Times Square in this time of discernment and reflection.

As many of you will remember, for many years we offered in-person Bible Study on Wednesday evenings. I inherited the teaching of this class many years ago from Father Matthew Mead, and it became an important part of my week, year after year, as I hope it did for some of the students who were able to attend with some regularity.

This year we are trying something new. We will offer the Wednesday Night Bible Study Class at 6:00 PM via Zoom. I will teach the class, which will last for an hour. This year we will be reading the Book of Wisdom. It is a very late book, written perhaps about 50 or 100 years before the birth of Christ. The book is considered canonical by the Orthodox and Roman Catholics. It is listed among the so-called “apocrypha” by Anglicans and Protestants. Its themes are righteousness and unrighteousness; life and death; and wisdom itself. It is a book that will also help us to think about what it means to worship God and then to be sent out into the world “to love and serve the Lord” and our neighbor. Details about registration for this class and about necessary Zoom procedures will be announced closer to the date of the first class. Please let me know if you are interested in attending this class via Zoom to take place on many Wednesday evenings in 2022–2023.

The French Benedictine monk, Jean Leclerq (1911–1993), published a book in the mid-1950s entitled The Love of Learning and the Desire for God. Many years later, an admirer of the book wrote, “Leclercq describes [the medieval monastic] approach to learning as integral humanism, a humanism that integrates classical humanism with the eschatological humanism of Christianity: that Christ became [human] to save us . . . Integral humanism seeks beauty in both the horizontal and the vertical—the world we can see and study and the world we do not see directly, yet perceive through the beauty of the world that is a sign of another type of existence” (Margarita Mooney, “The Love of Learning and the Lay Desire for God,” Church Life Journal, November 6, 2019). It is our hope that in our own small way we can do something like this here at Saint Mary’s, to love learning in all its dimensions and to explore the ways in which study can draw us closer to God. — Jay Smith

A Prayer for Labor Day (Book of Common Prayer, p. 261)

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Search Committee of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the hearts and minds of those who shall choose a rector for Saint Mary’s, that we may receive a faithful priest and pastor who will boldly proclaim the gospel, faithfully administer your sacraments, and serve your people with love and compassion, equipping us for our ministries in the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If you feel that you may be called to serve on the Search Committee for our next rector, please click here to fill out an application. You may also nominate others for consideration via this same webpage.

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

Prayers are asked for the sick, for those who mourn, and for those in any need or trouble; for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week, for those who are travelling, and especially for Larry, Robert, Stewart, David, Zachary, Clark, Dickie, Renee, Elizabeth, Noah, Addison, Patrick, Katie, Maggie, Barbara, James, Claudia, Ben, Allen, Marjorie, Shalim, Greta, Luis, Liduvina, Quincy, José, James, Frank, Laverne, Carlos, Loretta, Ken, Abraham, Gypsy, Margaret, Na, Emil, Pat, Robert; James, religious, and Scott, priest.

You are invited to keep these intentions in your hearts and prayers this week:

For the people of Pakistan, the people of Jackson, Mississippi, and for all those living in the path of fire, flood, and other natural disasters;

For peace in Ethiopia, Ukraine, Myanmar, Syria, Israel, Gaza, and Yemen;

For those ill with COVID-19;

For those suffering from depression, anxiety, and addiction;

For all refugees;

For those without food, shelter, or work;

For the Search Committee of the parish.

TIMES AND LOCATIONS OF DAILY AND SUNDAY LITURGIES:

Monday, September 5, Labor Day. Federal Holiday. The church will open at 10:00 AM and close at 2:00 PM. The Angelus is rung at 12:00 PM. Mass is said in the Lady Chapel at 12:10 PM. Evening Prayer is not said in the church. The parish offices are closed.

Monday–Saturday: Daily Mass 12:10 PM, Lady Chapel

Monday–Sunday: Evening Prayer 5:00 PM, Choir and Church

The Solemn Mass on Sunday morning at 11:00 AM is celebrated in the Church.

AROUND THE PARISH

On Wednesday, August 31, New York city posted temporary signage around Times Square informing those traveling through the neighborhood that Times Square is a gun-free zone, and licensed gun carriers and others may not enter with a firearm unless otherwise specially authorized by law. Signage will be posted at other “sensitive locations” in the near future. See the New York City website for more information about this new state law. For the purposes of the regulation, the city has defined the boundaries of Times Square as the area “from Ninth to Sixth Avenues and from 53rd to 40th Streets and consists of about three dozen blocks” (New York Times, August 31, 2022, “Wait…Is this Times Square?”). Most longtime Saint Marians, and many other New Yorkers, would probably suggest that those boundaries are overly generous, if not deliberately misleading, though few are likely to complain, glad to welcome a gun-free zone in Midtown.

Father Warren Platt, a friend of the parish who assists at the Church of the Transfiguration and who for many years worked as a reference librarian here in New York, has been doing research in the parish archives in recent months. He has been writing a new history of Saint Mary’s that will, we think, begin around 1870, the year of the parish’s founding and conclude with the retirement of Father Donald Garfield, the seventh rector of the parish. We may be seeing copies of the history in early 2023. We are grateful to Father Platt for his work, and we look forward to reading his book.

Morning Prayer in the church returns: It is our plan to resume Morning Prayer in the church, Monday through Friday at 8:00 AM, beginning on Monday, October 3. All are invited to join us in person to pray the Office. It is a fine way to begin the day.

If you think you might be called to serve as an officiant at Morning or Evening Prayer, please speak to Father Wood. We are resuming Morning Prayer in the church in October, Monday through Friday, and would love to have the help of others with this ministry.

If you have been considering baptism or confirmation, please speak to Fathers Wood, Smith, or Jacobson. They would be happy to discuss this with you.

Keeping up to date with pledge payments: It is not uncommon for us to experience cash-flow problems during the summer months, we urge all our members and friends to stay current with their pledge payments, and we welcome donations in support of the parish’s mission during this time. If you have questions, please contact the parish treasurer, Steven Heffner. We are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

Father Sammy Wood will be away from the parish between Friday, September 2, and Tuesday, September 6. Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish from the afternoon of Monday, September 5, until Friday, September 9. Father Jacobson will be available on Tuesday, September 6, should you need to speak to a priest.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

On Thursday, September 29, the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, we will keep the feast with a Sung Mass at 6:00 PM. A quartet from the choir will sing. The preacher at the Mass will be the Reverend Dr. Lloyd Alexander Lewis, Jr., Molly Laird Downs Professor of New Testament Emeritus at the Virginia Theological Seminary. Dr. Lewis—known to many of his friends and colleagues as Tony—also served parishes in Brooklyn and on Long Island and taught at the General Theological Seminary. He was, for a time, Dean of the George Mercer, Jr. Memorial School of Theology and Bishop’s Deputy for Education in the Diocese of Long Island. He is a learned scholar, a kind and compassionate pastor, and a fine preacher and priest. We hope that many of our members and friends will be able to join us on Michaelmas to celebrate the feast and to hear Father Lewis preach.

Sunday, October 2, The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Solemn Evensong & Benediction 5:00 PM.

On Tuesday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, Solemn Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM in the church. The Bishop of New York, the Right Reverend Andrew M.L. Dietsche will celebrate and preach. Mass is preceded by an organ recital that begins at 5:30 PM.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

The name of Healey Willan (1880–1968) is well known to Episcopalians because of his Missa de Santa Maria Magdalena, composed in 1928, which appeared in The Hymnal 1940 and was retained in The Hymnal 1982. This setting, which we will sing at the Solemn Mass on Sunday morning, has been sung widely throughout the Episcopal Church, as well as in other denominations, for decades. Willan’s career and reputation, however, went far beyond composing this beloved Mass. He composed more than eight hundred works including operas, symphonies and other music for orchestra and band, chamber music, and music for piano and organ, in addition to a great quantity of choral music. His liturgical music includes fourteen choral Masses, occasional motets, canticles, and hymn settings. Willan was born in England and began his career as an organist in London parish churches. He joined the faculty at Toronto University in 1914, later becoming professor of music there. In 1921, he was named organist at Toronto’s Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, a position he retained until his death. Said to have described himself as “English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption,” Willan was a champion of historic liturgical chant and the aesthetic of Renaissance church music. He incorporated these influences and mingled them with an appreciation of the rich harmonic palette of the late nineteenth-century masters. Through his compositions and choral direction, he significantly set the standard for North American Anglo-Catholic church music in his time. In 1956, Willan became the first non-English church musician to be awarded the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus.D. Cantuar.

How Can I Keep From Singing? was originally composed as a Christian hymn by American Baptist minister Robert Lowry (1826–1899). Though erroneously cited as a traditional Quaker or Shaker hymn, it is now considered by many to be an American folksong, having entered the public domain, and been performed and expanded upon by artists such as Pete Seeger. It currently appears in several modern hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with variously revised stanzas which are more or less explicitly Christian. Notably, Quakers have adopted it as their own in the twentieth century and continue to use it widely. Of particular note to us at Saint Mary’s is that, in the fall of 2020 when the parish choir was only able to sing together remotely due to pandemic concerns, Sharon Harms, a longtime member of the choir, composed a wonderful choral arrangement of How can I keep from singing which the choir recorded and issued on YouTube. The choir’s performance can be accessed by following this link. Sunday’s cantor, tenor Christopher Howatt, will sing a vocal solo setting of How can I keep from singing by British composer, Alan Bullard (b. 1947). Like the familiar melody of Lowry’s hymn, Bullard’s melody is also pentatonic, using five-note scale: do, re, fa, so, la, a characteristic of many traditional folk melodies. Bullard’s strophic setting has a lyrical innocence and shifts gently between duple and triple meter with the vocal line in dialogue with accompanying melodic figures.

More about Sunday’s cantor: Christopher Howatt has been a regular member of the Choir at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin since 2008 and stepped into the role of parish administrator more recently. An actively performing singer in the realms of musical theatre and cabaret, he was a member of the Associate Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera for two seasons. He has been heard on recordings as diverse as Jessye Norman’s Christmas CD In the Spirit, to singing backup for The Pet Shop Boys on their cover of the Village People’s “Go West.” As an accompanist and music director he has worked with such talents as David Hyde Pierce, Howard McGillin, Tyne Daly, Rita Moreno, Brad Oscar, Cady Huffman, and others. He has served as musical supervisor for productions of Sylvia, Lend Me a Tenor and Inspecting Carol at George Street Playhouse as well as musical director for their world premiere production of Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are, written and directed by the late theatrical legend, Arthur Laurents. For several years he displayed both pianistic and vocal talents as music director/arranger and performer with the two-time MAC Award nominated vocal group Boulevard East, producing and recording their CD, Timeless, as well as performing with them in various cabaret venues.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday, September 4, The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18C), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM. The readings are Deuteronomy 30:15–20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1–20; Luke 14:25–35. Father Smith will celebrate, and Father Jacobson will preach. The Mass setting on September 4 will be Missa de Santa Maria Magdalena (1928), composed by Healey Willan (1880–1968). The vocal solo, sung by cantor Christopher Howatt, will be a vocal solo setting of How can I keep from singing by British composer, Alan Bullard (b. 1947).

Upcoming Commemoration: Monday, September 5, Labor Day, Federal Holiday Schedule; Thursday, September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Friday, September 9, Constance, Nun, and Her Companions; Saturday, September 10, Alexander Crummell, Priest.

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated Monday–Saturday at 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel.

Holy Hour. Wednesday mornings 11:00–11:50 AM, in the Lady Chapel. A time for silent prayer and contemplation before the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Eucharist follows at 12:10 PM. We invite you to join us.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED

The Neighbors in Need program is Saint Mary’s principal outreach ministry. It was founded by members of the parish, along with resident sisters and friars and members of the parish’s clergy staff. We “own” it and run it. We provide clothing and basic, but essential, hygiene items to our neighbors in Times Square. Your cash donations and gifts of new and lightly used clothing make this ministry possible.

We need pants! At our last Drop-by, our stock of pants mostly for men, but for women also, was seriously depleted. Please take a look in your closets and see if you have some pants or slacks for women and men that you are able to part with. Donations can be brought to church on Sunday morning. Leave the bag with the ushers, and thank you.

The September Drop-by will take place on Friday, September 16.

If you would like to volunteer for Neighbors in Need, please contact Marie Rosseels.

Our goal is to continue to distribute clothing and hygiene items to those in need in the Times Square neighborhood. We are grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry.

The Anti-Racism Group Meeting: The Group meets online on most Tuesday evenings from 7:00–8:00 PM. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office, or speak to one of the current members of the group, such as Charles Carson, Charles Morgan, Marie Rosseels, or Ingrid Sletten.

A Time for Prayer and Preparation Before Mass on Sunday: The acolytes, readers, and members of the audiovisual team are invited to gather in the Lady Chapel each Sunday between 10:00 and 10:20 AM for a time of silent prayer and preparation before Mass. All are invited to join them.

HEALING MASS ON THURSDAYS

The noonday Mass on Thursdays at 12:10 PM includes anointing, also known as unction, and prayers for healing immediately after the homily or, on holy days, after the Nicene Creed. “Unction is the rite of anointing the sick with oil, or the laying on of hands, by which God's grace is given for the healing of spirit, mind, and body” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 861). Anointing is a much-respected rite here at Saint Mary’s, and all are invited, though none are compelled, to come to the rail for anointing during Mass should they wish.

AT THE MET CLOISTERS

On Thursday, September 8, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the Met Cloisters, in upper Manhattan (99 Margaret Corbin Drive; not the Fifth Avenue building), there is a sculpture of the Nativity of the Virgin, which dates to circa 1480 in Lower Franconia, Germany. The sculpture can be found in Gallery 20 at the Cloisters.

From the Met’s website, “In all probability, this unusual sculpture depicting Saint Anne, lying on the birthing bed with the swaddled Virgin Mary came from the lower section (predella) of the late Gothic altarpiece dedicated to Saint Anne in the parish church at Ebern. After the altarpiece was replaced in 1703, this work was retained. The bed’s legs, headboard, and tailboard were subsequently cut away, presumably to fit the sculpture into a different framework, as were two angels who knelt before the swaddled child, probably holding a crown over her head. (Remnants of the right angel’s wing are apparent.) Burn marks from candles visible along the front edge indicate that the sculpture served as a devotional image. Much of the original paint as well as appliqués simulating a brocade pattern on the mantle of Saint Anne are preserved. Made of gesso overlaid with tin, then decorated with gold leaf, paint, and glazes, such brocade appliqués were in wide use in the late fifteenth century, particularly in Germany.”

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Jay Smith, except as noted. Father Matt Jacobson helps to edit and is responsible for formatting and posting it on the parish website and distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt, parish administrator, and parish volunteer, Clint Best.