FROM RENEE WOOD: CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD RETURNING TO SAINT MARY’S

As we’ve watched the church reopen from the pandemic these past two years, it’s been exciting to see the return of our younger congregants. In response, we’re reopening the atrium this spring and reviving Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) formation for children. 

Here’s a summary of CGS with more information available on the website of the United States Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd:

What is the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd?
CGS is a religious formation approach based on scripture and liturgy that uses Montessori educational and pedagogical principles. CGS is rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition and has been adapted for the Episcopal Church. Through CGS, children are encouraged to ask questions and discover answers through work with specially crafted presentations and materials corresponding to the liturgical seasons and the life of the church.

What is an atrium?
The word “atrium” actually means “a portico, or a porch entrance to a large house.” In the ancient church, the atrium was a gathering space between the church proper and the street. It was the place where the catechumens, those preparing for initiation to the Church, would receive instruction. The Atrium at Saint Mary’s has a similar purpose for our children, as it is a place to help them enter into active participation in the liturgical and communal life of the Church. The atrium includes child-sized furniture, fine religious art hung at child eye-level, and representations of Scripture that can be seen, touched, and moved around. It is a place of spiritual retreat for children: a place of work, study, and prayer, where work and study become contemplation of God and of prayer.

What are the ages of the children served by the CGS?
Traditionally, children begin the CGS at or around age three. As with the Montessori model, each atrium serves a three-year age span of children up to age 12. Our current atrium is a Level 1, designed for ages 3-6. However, as the age range of children currently at Saint Mary’s extends beyond this, we will expand atrium access this spring to include older children who have not yet experienced CGS.

When is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd offered?
CGS will meet each Sunday of the program year at 9:45 AM, the same time as adult formation. Classes begin this spring once the atrium space has been re-established. Stay tuned!

How can I help?
We will need volunteers to help clean and restore the atrium. We will also need help assisting in the atrium during the class (Safe Church training—available online—required). And CGS is a great opportunity to invite friends with young children who may not attend church to come experience Saint Mary’s with you! — RW

For more information about the program, please contact Renee Wood at rwood@libertyellisfoundation.org.

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for peace in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Mali, Iran, Pakistan, the Red Sea, and Myanmar. We pray for an end to violence and division in our neighborhood, city, and nation.

We pray for the sick, for those in any need or trouble, and for all those who have asked us for our prayers. We pray for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week; for those who are traveling; for the unemployed and for those seeking work; for the incarcerated and for those recently released from prison; for all victims of violence, assault, and crime; for all refugees and migrants, especially those sheltering in our neighborhood; for those struggling with depression, anxiety, or addiction; for those whom we serve in our outreach programs, for our neighbors in the Times Square neighborhood, for the theater community, and for those living with drought, storm, punishing heat, flood, fire, or earthquake.

We pray for those for whom prayers have been asked Cindy, Gina, Bill, Brian, Justine, Tom, Ricardo, Dorothy, Patrick, Elizabeth, Hemmi, Charles, Avdi, Glen, Freia, Larry, Violet, Barbara, Robert, Frank, Mary, Eleanor, Eugene, Quincy, Claudia, June, Joyce, Bruce, Robert, Christopher, Carlos, José, Susan, Carmen, Theodore, Brian, Antony, Manuel, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and John Derek; Lind, deacon, Rob, James, Robby, Allan, Stephen, priests; and Michael, bishop.

We pray for the repose of the souls of those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, January 21—Jessie Chapman Stewart (1929); Charlotte Willsie (1937); Edward Parker Amos (1977). May they rest in peace and rise in glory. 

A CALL TO PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one, we pray to you for the unity of Christians, according to your will, according to your means. May your Spirit enable us to experience the suffering caused by division, to see our sin and to hope beyond all hope. Amen. (The Community of Chemin Neuf)

A PRAYER FOR MONASTIC ORDERS, RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES & VOCATIONS

O Lord Jesus Christ, you became poor for our sake, that we might be made rich through your poverty: Guide and sanctify, we pray, those whom you call to follow you under the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, that by their prayer and service they may enrich your Church, and by their life and worship may glorify your Name; for you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

WE THANK YOU

Thank you to the members of the parish retreat planning committee who did so much to make last weekend's conference with Dr. Derek Olsen possible. The committee could not have done it without the help of the many parishioners, the members of the staff, and the clergy spouses who did so much to make the retreat possible. Thank you, one and all.

We are grateful to Noah Starr of the Community of the Crossing who was with us last week and who participated so enthusiastically in our common life. Noah accomplished a lot in his time here. It was a pleasure to have him with us at Saint Mary's and we wish him well as he continues to discern God's will for him, in his life and in his ministry.

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
January 18–25, 2024

The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
Thursday, January 25, 2024

The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Friday, February 2
Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM
A reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows the Solemn Mass.

Ash Wednesday
February 14, 2024
Mass 8:00 AM, Sung Mass 12:10 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

COMING UP AT THE CATHEDRAL

The Installation of the Right Reverend Matthew Heyd as the XVII Bishop of New York
Saturday, February 10, 2024, 11:00 AM
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
There are no tickets or reservations needed for the installation, but the Cathedral would appreciate it if those planning to attend fill out this form.

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S
Our regular daily liturgical schedule: Monday through Friday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM. On Wednesdays, Holy Hour is also offered at 11:00 AM and an additional Mass is said at 6:00 PM. Thursday’s Mass includes anointing and prayers for healing. On Saturdays, Confessions are heard at 11:00 AM, Mass is celebrated at 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer is prayed at 5:00 PM. On the third Saturday of each month, a Requiem Mass is normally celebrated at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. On Sundays, a Low Mass (Rite One) is celebrated in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM. Solemn Mass is offered at 11:00 AM and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. Evensong and Benediction (E&B) is normally offered on the first Sunday of every month and will next be offered on February 4 and March 3.

Saturday Confessions at 11:00 AM . . . The priest-on-duty can be found in one of the confessionals at the back of the church, near the 46th Street entrance, at 11:00 AM on Saturdays to hear confessions. Once nobody is left waiting, if it is after 11:15 AM, the priest will return to his office. If you arrive later, the sexton will be able to call him if it is not too close to the midday Mass.

Saturday, January 20, Parish Requiem (Fabian, Bishop and Martyr of Rome, 250), Confessions 11:00 AM, Requiem Mass in the Mercy Chapel 12:10 PM, The Eve of the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Sunday, January 21, The Third Sunday after the Epiphany: Religious Life Sunday (Agnes & Cecilia, Martyrs, 304 and c. 230), Mass 9:00 AM (Rite One), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The Adult Formation Class and the Confirmation Class both meet at 9:45 AM. David Hurd, organist & music director, will be away from the parish. At 5:30 PM that day, David will be leading a Hymn Festival at Trinity Cathedral, Miami, Florida, as part of the cathedral’s centennial celebrations. Parishioner Clark Anderson will play the Solemn Mass and conduct the choir here at Saint Mary’s in David’s absence.

Monday, January 22, Vincent, Deacon of Saragossa and Martyr, 304

Tuesday, January 23, Phillips Brooks, Bishop, 1893

Wednesday, January 24, Weekday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Holy Hour 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Bible Study 12:45 PM, The Eve of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM, Mass 6:00 PM, Anglicanism 101 6:30 PM

Thursday, January 25, The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM; Mass & Healing Service 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity concludes today.

Friday, January 26, Timothy, Titus, and Silas, Companions of Saint Paul, ✠ Special Devotion

Saturday, January 27, John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407, Confessions 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, The Eve of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Sunday, January 28, The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Friar, 1274), Mass (Rite One) in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM, Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM.

NEWS & NOTICES

Sunday, January 21, is Religious Life Sunday. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved resolution 2022-B004, “Foundation of Religious Life Sunday,” to be held each year on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. On Religious Life Sunday, members of the Episcopal Church’s religious orders reach out to Episcopalians to spread the message that monastic and Christian communities exist in the Episcopal church and to talk about the life, work, and ministry of those communities. As part of this observance, our guest preacher on Sunday will be Brother Thomas Bushnell of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory.

On Sunday, January 21 Father Jay Smith will resume the series, “Conversion, Transformation & Life in Christ” in the Adult Formation Class on Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM. On two Sundays—January 21 and 28, 9:45 AM to 10:40 AM—the class will be discussing the Rule of Saint Benedict and Benedictine spirituality as a resource for developing a “rule of life,” and for living that rule with the help of the grace of God, who is ever merciful and compassionate. On Sunday, February 4, Father Jay will welcome Brother Ephrem Arcement, OHC, to Saint Mary’s. Brother Ephrem will lead the class at 9:45 AM that morning, and he will preach at the Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM. Brother Ephrem entered monastic life in 2010. He was for a time a monk of Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in spirituality from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and has taught courses in Scripture and spirituality at Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. He came to the Order of the Holy Cross, and to the Episcopal Church, several years ago and is now the Guest Brother at the monastery in West Park. He was recently received as a priest of the Episcopal Church by the Bishop of New York. His first book, Intimacy in Prayer: Wisdom from Bernard of Clairvaux, appeared in 2013. A second book, In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton's Prophetic Spirituality, was published in 2015. Then, on Sunday, February 11, Father Jay will lead the class in a summary discussion of this ancient way of life that has done so much to shape Western Christian spirituality, Anglican prayer and worship, and Western European culture.

Celebrating Father Victor Conrado . . . During coffee hour after the Solemn Mass on January 28, we will be celebrating the ministry of Father Victor Conrado at Saint Mary’s. Father Conrado is the Canon for Congregational Vitality and Formation for the Diocese of New York. He has also been serving at Saint Mary’s as an assistant priest and, until recently, living at the parish with his family. Father Conrado tells us that he will be back to visit and hopes to be able to celebrate the Eucharist in the Lady Chapel from time to time. He has also agreed to advise us as we explore ways to better serve the Latino community in the Times Square neighborhood.

Confirmation Preparation for Young People 13-18 . . . Beginning last Sunday, January 14, and continuing this coming Sunday, at 9:45 AM, Father Sammy will be leading a confirmation class for young people. The class will meet on Sunday mornings, January 14 to May 5, except on the Last Sunday after Epiphany (February 11), Palm Sunday (March 24), and Easter Day (March 31). If you are interested in the class, please speak to Father Sammy.

Brown Bag Bible Study will take place on Wednesday, January 24, at 12:45 PM following the noonday Mass. The plan is to read and discuss Mark 2:18–27, verses in which fasting and sabbath observance inspire discussion and debate.

Catechumenate: Anglicanism 101 . . . The class continues on Wednesday, January 24, at 6:30 PM, following Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM and the evening Mass at 6:00 PM. If you are an adult and are interested in being confirmed this spring, you are most welcome to join the class as we begin the second semester. No prior preparation is required.

Donating Flowers for Altar and Shrines . . . We are looking for donations for flowers for the following dates: January 28, The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany; February 11, The Last Sunday after the Epiphany; March 24, Palm Sunday; April 8, The Annunciation (transferred); and many Sundays in Eastertide, In order to make a donation and reserve a date, please contact the parish office. In addition, we always welcome donations to support the ministry of the Flower Guild during Holy Week and at Easter.

Neighbors in Need . . . Our next Drop-by will take place on Friday, February 16, 1:30 to 3:00 PM. Please speak to Father Jay Smith or MaryJane Boland, if you are interested in volunteering. In addition, we have been providing food support to a number of folks in our neighborhood in recent months, including many recent immigrants. We do this through a voucher system. We welcome financial donations so that we may continue this work. You may donate online or with a check—when making the donation please be sure to indicate that your gift is for “Neighbors in Need.”

The Diocese has made a new permanent link for their online Morning Prayer, weekdays at 8:00 AM. Consider joining others from our Diocese online if you aren’t able to make it to Saint Mary’s: https://dioceseny.org/online-morning-prayer

Working for Christian Unity. . . Chevetogne Abbey (French: Abbaye de Chevetogne), also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery dedicated to Christian unity located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne in the municipality of Ciney, province of Namur, halfway between Brussels and Luxembourg. Currently, the monastery has 27 monks. The monastery was founded in 1925 by Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960). This monk of the Benedictine abbey of Mont César (Louvain), previously was deeply involved with the liturgical movement in Belgium. When he came to know the Christian East, he realized the extent to which the Churches are divided and started to work for a foundation of a monastery devoted to Christian unity. At the same time, Father Beauduin tried to strengthen his relationship with the Anglican Communion, and with all the other Christians which are not in communion with Rome. The monks of Chevetogne engage in dialogue with many friends who belong to these churches. They receive quite a number of guests, and they celebrate the liturgy according to two rites—the Latin and the Byzantine Catholic. This allows the community to introduce Christians in the West to the treasures of the Eastern tradition. A documentary—in French with English subtitles—about the Chevetogne community is available on YouTube.

Father Matt Jacobson will be away from the parish until January 25. Father Jay Smith will be away on retreat, Tuesday, February 6, until Friday, February 9.

AN ASSISTANT TO THE PRIEST-IN-CHARGE FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS

Entering 2024 with a new vision for our next three years of parish life, there are so many projects and initiatives I dream of seeing us take up at Saint Mary’s. But I'm also aware of our limitations—we don't have unlimited funding, nor do we have unlimited human resources—so my goal is always to find creative ways to do more with less. And one creative thing I've seen work at other parishes I've served is to tap the rich resources already in our midst—to empower and release gifted lay persons to further the ministry goals of our parish through exercising their own specific charisms. 

In that vein, I'm delighted to announce that one of our own is coming on board formally in 2024. MaryJane Boland is our newly appointed volunteer Assistant to the Priest-in-Charge for Special Projects. MaryJane has been at Saint Mary’s since 2004 and is already an active leader in our congregation, having served twice on the Board of Trustees and co-chaired the fundraising committee for our façade restoration. She is a member of the stewardship committee, an altar server, the scheduler of servers and readers, plus she is one of the forces behind our beloved Neighbors in Need program. Away from Saint Mary’s, she serves on the Board of NYC Audubon and was a member of her co-op board for 25 years. Before retiring in 2018, MaryJane was senior director for student services in the Executive MBA program at NYU Stern School of Business—a job she says she loved but left to do more at Saint Mary's! MaryJane and her husband, Daniel Picard (sometimes Saint Mary’s Photographer Extraordinaire), live on the Upper West Side, and she has two step-daughters, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. 

In the coming months, MaryJane will help us make headway on any number of projects that have been tantalizing me, the Board, and your other staff. Her ability to shepherd projects down the field is what makes me excited about what God can accomplish with her cooperation at Saint Mary’s in the coming three years, but it's her love for this parish, for her family, for our city, and for God that convince me she's exactly the right person for this job and for a time such as this. Welcome aboard, MaryJane! —SW

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY:
SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 11:00 AM

Sunday’s organ voluntaries come from the Couperin family, the most impressive dynasty in French musical history. Beginning in the early 1600s, the Couperins, both male and female, produced a succession of talented keyboard players, singers, and composers. Organists were particularly evident, with the family providing organistes-titulaires for the church of Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais in Paris from 1653 to 1866—213 years! The prelude is by François, nicknamed “the Great,” the most famous scion of the family and its most prolific composer. He composed only two works specifically for organ, both “Organ Masses.” The French Organ Mass is a classic example of the so-called alternatim practice, with the organist playing when texts would otherwise have been sung. Sunday’s prelude, from the “Mass for the Convents,” is meant to be played during the Elevation of the Host. The work’s subtitle is simply instructional: play the melody in the tenor voice using stops with the tierce dominant. The tierce is a mutation stop of ancient lineage, pitched at 1-3/5', or 17 scale notes above the tonic. This produces a plangent sound that François used to create a composition of unusual beauty and tenderness.

The postlude will be by Louis, François’s uncle and the first family organiste titulaire. His grand Chaconne in G minor alternates a short fixed refrain with embellished verses. A chaconne, like the closely related passacaglia, is constructed as a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a repetitive bass-line. They were popular musical forms in the Baroque era, offering as they did a compositional framework for variation, decoration, and melodic invention. — Clark Anderson

The setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is Missa Tu es Petrus by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594). Palestrina, a giant among composers of church music in Renaissance Italy, stood on foundations largely laid by the Netherlandish composers Guillaume Dufay (c. 1397–1474) and Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521). That said, Palestrina is largely credited with setting the canons for Renaissance polyphony and the standard for Catholic liturgical music that remain in place even to this day. Among his hundreds of compositions are 105 Masses, most of which were published in thirteen volumes between 1554 and 1601. The Missa Tu es Petrus is based upon a motet of the same name, for the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, from Palestrina’s motet collection of 1572. Both the motet and the Mass that evolved from it are set for six voices (SSATBB) and convey a bright energy. With the Confession of Peter having been celebrated a few days ago and the Conversion of Paul to be observed later this week, the singing of this Mass setting recognizes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which spans these two commemorations.

The Communion motet this coming Sunday is a setting of Tu es Petrus (Matthew 16:18) by Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612). Born in Nuremberg and baptized on October 26, 1564, Hassler’s musical career bridged the late Renaissance to the early Baroque periods. His initial musical instruction was from his father, Isaak Hassler (c. 1530–1591). Hans Leo left home in 1584 to study in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1532–1585) and become a friend and fellow pupil with Gabrieli’s nephew Giovanni (c. 1554–1612). Thus, Hassler was one of the first of a succession of German composers to experience in Italy the musical innovations that were shaping what would later be identified as Baroque style. Hassler was recognized in his day not only as a composer, but also as an organist and a consultant on organ design. Although he was a Protestant, Hassler’s early compositions were for the Roman church. His motet Tu es Petrus features four-voice imitative counterpoint in which the two upper and two lower voices are often paired in dialogue.
— David Hurd

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S

New York Repertory Orchestra (Saint Mary’s Resident Orchestra)
February 10, 2024

Michael Griffith, guest conductor
Radamés Gnattali: Sinfonia Popular
J.S. Bach/Stokowski: “Little” Fugue in G minor
César Franck: Symphony in D minor

Admission is free. A freewill offering of $15.00 is encouraged.

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Saint Mary’s is a vibrant Anglo-Catholic witness in the heart of NYC. With our identity in Christ and a preference for the poor, we are an inclusive, diverse community called to love God and each other for the life of the world.

This edition of The Angelus was written and edited by Father Jay Smith, except as noted. Father Matt Jacobson also edits the newsletter 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.