FROM FATHER JACOBSON: THE TWELFTH STATION

On Fridays during Lent, we walk Stations of the Cross together each week at 6:00 PM. Last Friday, I led our journey around the church, and ever since I’ve been reflecting on the Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the Cross. The passage read at this station, which comes from the Book of Occasional Services, is a condensed version of John 19:26–30, with a supplemental verse from Luke 23:46 (which I’ve placed in brackets below):

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And when Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” [And then, crying with a loud voice, he said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”] And he bowed his head and handed over his spirit.

We acknowledge this as the central moment of our evening pilgrimage by kneeling in silence after this short reading. It helps to highlight this station’s importance during these devotions, but the words have also continued to stick with me all week. I think that the recent death of my uncle has made the scene especially vivid for me this Lent.

My uncle was diagnosed with metastatic cancer about a month ago, though he recently began to decline precipitously. On hearing how his disease was progressing, my sister and I booked a flight to Florida to see him as soon as we could. When we arrived, my parents were already there as were other immediate family members who live in the area. When he saw that my sister and I had made it, he said, “Now, everyone is here.” He died that night in his sleep. I can’t help but think that he was letting us know that he was ready. He didn’t need to fight to hold on any longer because everyone whom he loved was now there with him.

As we hear in John’s account of the crucifixion, it was also important to Jesus that those whom he loved were there when he died. Specifically, his mother and the beloved disciple are mentioned. The translation that Jesus “handed over his spirit” or “gave up his spirit” is not an uncommon way to render the Greek, though this may not fully capture what John is looking to describe.

Jesus handing over his spirit helps to convey how he was doing so willingly, which is an important point that is only further emphasized by the additional verse from Luke. It is also consistent with Jesus’ statement that “it is finished,” which has long been understood to reflect his work of salvation being finished. All has been accomplished.

If we look closely at the Greek, however, there may be even more that John is saying. The verb (παραδίδωμι) that is often translated in this passage as Jesus “handing over” or “giving up” his spirit, has a primary sense of entrusting, delivering, or transmitting something or someone to somebody else. It is also worth noting that the Greek doesn’t say “his spirit,” but “the spirit.” Rather than just a euphemism for Jesus’ death, John may also be indicating that with this death, Jesus is entrusting the Spirit to his followers—those whom he loved and were gathered at the foot of the Cross—who would carry on his work.

It was good that they were there when Jesus died. It is also good for us to continue to gather at the foot of the Cross as Jesus is likewise entrusting the Spirit to us. — MDJ

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for peace in the Middle East, in Ukraine, Russia, Mali, Iran, 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 migrants and those seeking asylum, 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 who are sick or in any special need, especially for Celia, Rolf, Sharon, Victor, Murray, Jan, Frank, Charles, Maureen, Elizabeth, Ruth Ann, Barbara, Cindy, Tom, Avdi, Larry, Violet, Eleanor, Eugene, Quincy, Claudia, June, Joyce, Robert, Bruce, Christopher, Carlos, Susan, José, Carmen, Brian, Antony, Manuel, Liduvina, Shalim, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, John Derek, Thomas, religious; Lind, deacon; Rob, Debbi, Robby, Allan, and Stephen, priests; and Andrew and Michael, bishops.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Bill Jacobson, Jake Empereur, priest, and those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, February 25— Josephine Wright (1878); Cassius Clay Caswell (1910); John Ross (1923); Haley Fiske (1929); Philip John Smith, Sr. (1940); Cromwell Childe (1941); Emily Schneider (1959). 

EVENSONG & BENEDICTION
Please join us on Sunday evening, March 3, at 5:00 PM

Music at this service will include:
Canticles: The Evening Service in G minor by Richard Farrant (c. 1530–1581)
Motet: Call to remembrance, O Lord by Richard Farrant

Click here to learn more about Evensong & Benediction.

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S

Saint Joseph
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Mass 12:10 PM

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
March 24, 2024
Procession to Times Square & Solemn Mass 11:00 AM

Maundy Thursday
March 28, 2024, 6:00 PM

Good Friday
March 29, 2024, 12:30 PM

Holy Saturday/Easter Eve
March 30, 2024
Holy Saturday Liturgy 9:00 AM
The Great Vigil of Easter 7:00 PM

The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (transferred)
Monday, April 8, 2024
Organ Recital 5:30 PM
Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday Morning Adult Formation Online . . . Blair Burroughs, who can often be found livestreaming Solemn Mass, has volunteered to webcast Father Peter Powell’s Lenten series on Isaiah 1-12 at 9:45 AM on Sundays. The class meets in Saint Jospeh’s Hall, though if you can’t make it to the parish, click here to join the March 3 class live via Zoom. A recording of the class from February 25 is available to watch via this link.

Looking for a few good volunteers to help with the Atrium . . . On Sunday, March 3, after Coffee Hour, Renee Wood needs help clearing and cleaning the Atrium in preparation for the return of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Pizza will be provided. If you would like to volunteer, please send an email to Renee here. Learn more about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in a recent newsletter article by Renee!

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 March 3 and April 7.

Friday, March 1, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM, Stations of the Cross 6:00 PM, Centering Prayer 6:30 PM

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.

Sunday, March 3, The Third Sunday in Lent, Mass (Rite One) in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM, Adult Formation 9:45–10:40 AM, Confirmation Class 9:45–10:30 AM, Solemn Mass (Rite Two) 11:00 AM, Evensong & Benediction 5:00 PM

On Sunday, March 3, Dr. David Hurd, organist and music director here at Saint Mary’s, will be away from the parish. At 4:30 PM that day he will be playing a recital—the David Boe Memorial Concert—in the Finney Chapel at his alma mater, Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio. The day before, Saturday, March 2, David will be teaching a Master Class to students of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Parishioner Clark Anderson will play the organ and conduct the choir at the Solemn Mass and at Evensong & Benediction on Sunday, March 3, in David’s absence.

Wednesday, March 6, Weekday in Lent, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM; Holy Hour 11:00 AM; Mass 12:10 PM; Bible Study does not meet today; Evening Prayer 5:30 PM; Mass 6:00 PM. Mass is followed by a new adult-formation class—Wednesday Nights in Lent: “Introduction to a Rule of Life.” On Wednesdays in Lent join Father Sammy and others, including our own Brother Thomas Steffensen, as we examine the concept of a Rule of Life as a “trellis” to help us grow toward our God-ordained purpose. The class meets on four consecutive Wednesdays (February 28 and March 6, 13, and 20) from 6:30–7:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study right after Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM and the 6:00 PM Mass. All are welcome!

NEWS & NOTICES

The Observance of a Holy Lent . . . As you think about the shape of your Lenten practices this year, we hope that you will consider the following:

The Saint Mary’s Shape of Lent Booklet . . . The electronic version of this year’s guide to Lent at Saint Mary’s can be downloaded here. Hardcopies will also be available at the usher’s table. The booklet contains suggested prayers, readings, and devotions for the parish community during Lent.

Wednesdays at 12:45: Brown Bag Bible Study. The class meets on Wednesdays, at 12:45 PM, in Saint Benedict’s Study. We have been reading the Gospel of Mark in this class, and during Lent we will jump ahead to read the Passion Narrative in Mark (14:1–16:8). This is the gospel text appointed to be chanted at Mass on Palm Sunday. It is the text that begins our Holy Week journey. The class will not meet on Wednesday, March 6. The class resumes on March 13.

A Lenten “Pilgrimage” on March 17 . . . Saint Mary's is pleased to offer a special formation offering this Lent that invites us to walk with Jesus over the course of the last few days of his earthly life. Manuel Abu Ali is a Christian tour guide living in Jerusalem—he guided the pilgrimage Father Sammy and Renee led to the Holy Land in 2023. Manuel grew up in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem and has lived his whole life in the Holy City. He has a B.A. in Theology and the History of the Holy Land. He describes his job as “bringing the Bible alive to pilgrims, leading them to walk where Jesus walked in the Holy Land, the ‘Fifth Gospel.’”

Join us after Coffee Hour on Sunday March 17 at 1:30 PM in Saint Joseph's Hall for a live Zoom presentation from Jerusalem. Beginning with the Raising of Lazarus, which led to the plot to kill Jesus (John 11.53), Manuel will use photographs and insightful commentary to guide us as we visit sites of the events from Palm Sunday to the Last Supper, from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Via Dolorosa, culminating in the empty tomb of Easter. This event is free, but donations for Manuel are appreciated. For more information, contact Father Wood (swood@stmvnyc.org), and watch the Angelus for a Zoom link to join us from home if you can't make it to midtown.

The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group meets in the Atrium on most Fridays at 6:00 PM, following Evening Prayer. During Lent, they meet at 6:30 PM, following Stations of the Cross. Please speak to Blair Burroughs for more information about this beautiful and distinctive form of prayer.

Preparing for Holy Week . . . Please see the following from MaryJane Boland about upcoming dates to save for helping with Holy Week preparation. All are welcome and we would love your help.

Saturday, March 16, morning starting at 10:00 AM. We will be veiling the church and polishing many, many things.

Saturday, March 23, after the 10:00 AM rehearsal required for servers the next day, Palm Sunday. For those not serving, let's say 11:00 AM. We will be stripping palms, bringing things up from the basement, polishing many things and an array of other tasks. Big work day!

Holy Week, March 24–30.  This is when the flower people go into high gear. Whether you are skilled at arranging flowers or a broom pusher like me, we can use your help!

Thanks to everyone who will help Saint Mary's!—MaryJane Boland

FROM THE BISHOP OF NEW YORK

The spring House of Bishops meeting will be held this week at Camp Allen outside of Houston. The House of Bishops includes bishops from across every diocese of The Episcopal Church. Meetings [began] on Wednesday morning and end next Tuesday, March 5. Bishop Shin, Bishop Glasspool, and I are attending.  Because of his continuing recovery, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry won’t be able to travel.

There’s a schedule for the meeting but no published agenda items. We won’t discuss the election of the next Presiding Bishop, which will take place this summer at General Convention. There will be a one-day meeting House of Bishops meeting in April to meet with the presiding bishop candidates once the nominees are publicly announced.

I also hope the bishops will have a conversation about the Israel-Gaza war. I want for our Diocese to say more about both antisemitism and anti-Palestinian incidents here and human rights there. I’d like to hear how other dioceses are speaking out.

Bishop Andrew St. John observed his eightieth birthday on February 14 and will celebrate this week. Please pray in thanksgiving for Bishop Andrew and his ministry.

I’ve moved into the bishop’s office on the cathedral close— come by to visit! I’m grateful to the Cathedral team for painting the office; I’ve donated couches and lamps that I foun don sale. The budget for the office from diocesan funds has been $0.

 Please keep the bishops in your prayers as we meet.

— The Right Reverend Matthew Heyd, Bishop of New York

OTHER NEWS . . .

Remembering Our Forebears

On Sunday, March 3, we will remember Haley Fiske (1852–1929) in the prayers at Mass. Mr. Fiske was a member of Saint Mary’s and served on the Board of Trustees from 1892 until his death in 1929, also serving as treasurer during that time. The Rev. Joseph G. H. Barry—rector of Saint Mary’s between 1909 and 1929—once wrote of Mr. Fiske, “He was deeply religious, and he put his religion first in all things. He never separated business and religion. He often asked for my advice on the morality of this or that business proposition, and if he was convinced that there was any taint of immorality in the proposition, he would have nothing to do with it.”[1] Mr. Fiske was a generous benefactor of Saint Mary’s. Among his gifts to the parish was the exquisitely beautiful Lady Chapel.

Mr. Fiske was a prominent New York businessman, who worked for many years in the insurance industry. He was inducted into the Insurance Hall of Fame in 1965. Their remembrance—which seems to confirm Father Barry’s assessment of Mr. Fiske—reads as follows, “Mr. Haley Fiske served as chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in the United States during a period of substantial innovation. At a time when the United States had no public health program, he established a department to educate his company’s insureds on the value of preventive medicine, good living conditions and personal hygiene. He was responsible for the development of a nursing staff that put the services of trained, graduate nurses at the disposal of industrial insureds. He urged the passage of legislation promoting good health practices, the compilation of vital statistics, and compulsory birth registration. His efforts to uphold and protect the interests of policyholders led to the mutualization of Metropolitan in 1915, the first such action taken under the laws of the country. He was a champion of industrial insurance—against a series of legislative attacks aimed at its abolition. Haley Fiske’s efforts led to the use of insurer funds to provide low-rental apartment housing; lowering of costs and liberalization of contract terms in industrial insurance; the introduction of insured pension plans; and the establishment of periodic health examinations for insureds under personal life insurance contracts.” We give thanks for Haley Fiske’s life, ministry, and generosity. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.[2]

We are again collecting non-perishable food items for those in need in our neighborhood, who have access to kitchen facilities. We are looking for canned soups, canned vegetables, tuna fish, and stews, in addition to breakfast cereals, pasta, bottled sauces, peanut butter, jams and jellies, and bottled condiments. Please place these items in the basket at the ushers’ table or take them in a bag to the parish kitchen. Please label the bag “donation” and tell us who the donor is. And we thank you!

Confirmation Preparation for Young People 13–18 . . . Father Sammy is leading a confirmation class for young people on Sundays. The class will meet on Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM in Saint Benedict’s Study, January 14 to May 5. The class will not meet on Palm Sunday (March 24) or Easter Day (March 31). If you are interested in the class, please speak to Father Sammy.

Donating Flowers for Altar and Shrines . . . We are looking for donations for flowers for the 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 . . . The March Drop-by will take place on Friday, March 15, 1:30–3:00 PM. Warm-weather clothing is a particular need at the moment. 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.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT: MARCH 3, 2024, 11:00 AM

Published sometime between 1746 and 1750 by J. G. Schübler of Zella, the six “Schübler chorales” are much beloved by organists. Often called “arias for organ,” five of the six chorales are indeed reductions of arias from Bach’s Leipzig-era cantatas, transcriptions that retain much of the form, texture, and contrapuntal idiom of the original arias. The resulting style is unusual for Bach organ works, as are his “registration” instructions, such as those for Sunday’s postlude. And no one is quite sure why these reductions were published at this time; they constitute the only publication of Bach transcriptions during his lifetime.

The chorale text for the prelude on Sunday, “Ah, stay with us, Lord Jesus Christ. . . At this sorely troubled time grant us, Lord, steadfastness, that we your word and sacrament keep pure to the end,” makes it quite appropriate for Lenten contemplation. The musical setting adds to the work’s contemplative character: originally scored for cello obligato, soprano and continuo, the obligato, now in the left hand, weaves a mood of solemn tranquility. 

The postlude is the only Schübler work not taken from a known cantata, though most believe it to be sourced from a cantata now lost. For the organ transcription, Bach specifies pitches for the three voices: the chorale melody is played at 4’ pitch in the pedals, while the running parts in the two hands are at 8’ and 16’ pitches, respectively. The 16’ bass line in particular gives the work a dark color appropriate to the chorale text: “Whither should I flee, since I am weighed down with sins many and great? Where should I find salvation?” — Clark Anderson

The Mass setting on Sunday is the Communion Service, subtitled Missa Salve Regina, by the American composer Everett Titcomb (1884–1968). Titcomb was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and was nurtured in the climate of such Boston area composers as Eugene Thayer, Dudley Buck, and Horatio Parker. In 1910 he became organist and choirmaster at Boston’s Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Bowdoin Street, a position he retained for fifty years. This parish, founded in 1883 and administered by the Order of Saint John the Evangelist (the Cowley Fathers), strongly espoused the values of the Oxford Movement expressed both in service to the urban poor and in recovery of a rich Catholic liturgical practice within Anglicanism. Titcomb was a major force in introducing plainsong and renaissance polyphony to twentieth-century Anglicans. The Schola Cantorum at Saint John’s in the 1930s and 40s, under his direction, was notable for its singing of chant and polyphony at a time when such music was rarely heard. Titcomb’s own choral and organ compositions, many of which contain references to chant melodies, united elements of ancient expressions with the artistic palette of twentieth-century America in a parallel manner to what Healey Willan (1880–1968) was doing at Saint Mary Magdalene, Toronto. In addition to Titcomb’s service at Saint John the Evangelist, he taught chant and sacred music at New England Conservatory and Boston University. Titcomb’s compositions conservatively reflect the musical aesthetics of his time. His Communion Service, Missa Salve Regina, sets the words of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer Order for Holy Communion and was published in 1939. 

The Communion motet on the Third Sunday in Lent is a setting of Psalm 121 by the American composer Jake Runestad (b. 1986). Mr. Runestad, who is based in Minneapolis, has built an impressively large and varied catalogue of compositions including music for wind band, chorus, orchestra, chamber ensemble, jazz ensemble and three operas. His I will lift mine eyes, sung this morning, was selected as one of Minnesota Public Radio’s top twenty-five choral works in 2014. It is a work flexibly scored for mixed voices from four to eight parts. Runestad uses variants of an upward rising gesture throughout his setting which gently suggest, through melody and harmony, the lifting of eyes to “where the hills meet the sky.” — David Hurd

AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
The Met Fifth Avenue, The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery for Special Exhibitions
Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, New York, NY

The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. From the museum website:

Beginning this weekend, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will present the groundbreaking exhibition The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Through some 160 works of painting, sculpture, photography, film, and ephemera, it will explore the comprehensive and far-reaching ways in which Black artists portrayed everyday modern life in the new Black cities that took shape in the 1920s–1940s in New York City’s Harlem and nationwide in the early decades of the Great Migration when millions of African Americans began to move away from the segregated rural South. The first art museum survey of the subject in New York City since 1987, the exhibition will establish the Harlem Renaissance and its radically new development of the modern Black subject as central to the development of international modern art.

Featured artists include Charles Alston, Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley, Winold Reiss, Augusta Savage, James Van Der Zee, and Laura Wheeler Waring. These artists will be shown in direct juxtaposition with portrayals of international African diasporan subjects by European counterparts ranging from Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, and Pablo Picasso to Germaine Casse, Jacob Epstein, and Ronald Moody.”

A description of the work in the exhibition is available here.

You may also subscribe to a five-part podcast “Introducing Harlem Is Everywhere,” Hear how music, fashion, literature, and art helped shape a modern Black identity. Presented alongside the exhibition The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism, the podcast is hosted by writer and critic Jessica Lynne. The five-part series features a dynamic cast of speakers who reflect on the legacy and cultural impact of the Harlem Renaissance.

Subscribe to the podcast here.

 We need your help to keep holding our services.
Click below, where you can make one-time or recurring donations to support Saint Mary’s.
We are very grateful to all those who make such donations and continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

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.

[1] Joseph G. H. Barry, Impressions and Opinions: An Autobiography (New York: E. S. Gorham, 1931), available electronically on Project Canterbury, anglicanhistory.org

[2] I am grateful to Father Warren Platt who shared the final draft of his History of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin with me. Father Platt’s book—soon to be published—continues to help me and others here at the parish with our researches.