FROM THE RECTOR: ANNIVERSARIES

In Newbury Frost Read’s The Story of St. Mary’s (1931) we read, “On the Patronal Festival [Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary], Thursday the Eighth of December, 1870, the Church was opened and dedicated by the Right Reverend Horatio Southgate, sometime Bishop of Constantinople, who officiated in the absence of the Right Reverend Horatio Potter, D.D. LL.D., D.C.L, Bishop of New York” (page 26). There was a single newspaper article concerning this “opening and dedication,” published in the New York Herald the following day, December 9. Mr. Read noted that the article is “apparently the most complete that has survived,” adding that, “although [the story the Herald] leaves much to be desired, [it] is very different from what that great newspaper would publish today” (Ibid.).

FROM THE RECTOR: THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Prayer Book Studies 19: The Church Year was published in 1970. The preface to the study states, “The Committee held its first meeting in January 1968, in the rectory of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York” (page iv). The preface concluded with the names of all the then members of the Standing Liturgical Commission. I was delighted to read near the end of the preface, “The Commission appreciates the hospitality of the Reverend Donald L. Garfield, Rector of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin and member of the Committee, and the assistance rendered by the staff of the Episcopal Church Center, New York” (page v).

FROM THE RECTOR: SAINTS, SOULS & REQUIEMS

Until I came to Saint Mary’s, I never served in a congregation where All Saints’ Day was only celebrated on its eve, October 31, or on its day, November 1. And I had never served in a congregation where there were so many prayer requests for departed loved ones that the five weekdays following All Souls’ Day, November 2, are reserved for these Eucharists. Through November, we will continue our current church schedule being open daily from 10:00 AM until 5:30 PM. On Sundays, the Solemn Mass will be at 11:00 AM. Monday through Saturday, the daily Mass will be at 12:10 PM. Daily Evening Prayer is at 5:00 PM, except on Thanksgiving Day when the church will be open from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM.

FROM THE RECTOR: OPPORTUNITY

In the Angelus for Sunday, October 3, 2021, I wrote about the ministration of Communion at Trinity-by-the Cove Church, Naples, Florida. I didn’t mention the parish’s name and its rector, the Reverend Edward Campbell Gleason, because I didn’t have a chance to be in touch with Father Gleason before the Angelus was due to go out. He and I are both graduates of Nashotah Seminary. We were both curates at Saint Luke’s Church, Baton Rouge. I was the first curate called by Saint Luke’s then-new rector, the Reverend Charles E. Jenkins, III, later the tenth bishop of Louisiana. It was the late Bishop Jenkins who ordained Edward deacon and priest. I repeat here Father Gleason’s words to me after the service, “The celebrant shouldn’t be the only person to receive the Wine.”

FROM THE RECTOR: SEEING, HEARING

We had many helpful comments about the first live-stream with the new video and sound system on Sunday, October 3. Last Sunday, October 10, the new video system was set to operate, but, for reasons not entirely clear, our system did not connect to the new Verizon Wi-Fi. Fios was chosen for broadcasting because the fiber-optic cable is more stable than wireless internet. Last Sunday, Blair Burroughs, videography team leader, arrived to find that he could not turn on the connection to the live-stream. Ian Ruben-Schnirman, director of technical services, adi: audible difference inc., has been working this week to solve the problem. He and the folks at ingenuIT, our IT service, seem to have solved the problem. The system is now up and running, and the live-stream from Sunday, October 10, is uploaded to Saint Mary’s Vimeo page. The Burial of the Dead for Michael James Joseph Merenda, October 2, 2021, was also recorded and is available for viewing. It is our hope that the live-stream will work on Sunday morning.

FROM THE RECTOR: LOOKING AHEAD

The annual letter for All Souls’ Day prayer requests will be in the mail early next week—it’s already at the FedEx copy center at 125 West 47th Street. The letter will bring news that, after consulting with colleagues and parishioners, I’ve decided that this year there will be Said Masses on All Saints’ Day, Monday, November 1, and on All Souls’ Day, Tuesday, November 2. Also, this year, there will be no Sung Requiem on All Souls’ Day. Saint Mary’s has a tradition of not celebrating All Saint’s Day on Sunday unless November 1 happens to fall on a Sunday. However, at the suggestion of Dr. David Hurd, we will take advantage of the Prayer Book’s permission to celebrate Solemn Mass for All Saints’ Day on the Sunday after All Saints’ Day, November 7, at 11:00 AM.

FROM THE RECTOR: WHY NOT?

The last two Sundays, I was in Naples, Florida. I attended the early service both weeks at a parish I’ve known for many years. It was a straightforward Episcopal Church Prayer Book service. However, there was one surprise for me: there was a chalice on the altar and four small cruets for the Great Thanksgiving. It made me wonder, “What’s next?”

A CONVERSATION WITH ZACHARY ROESEMANN:

Zachary Roesemann is a parishioner and the resident iconographer at Saint Mary’s. He works in a studio in the Mission House and has done so for several years. He works there full time as an iconographer, painting icons by commission for individuals, churches, and religious orders. For over a year now he has been working on a large, life-size icon of the Archangel Michael. He recently completed it, and it will soon be blessed at a weekday Mass here at Saint Mary’s, after which it will be sent to Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, where it will be placed in the Chapel of Saint Michael, in the crypt of the monastery church, near the tomb of the founder of the Order of the Holy Cross, James Otis Sargent Huntington (1854–1935).

FROM THE RECTOR: LITURGY IN ROME c. 700

In their book The Eucharistic Liturgies: Their Evolution and Interpretation, Paul Bradshaw and Maxwell Johnson write, “We possess the detailed ceremonial directions for papal liturgy stemming from around the year 700 in a document known as Ordo Romanus Primus” (London: SPCK Publishing [2012], 201).

FROM THE RECTOR: NARVEL JAMES CRAWFORD, JR., NOVEMBER 11, 1929–SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

Narvel James Crawford, Jr., known to everyone as Jim, died early on Friday morning, September 10. He was ninety-one years old. He was born and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. When his work as a property manager no longer took him on the road, he returned and lived in Asheville for the rest of his life. He was an only child. I know his parents are buried in the churchyard of Calvary Church, Fletcher, North Carolina, and I presume he will be buried there too.

FROM THE RECTOR: CLOTHING, NOT COSTUMES

In 2012, the Right Reverend Charles E. Jenkins III, X Bishop of Louisiana (1951–2021), arranged for two sets of vestments, given to Saint Luke’s Church, Baton Rouge, while I was a curate there, to be moved to Saint Mary’s. The sets were made by Joanna (Jenny) KilBride, a member of the Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic. The guild was a group of Roman Catholic artists and craftsmen. Jenny’s father, Valentine KilBride (1897–1982), was an early member of the guild. He was a dyer and weaver. He made vestments in their historic shape called a “conical chasuble.” His daughter Jenny, also a dyer and weaver, and his grandson Ewan Clayton, a calligrapher, were still members of the guild when it disbanded in 1989.

FROM THE RECTOR: THE LORD’S PRAYER

One of the essential books in my library is a copy of The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary (1950) by the Reverend Dr. Massey H. Shepherd (1913-1990), professor of Liturgics at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific from 1954 until his retirement. The Reverend Dr. Louis Weil succeeded him in that position in 1988. The commentary is no longer shelved but on the corner of a shelf where I can easily reach it. Because earlier Prayer Books contained the lessons for Holy Communion on Sundays and feast days, Shepherd’s commentary includes remarks on the meaning and history of readings. I wrote on the inside cover of the book, “Stephen S. Gerth, Jr., 1982, The gift of the Marmion Library, Church of the Incarnation, Dallas.”

FROM THE RECTOR: SERMON FOR THE BURIAL OF EDGAR FISHER WELLS, JR., priest & rector, August 21, 2021

No words in John’s gospel are ever very far from the verb “believe.” So, today’s gospel lesson from John’s account of the supper before the Passover, we read, “Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1–3).

FROM THE RECTOR: AN IMPORTANT WEEK

On Sunday, August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will resume a weekly celebration of Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM, the first Solemn Mass since March 8, 2020. A quartet from the parish choir will sing the Mass ordinary and the minor propers. As is our custom, the gospel is sung at Solemn Mass. Since it is a principal feast day for us, the epistle will also be sung. I plan for the gospel to be proclaimed in the midst of the congregation. One modification that will continue is to have a basket at the front of the central aisle to collect offerings. So, there will be no procession of the gifts for now.