From the Rector: September at Saint Mary’s

Church life in New York City has a rhythm different from anywhere I’ve served before.  School starts in the city just after Labor Day, but that doesn’t mean summer is entirely over.  At Saint Mary’s and at many other parishes, the choir season begins on the first Sunday in October.  For us, Christian Education and other activities start up again in October.  Despite this, September is also a busy month.

There’s a special program on Sunday, September 17, at 1:00 PM by Dr. Randall Giles, director of the Madras Diocese Department of Liturgy and Music, Church of South India.  The program is “Mission and Music in India.”  In addition, Father Beddingfield will be teaching a class, “Being Neighborly: A Theology of Mission,” at 7:00 PM beginning Wednesday night, September 20, through Wednesday, October 18, at the Center for Christian Studies, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Seventh Avenue at 55th Street.

Again this year, Citibank N.A. has asked us to host an Evensong in memory of their colleagues who died in the attack on September 11, 2001.  The service is open to everyone.  It will be on Thursday, September 7, at 5:00 PM.  (There will be no evening Mass that night.)  On Monday, September 11, there will be a Sung Requiem at 12:10 PM and a Said Requiem at 6:20 PM.  Your prayers and presence are requested.

There are several very happy occasions for us this month too.  Monday, September 3, is Labor Day.  On Labor Day and other ordinary federal holidays, the church is open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  The only services of the day are the Noonday Office at 12:00 PM and Mass at 12:10 PM.  Friday, September 8, is the Feast of the Nativity of Saint Mary the Virgin.  There will be a Sung Mass at 6:00 PM. 

On Holy Cross Day, Thursday, September 14, our guest preacher at the 6:00 PM Solemn Mass will be the Reverend Andrew C. Mead, rector, Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York City.  Father Matthew Mead will be the celebrant.  A reception follows the service in Saint Joseph’s Hall.  Immediately following the evening service a relic of the True Cross may be venerated in the Mercy Chapel.  The Mass ordinary will be sung by New York Polyphony.  The organ recital before the Mass will be played by Oliver Brett, organ scholar, King’s College, Cambridge, England.

The Reverend Dr. Ryan E. Lesh, vicar, Christ Church, Red Hook, New York (not Red Hook, Brooklyn!) is to be ordained priest at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine on Saturday, September 23, at 10:30 AM.  Father Lesh was nominated for ordination by Saint Mary’s.  On Friday, September 29, the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, Father will be celebrant and preacher for the 6:00 PM Sung Mass.

On Tuesday, September 4, the parish office returns to our regular schedule (Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM).  The summer Sunday service schedule continues until the first Sunday in October, when Solemn Evensong & Benediction returns, through Trinity Sunday 2007.  Our Sunday evening organ recital series also returns on October 1 at 4:40 PM.

As we go to press, contracts for the renovation of the fifth floor apartment in the Mission House and for the new hand rails for the Forty-sixth Street doors have been signed.  I am delighted.  If you haven’t yet given or pledged to the Momentum Fund, there’s still time and I know more money is going to be needed.  It always is.  Further on in this newsletter you can read about some in-house work being done for our Flower Guild and Saint Vincent’s Guild (our altar servers group).

I am deeply grateful for the rich common life we share here at God’s altar.  I can’t imagine serving in a parish where public worship was not central to our daily, not just Sunday, lives.  I am deeply grateful to all of the members and friends of this parish, near and far, whose gifts make the Christian witness, work and life of Saint Mary’s possible here in Times Square.  Daily, along with the Church throughout the world, we pray for the increase of God’s kingdom and for peace.  Thank you again for making this possible by your presence, your prayers and your gifts.  Stephen Gerth

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked especially for Harold, Hillary, Daniel, Robert, Gloria, John, Mansell, Terry, Sandra, Gloria, Roxanne, Grace, Tony, Michelle, Ray, Isa, Joy, Christine, Danny, Ann, William, John, Laura, Gabriela, Eve, Roy, Deborah, Virginia, Mary, William, Ana, Gilbert, Jeanne, Joseph, Rick, Hillary, Thomas, priest, Louis, priest, and Charles, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Fahad, Joseph, Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Christopher, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Dennis and Derrick; and for the repose of the soul of  Margaret  . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . September 3: 1965 Carol Jean Kearins; September 5: 1964 Joseph Henry Schuman; September 6: 1989 Martha McKelveen Jones; September 8: 1952 Gwendolyn Eugenia Sands, 1989 Ruth M. Hinckley.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Remember: child care is offered from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM each Sunday and during Solemn Masses celebrated during the week . . . On Thursday, September 7, Solemn Evensong will be offered in memory of the employees of Citibank N.A. who were killed on September 11, 2001 . . . Friday, September 8, is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  There will be a Sung Mass at 6:00 PM . . . Flowers are needed for Sunday, September 24, and for some Sundays in October and November.  Please contact the parish office if you wish to give them . . . The Rector will be away Sunday evening, September 3, through Thursday, September 7 . . . Confessions will be heard on Saturday, September 2, by Father Beddingfield and on Saturday, September 9, by Father Mead . . . Attendance Last Sunday 240.

NOTES ON MUSIC . . . This Sunday at the Solemn Mass, the prelude is Chorale Prelude on ‘St. Peter’, Opus 20/1 by Harold Darke (1888-1976), based upon the Postcommunion hymn, How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds.  The postlude is an improvisation on ‘Morning Light’, Stand up, stand up, for Jesus.  The cantor is Ms. Mellissa Hughes, soprano.  The anthem at Communion is a French conductus, O Maria, Stella maris.  The conductus is a form of medieval sacred music that was preeminent in France during the thirteenth century, along with the motet and organum (the three were the principal forms of polyphonic sacred music at that time).  Despite its origins as a piece to accompany liturgical ceremony, it never found an official place in the liturgy, being relegated to extra-liturgical use . . . The schedule of liturgical music through the Epiphany is now available online at www.stmvirgin.org/MusicatSaintMarys.  Robert McCormick

MISSION THROUGH MUSIC IN SOUTH INDIA . . . On Sunday, September 17, come and meet Dr. Randall Giles, director, Madras Diocese Department of Liturgy and Music, Church of South India.  Dr. Giles is an appointed missionary of the Episcopal Church.  Since 2000, he has been working with the Church of South India’s Madras Diocese.  He has offered workshops and courses for musicians in the diocese, an annual Summer School of Music specifically designed for village church musicians, and workshops for parishes wanting to work through issues of liturgy and music’s place in it.  Admission is free but we would be grateful for a $10.00 donation per person to help Dr. Giles’s mission in South India.  The program begins at 1:00 PM in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

FALL RETREAT AT HOLY CROSS MONASTERY . . . Join a group from Saint Mary’s beginning Friday night, October 13, through Sunday, October 15, at West Park, New York, beautifully located on the Hudson River.  The cost is $140.00 per person, and includes room and meals.  Holy Cross is easily accessible by taking the Metro-North train to Poughkeepsie and then a taxi from the train station to the monastery.  Since space is limited, reserve your spot with Father Beddingfield as soon as possible.  Optional discussions on the retreat will center on the book Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality by Esther De Waal (Morehouse, 1998).  More information on Holy Cross can be found at www.holycrossmonastery.com.

“SPRING” CLEANING IN SEPTEMBER . . . Hector Rojas and I are overhauling four of the rooms in the church basement: ripping out toilets, tearing down walls, plastering holes and painting.  In addition, on Saturday morning, September 23, a group of Saint Marians, led by members of the Flower Guild, the Saint Vincent’s Guild and the Saint Mary’s Guild, will be moving the flower supplies into the rooms under the frontal room, reorganizing the flower closet near the kitchen, and moving and reorganizing the liturgical supplies into the two rooms under the sacristy.  If you are able to help, please come!  The workday begins at 9:00 AM.  Matthew Mead

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION THIS FALL. . . Sunday School for children resumes on October 1 at 10:00 AM . . . Being Neighborly: Living into a Theology of Mission: Wednesdays, September 20, 2006 to October 18 at 7:00 PM . . . Revised Common Lectionary: Sunday, October 1 at 1:00 PM . . . Saint Francis: Sermon to the Birds and Hymn to the Sun: Monday, October 2 at 7:00 PM . . . Anglican Communion and Ecumenical Issues: Sunday, October 8 at 1:00 PM . . . From Inspiration to Illumination: An Introduction to the Saint John’s Bible: Tuesday, October 10 at 7:00 PM . . . Tuesday Night Bible Study on Genesis: Tuesdays in October and November at 7:00 PM . . . The Inklings: Sundays, October 22, 29 & November 5 at 1:00 PM . . . Please visit the adult education section of our parish website for details.

The Calendar of the Week

Sunday               The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Monday                     Weekday (Labor Day – Federal Holiday Schedule)

Tuesday                      Weekday

Wednesday                Weekday

Thursday                    Weekday

Friday                       The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary    Friday Abstinence

Saturday                      Constance, Nun, and her Companions, 1878

Sunday: 8:30 AM Sung Matins, 9:00 AM Mass, 10:00 AM Sung Mass, 11:00 AM Solemn Mass,

5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Said Mass.  Childcare from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Monday – Friday: 8:30 AM Morning Prayer, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass,

6:00 PM Evening Prayer, 6:20 PM Mass.  The 12:10 Mass on Wednesday is sung.  Please see the Rector’s article for details about the special schedule for Thursday, September 7,

Saturday: 11:30 AM Confessions, 12:00 PM Noonday Office, 12:10 PM Mass, 4:00 PM Confessions, 5:00 PM Evening Prayer, 5:20 PM Sunday Vigil Mass