FROM THE RECTOR: CHRISTMAS AND EPIPHANY

This Sunday morning, January 5, we celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas Day. This commemoration occurs in four of every seven years. The 1979 Prayer Book gives three options for the gospel lesson, The Escape to Egypt and Return of the Holy Family (Matthew 2:13–15, 19–23), The Boy Jesus at Jerusalem (Luke 2:41–52), and The Visit of the Wise Men (Matthew 2:1–12), the gospel for the Epiphany. We will of course hear the first lesson, a Christmas lesson, but we will not omit the tragedy that shadows Jesus’ birth in Matthew, the murder of the boy children in Bethlehem (2:16–18). I doubt there is a day in the year when children are not being killed somewhere in our fallen world. In the omitted verses Matthew quotes Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more” (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18).

Monday, January 6, is “The Epiphany, or Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.” The gospel is Matthew’s account of the Visit of the Magi (2:1–12). Its celebration “takes precedence of any other day or observance” (The Book of Common Prayer [1979], 15). It is one of the “Principal Feasts observed in this Church” (Ibid.). The Prayer Book provides Evening Prayer for the eves of all seven principal feasts. On Sunday, January 5, Evensong will be for the eve of the Epiphany. On Monday the daily 12:10 PM Mass will be a Sung Eucharist (a little singing, a little incense). There will be an organ recital at 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM (a lot of singing, a lot of incense). A reception follows in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

My own favorite Epiphany hymn is “Brightest and best of the sons of the morning”—with the tune Star of the East from The Southern Harmony (1835). I prefer the original wording of the refrain, with “sons of the morning,” not “stars of the morning.” For me, this phrase echoes of words of Jesus, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (John 12:36).

Following the Latin Vulgate Bible, the King James Version translated Isaiah 14:12, not as “son of the dawn,” but as “Lucifer.” Then there’s an issue of a Ugaritic “god of the dawn” (F.L. Moriarty, “Isaiah 1–39,” The Jerome Biblical Commentary [1968], I:274]). In spite of what one reads in The Hymnal Companion 1982 (page 117), I don’t think there is any confusion here. It’s poetry for praising God. (For the record, I’m entirely fine with our current hymnal’s, “Good Christian friends, rejoice”—originally, it was “men” not “friends.”)

The eve of the Epiphany marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. After Easter, Epiphany, January 6, is the most ancient Christian festival, originating in the East “in the late second or early third century” (P. Bradshaw and M. Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Christianity (2011, 137). It’s not until the fourth century, that Pentecost ceases to be the fifty-day celebration of the resurrection, but a festival day (Ibid., 72–74). Christian tradition invites us to break bread together two days in a row. It doesn’t happen very often, but the invitation comes from those who have gone before us. I continue to be blessed by having always served in parishes that shape their common life by the calendar of the church year. Merry Christmas. Happy and Blessed Epiphany. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Marilouise, Mary Hope, Stephanie, Sharon, John, Charlie, Renée, Gretchen, Luis, Emily, Michael, Mary, Alice, Dale, Margaret, Murray, William, Gloria, Mel, Richard, Carlos, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Karen, Takeem, Ivy, Pearl, and Burton; Horace, Gene, Gaylord, Louis, and Edgar, priests; the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Edward; and all the benefactors and friends of this parish. . . GRANT THEM PEACE: January 5: 1914 John Jacoby Markland; 1942 Philip John Smith, Jr.; 1984 Otto Adolph Meyn; 1993 Hugh Adams.

THE ORDINARY FRIDAYS OF THE YEAR are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial in commemoration of the Lord’s crucifixion. This devotion returns on Friday, January 10, 2020, the first Friday after the Epiphany.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2019–2020 . . . Our stewardship campaign has been underway since late October, but pledge cards continue to arrive the mail. As of December 30, we have received $292,009 in pledges from 84 households, 69% of our goal of $425,000. We still have a ways to go. We encourage all the friends and members of the parish to return their pledge as soon as possible. This will help the Budget Committee in its work. However, if making a commitment by that date is not possible, we will gladly receive pledge cards at any point during the coming year. Our needs are urgent. Our mission is clear. We invite your support. Please speak to the members of the Stewardship Committee—Maryjane Boland, Steven Heffner, or Marie Rosseels, chair—if you have questions.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . We heard this week that parishioner Imani Baptiste Green did very well during her first semester at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles. Her grandmother, Anne Baptiste, reports that Imani “received all A’s” at semester’s end. We also received news this week that parishioner Gladys Ramos-Reyes also did extremely well during her first semester in the master’s program at Lehman College’s Department of Social Work. She accomplished all this while continuing to work full-time. Daniel Okobi, M.D., Ph.D., is a great friend of the parish. He often worshipped with us while he was doing his doctoral work at New York University. He is now a second-year resident in neurology at UCLA Health in Los Angeles. Daniel was recently the lead author of a paper in Science magazine entitled “Motor cortical control of vocal interaction in neotropical singing mice.” Intrigued? You may visit the magazine’s website to read an abstract of the paper and find out what it’s all about. We congratulate Imani, Gladys, and Daniel and we’re very proud of them all. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue their training and studies . . . Copies of the 2020 calendar will be on sale during Coffee Hour on Sunday, January 5 . . . Volunteers are needed: If you are interested in helping the Flower Guild “un-decorate” the church, please speak to Grace Mudd or contact her by e-mail. The work is perhaps less glamorous than decorating, but there are satisfactions in this work as well: the members of the Guild are friendly, and it can be a useful, and fun, way to bid farewell to the Christmas season . . . Flowers are needed for Sunday, January 12 (The Baptism of Our Lord), January 19 and 26; and February 9, 16, and 23. Please be in touch with Chris Howatt in the parish office if you would like to make a donation for one of these dates. Donations to support the work of the Flower Guild during the Christmas season are always welcome . . . Attendance at all Offices and Masses: Last Sunday 210; Holy Name 70.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, January 5, 2020, The Second Sunday after Christmas Day, Sung Matins 8:30 AM; Mass 9:00 & 10:00 AM; Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Solemn Evensong and Benediction 5:00 PM. The Adult Forum is in the midst of its Christmas Break. The class meets next on Sunday, January 12, 2020, at 10:00 AM in Saint Benedict’s Study .. . Monday, January 6, The Epiphany, Sung Matins 8:30 AM, Noonday Prayer 12:00 PM, Sung Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM . . . Wednesday, January 8, Sung Mass 12:10 PM . . . Wednesday, January 8, Bible Study Class 6:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study . . . Thursday, January 9, Mass with Healing Service 12:10 PM . . . Friday, January 10, Centering Prayer Group 6:30 PM in the Morning Room.

OUTREACH AT SAINT MARY’S . . . We were pleased to hear that New York Cares has approved our application to receive donated coats for use in our Clothing Ministry. We are now making arrangements to pick up the coats—as many as 250—by mid-January . . . The Clothing Ministry’s next Drop-in Day will take place on Wednesday, January 15, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, in the Mission House basement, and in the former Gift Shop. We continue to offer our Grab-and-Go distribution Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 PM in the former Gift Shop, just off the church Narthex. Grab-and-go includes essential items like socks, underwear, and hygiene items, and is now open every Wednesday, including when there is a Drop-In in our main clothing room. The next Grab-and-Go is on Wednesday, January 8, 2:00–3:00 PM. Please contact Brother Damien if you would like to donate cash, clothing, or toiletry articles, or to volunteer for this important ministry. We have a particular need at the moment for winter coats for both men and women, blankets, and sleeping bags. Sleeping bags and smaller blankets are generally in more demand as they’re easier to carry around. Our number of guests continues to grow, and we are always grateful for your financial contributions to this project, which allow us (among other things) to offer the dignity and hygiene of brand new underwear and socks to all our guests. We can also use a few more volunteers for our once-per-month drop-in days, generally held on the third Wednesday of each month . . . We continue to receive donations of canned goods and other nonperishable food items for the Saint Clement’s Food Pantry. Donations may be placed in the basket next to the Ushers’ Table at the Forty-sixth Street entrance to the church. —Br. Damien Joseph SSF

ABOUT THE MUSIC ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 5 . . . The setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is the Short Communion Service by Adrian Batten (1591–1637). Born in Salisbury, Batten was subsequently a chorister and organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral. He moved to London in 1614 to become a lay clerk of Westminster Abbey. He later assumed a similar position at Saint Paul’s Cathedral where he also played the organ. As a music copyist in London, Batten is credited with preserving a great quantity of the most significant church music of his time, his copies being the only surviving source. Ironically, much of his own music has been lost. However, Batten’s surviving compositions show him to be a thoroughly skilled composer of liturgical music, even if not especially daring or original. His modest Mass for four voices models the restraint which was typical of Batten’s church music. Maurice Bevan, editor, has produced a liturgically practical edition of Batten’s English Communion Service, including an Agnus Dei fashioned from music found elsewhere in the Service.

The motet sung during Communion on Sunday is one of the sixteen movements from the cantata Hodie by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), begun in 1953 and first performed at Worcester Cathedral during the Three Choirs Festival on September 8, 1954, under the composer’s direction. Hodie was Vaughan Williams’ last large-scaled choral work and is scored for chorus, boys’ choir, organ and large orchestra, with soprano, tenor and baritone soloists. The cantata, with text drawn from scripture, The Book of Common Prayer, and various poets, is dedicated to Herbert Howells. The Blessed Son of God, the fifth movement of Hodie, is one of only two movement set for unaccompanied chorus. The text is a translation by Miles Coverdale of a three-stanza hymn by Martin Luther. This movement is often lifted from the larger work and performed separately. 

The German baroque organ repertoire is rich with pieces of varying dimensions which are based upon chorale melodies. Most such pieces which present the chorale melody in a relatively straightforward and recognizable manner are called chorale preludes. However, the more complex works in which the chorale melody occurs more than once, or is developed extensively along the way, are called chorale “fantasias.”  Buxtehude’s “How brightly shines the Morning Star” is such a Choralfantasia in which the chorale melody is “fantasized” twice in its entirety. The first half of Buxtehude’s setting begins innocently with the opening phrases of the chorale melody clearly stated in the bass voice and then in the soprano. From then on, the chorale becomes increasingly engulfed in developing variation. The second half of the setting is in the manner of a fugal Gigue which outlines the chorale melody. —David Hurd

ABOUT THE MUSIC ON MONDAY, JANUARY 6 . . . The musical setting of the Mass on Monday evening is the five-voice Missa Prima Sexti Toni by priest and musician Giovanni Croce (c. 1557–1609). Croce, though overshadowed in historic reflection by certain other Venice-centered composers of the late Renaissance, was well known in his time for his madrigals and secular compositions as well as for the extensive output of his church music. Croce sang as a boy chorister under Gioseffo Zarlino (1517–1590) at Saint Mark’s, Venice, eventually succeeding Zarlino as maestro di cappella there. He remained in that position until his death in 1609, four years before it went to Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643). Croce’s Missa Prima Sexti Toni dates from 1596. It is a bright and succinct setting, embodying the character of its period with economy and grace. 

The motet sung during the Communion at the Solemn Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany is a choral setting of what has come to be known as the Star Hymn of Ignatius. This text derives from the Epistle to the Ephesians of the first century writer, bishop, and martyr Ignatius of Antioch (19:2–3), and is set up by following introduction: “And hidden from the Prince of this world were the virginity of Mary, her giving birth, and the death of the Lord—three loudly shouting mysteries accomplished in the stillness of God. How were they revealed to the aeons?” Ignatius’ answer to the question he has posed, his Star Hymn, follows. The musical setting is for unaccompanied mixed voices. It was composed in 1991 by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s, as the content of Dr. Hurd’s Christmas greeting that year. The setting seeks to illuminate and project the dramatic quality of Ignatius’ vividly descriptive narrative.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . On three Sundays in January—January 12, 19, and 26—Father Jim Pace will lead the Adult Forum in a discussion of healing ministry, hospice ministry, and end-of-life care. Father Pace is the senior associate dean for academic programs at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing, where he holds the rank of clinical professor . . . The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class is on its Christmas Break. The class will resume on January 8 at 6:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study.

COMING UP . . . Sunday, January 12, The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. . . Saturday, January 18, The Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle, Mass 12:10 PM. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Begins . . . Saturday, January 25, The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Sunday, February 2, The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple . . . Monday, February 17, Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) . . . February 26, Ash Wednesday

AT THE GALLERIES . . . At the Metropolitan Museum Fifth Avenue, Eighty-second Street and Fifth Avenue, Gallery 304. Situla (Bucket for Holy Water), with a panel showing the Baptism of Christ. AD 860–880. Carolingian. From the museum website, “[Situlae] or buckets such as [the example in Gallery 304 here at the museum] were used for sprinkling holy water upon the faithful during processions. Ivory examples are exceptionally rare, and this one is the earliest to survive. An entire section of an elephant tusk, hollowed out, made it possible to decorate the surface of this bucket with scenes from the life of Jesus. On the lower
register are depicted the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Dream of Joseph, and the Baptism of Jesus. On the upper register are the Betrayal, the Flagellation, the Last Supper, the Ascension, the Holy Women at the Sepulchre, and the Crucifixion.”

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