FROM THE RECTOR: DAILY COLLECTS

Since I went to Nashotah House Seminary in the fall of 1980, my ordinary experience of Daily Morning and Evening Prayer has been in church with others, five or six days a week, most weeks of the year. Before the pandemic, I rarely prayed the office on my days off. On Saturday evenings, when I am off and at home, I go to the church for Evening Prayer—it’s Sunday’s eve. When I’m away from home, I’m more likely to pray Morning Prayer than Evening Prayer—and, if I skip the offices, I don’t beat myself up. During the pandemic, there are days when Father Jay Smith or I will pray aloud the Angelus (while ringing the tolling bell) and the evening office in the church alone. Occasionally, the friars will pray Evening Prayer in the friary chapel when Jay and I are not here.

Before the pandemic closed our churches for public worship, my day began with coffee, reading the newspaper, and, most mornings, going to the gym. Sometime this spring, with churches and gyms closed, my daily routine became making a cup of coffee and reading Morning Prayer by myself in the rectory—before reading the newspaper.

In the 1928 Prayer Book, there were two fixed collects for Morning Prayer and two fixed collects for Evening Prayer. These prayers are in the 1979 Prayer Book (the collects for peace and grace in the morning, in the evening a different one for peace and one for aid against perils. The latter is a wonderful and short collect. It begins, “Be our light in the darkness, O Lord” (page 123).

With the 1979 book, the collect of the day may always be used—and that is the custom I have known since seminary. There are now seven optional collects. One is for Sunday, one for Friday, and one for Saturday. Then there are four collects, without being appointed for particular days. We pray one of them in the order that they are printed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These four collects and the one for Saturday have broad application for daily living. You can find them in the Prayer Book on pages 55 and 56 for Rite One and pages 98 through 100 for Rite Two.

This is the collect for Saturdays: "Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (page 99). It’s new to the 1979 Prayer Book. It was written by Edward White Benson (1829-1896, archbishop of Canterbury 1883–1896), who created the service of Nine Lessons and Carols while bishop of Truro for Christmas Eve 1880.

How does one "put away all earthly anxieties" in times when medical, social, economic, and political issues are raising tensions in church and society, here and abroad? This is a collect I keep in my Daily Office Book on an index card to use as needed. It is titled "For Quiet Confidence”: O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (page 832). —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Kelly, Barbara, Matt, Carmen, Shalim, Quincy, Brice, Margaret, Larry, Samantha, John, Wilbert, Marilouise, Alexandra, Abraham, Emil, Ethelyn, Dennis, Robert, and Hardy; for all who suffer from COVID-19; for Gaylord and Louis, priests; and Charles, bishop; for all those who work for the common good; and for all the members and friends of this parish . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . November 8: 1882 Isabella Bissell; 1992 Edna Chaney.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2021 . . . Our stewardship campaign has begun, and pledge cards are beginning to arrive in the mail. Some statistics may be helpful. We mailed packets to 117 households that pledged last year; to 47 households that did not pledge last year, but did pledge at some point during the previous four years households; and to 698 households that have expressed an interest in supporting the parish in the past. Our goal for the campaign is $400,000. As of November 5, we have received $93,605 in pledges from 32 households, 23.4% of our goal. This is an encouraging start, but we still have a long way to go. We encourage all the friends and members of the parish to return their pledge cards on Sunday, November 22, the Last Sunday after Pentecost and our Commitment Sunday. 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, especially in these days of the pandemic. Our mission is clear. We invite your support.

THE ORDINARY FRIDAYS OF THE YEAR are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial in commemoration of the Lord’s crucifixion.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Parishioner Barbara Klett has been discharged from Metropolitan Hospital and is now at a rehab facility here in Manhattan. Please keep her in your prayers . . . A Reminder about the Parish Office: Our office manager, Chris Howatt, continues to work only three days per week, normally Tuesday–Thursday. You may always leave a message for him on the office’s voicemail (212-869-5830 x 10). For pastoral emergencies, please contact Father Gerth or Father Smith by e-mail or on their landlines . . . On Sunday, November 8, the altar flowers are given by Paul Grzella and Ed Edwards in memory of their parents. They were arranged by Brendon Hunter . . . Friday, November 13, Clothing Ministry Set-up, 10:00–11:00 AM, Saint Joseph’s Hall and Lady Chapel: 2:00–3:00 PM, Clothing Ministry Drop-by, The Lady Chapel.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Saturday, November 7, Diocesan Convention. Parish delegates will be attending via Zoom. Mass will be celebrated here at Saint Mary’s at 12:10 PM on Saturday . . . Sunday, November 8, Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, Adult Education 9:30 AM; Mass 11:00 AM. The church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 12:30 PM. The preacher is the Reverend Stephen Gerth. The service is played by Dr. David Hurd. He will be joined by cantor, Dr. Mark Risinger, bass. This service is live-streamed . . . On the afternoon of Saturday, October 31, our resident orchestra, New York Repertory Orchestra, returned to Saint Mary’s for a rehearsal. It was good to see them and to hear them. NYRO’s music director, David Leibowitz, tells us that he’s not yet sure where or how the orchestra will perform the pieces they’re now rehearsing, but, still, it is good, he says, to be back making music together. He also said that they’re not yet able to play repertoire that includes wind instruments because of COVID restrictions, so for the moment we will be hearing the orchestra’s strings. Among those at the rehearsal was parishioner Grace Mudd, who, as one would expect, marked All Hallows’ Eve with a cat-woman costume . . . Monday through Saturday, the church opens at 11:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM. Mass is celebrated daily at 12:10 PM. Please see the Calendar of the Week below, and on the website, for this week’s commemorations . . . Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish between Monday, November 9, and Sunday, November 15.

OUR CLOTHING MINISTRY COULD USE YOUR HELP . . . It’s been cold out there some days this week! Hats, underwear, socks, thermals, blankets, and the like are in demand. We’re so glad we can help with these urgent needs. One of our clients told us recently how generous we were and thanked us for being here and providing this sort of help. So, we’d like to say how generous you are and thank you for being there for those in need in our neighborhood. Your gifts are keeping God’s people warm! Current biggest need is for blankets, sleeping bags, and thermal underwear. You can drop them at the church any time, or order them to be shipped here, or make a monetary donation toward our monthly orders. Thank you! And thank you to all those who have contributed so generously to this ministry. —Brother Damien SSF

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The organ prelude on Sunday morning is the third of the five movements dedicated to the Latin hymn of praise, Te Deum laudamus, by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707). Buxtehude is one of the most highly regarded composers of the generation before Johann Sebastian Bach. His compositions include a wealth of organ music, pieces both free and based upon pre-existent melodies for sacred texts. His Choralefantasia Te Deum laudamus is a five-movement work based upon the Solemn Tone plainchant for Te Deum, the ancient Latin hymn traditionally (but doubtfully) attributed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine. The third of the five movements is based on the verse Pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae (“Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory”). It is a fully developed, multi-sectional chorale fantasia in which Buxtehude successively embellishes short segments of the chant employing a full range of stylistic devices typical of baroque chorale fantasias.

The musical setting of Sunday’s Mass is Mass VII as found in the Liber Usualis (“Usual Book”), a comprehensive anthology of medieval Roman plainsong compiled in the nineteenth century by the monks of Solesmes, France. Like the several other numbered Masses of the Gregorian Missal, Mass VII (In Festis Duplicibus. 4) is a collection of chants for the Ordinary of the Mass which likely were originally independent pieces brought together and associated with one another by later custom. This particular combination was traditionally sung on certain feast days in the Roman calendar. The Gloria of Mass VII, in Mode 6, dates from the twelfth century. The Sanctus and Agnus Dei are both in Mode 8 and date from the eleventh and fifteenth centuries respectively.

The cantor on Sunday morning is bass, Mark Risinger. During the Communion, he will sing a setting of the Eucharistic hymn O salutaris hostia by César Franck (1822–1890). The text consists of stanza five of the six-stanza hymn Verbum supernum prodiens attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274). This text has traditionally associated with Eucharistic devotion and is regularly sung just prior to the Divine Praises at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament here at Saint Mary’s. As a result of its frequent liturgical use, there are a great many musical settings of the hymn. César Franck composed settings of this text for different vocal and instrumental combinations including two for solo voice and organ. Born in Belgium, Franck entered the Paris Conservatory at age fifteen. From 1844 he held various titles at Parisian churches and, in 1858, moved to Sainte Clotilde to preside at the Cavaille-Coll organ in that newly built neo-gothic church. The genre of the “solo motet” may have originated in Italy with works by Lodovico Viadana (c. 1560–1627) that specified solo vocal performance. In France, this genre was distinguished from vernacular sacred songs (cantiques) by its adherence to Latin liturgical texts. Although the specifics of its origin remain uncertain, Franck’s O salutaris in B-flat for bass and organ exemplifies this genre. Such solo motets and similar works for two, three, or four voices, and organ became fashionable in later nineteenth-century France as a practical response to the short supply of trained church musicians resulting from the social, political, and ecclesial instabilities which characterized the earlier part of the century.

A few words about cantor, Mark Risinger. Mark is a Texas native, and has been a member of the Saint Mary’s choir since 2005. He is also currently a member of the board of trustees, and board vice president. He teaches music and English literature at Saint Bernard’s School and serves on the Education Committee of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. As a soloist, he has performed opera and oratorio throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico, including appearances with New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the New York Choral Society, the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s, the Opera Orchestra of New York, Boston Baroque, and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. In addition to degrees in English literature, he holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Harvard University, where he completed a dissertation on the compositional process of G. F. Handel and where he was lecturer on music for five years. In addition to teaching and singing, he is a frequent guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and an editor of the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. —David Hurd

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . Please note: all the adult-education classes this year begin at 9:30 AM NOT 10:00 AM. On November 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, and December 6 and 13, Father Peter Powell will lead a class on the final book in the Christian Bible, the Revelation to John. Father Peter writes, “Episcopalians rarely study or refer to the last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse or the Revelation to John. It’s not a simple read and the images are fantastic. Nevertheless, it exerts a huge impact on the way Christianity is understood in our culture. It underlies the popular understanding of how God works in the world. This Fall, beginning on All Saints’ Day and continuing until the second Sunday in December, then resuming in the spring during Lent, we will explore how we can understand and appreciate the Apocalypse, while weighing its theology against that of the Gospels and Pauline Epistles. As we work through the text, we will encounter the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Michael and the Dragon, the concept of God keeping an accounting of our misdeeds, Armageddon, the Crystal Sea, and much more. We will also see how the imagery of the Apocalypse fueled the contest for faith during the Reformation. You can get a feel for that by searching online for the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer. Ever wonder why 666 is an evil number? We will encounter it in Revelation. When a Jehovah Witness visits you, why do they speak of 144,000 saved? We will encounter it in Revelation. This promises to be a visually and intellectually stimulating study of the last book of the Bible.”

Up Next: In January, after the Christmas break, Brother Damien Joseph SSF will lead the Sunday morning adult-education class in a discussion of Christian mysticism, focusing on four different figures from the Western Christian mystical tradition.

For all these classes, seating in Saint Joseph’s Hall will be arranged to maximize social-distancing. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide refreshments. All those attending the class must wear a face covering.

LIFE IN TIMES SQUARE . . . You are invited to visit Playbill’s website for information about a variety of plays and other theatrical events that are being live-streamed during this time when Broadway theaters remain dark.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR . . . Saturday, November 7, 244th Convention of the Diocese of New York . . . Sunday, November 22, Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King & Commitment Sunday, Mass 11:00 AM . . . Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Sunday, November 29, First Sunday of Advent, Mass 11:00 AM . . . Tuesday, December 8, The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the 150th Anniversary of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Mass 12:10 PM. This Mass will be live-streamed.

SAINT MARY’S ONLINE CENTERING PRAYER GROUP . . . The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group continues to meet! The Group meets online, via Zoom, every Friday evening at 7:00 PM. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to this address. The convenors of the group will then send the link to the Zoom meeting.

AT THE GALLERIES . . . Two of our parishioners recently had the opportunity to go on a fall getaway to the Hudson Valley. During their time away, they visited the Olana State Historic Site, near Hudson, New York. Olana was the home of Frederic Church and Isabel Mortimer Carnes Church. Frederic Church was a painter and a central figure in what is known as the Hudson River School of painting. (Though Church is associated with the Hudson Valley, he was also, in a sense, a New Yorker. As the Olana website notes, “Church maintained an active presence in New York City, where he was a part of the art community. Like many artists, Church, was a member of the National Academy of Design and the Century Club, and had a studio in the Tenth Street Studio Building.”) Church’s teacher was the well-known painter Thomas Cole and both men produced distinctively American work that is still appreciated today, not least for the vividness of its color, for the beauty of the landscapes, and for the distinctive depiction of light in natural settings. Olana is beautifully sited on the east side of the Hudson, looking down to the river and to the river’s west side and beyond, not far from Catskill, New York. This historic site has an excellent website, which introduces one to the site, the art collection, the gardens, and the house itself. We have no wish to encourage New Yorkers to move to the Hudson valley, but Olana and the surrounding area is well worth a visit.

SOME GUIDELINES FOR ATTENDING SERVICES AT SAINT MARY’S

We are now open for public worship. In order to ensure the health and safety of all, we have instituted the following procedures and guidelines:

-The 47th Street Doors, though open for ventilation, won’t be used for entry into the church. Entry is only via 46th Street. Exit only through the most western 46th Street door (near the former gift shop).

-The Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy and Saint Joseph’s Chapel are closed. The Lady Chapel is open, but all chairs, kneelers, candles, hymnals, and Prayer Books have been removed.

-Facemasks must be worn in the church at all times, except when consuming Communion. Masks should cover both mouth and nose.

-Hands-free sanitizer dispensers are available by the doors and at the head of the center aisle, where Communion will take place.

   -The city, state, and diocese of New York encourages all those attending services to sign a registry and to provide one means of contact. This will be used only if it emerges that an infected person has been in attendance at a particular service and contact tracing is required.

-Everyone must maintain safe distancing (at least 6 feet apart).

-Pews have been marked with blue tape to indicate where seating is allowed.

-Only 44 people will be allowed in the nave at any time (this includes 6 couples or pairs—people who live together—who may sit together).

-All cushions have been removed from the pews. All prayer books and hymnals have been removed from the church. Service bulletins will be provided, but will be removed from the church after each service.

-Electric fans have been removed from the nave of the church. There will be no hand-held fans available at the door.

-A basket has been placed at the head of the main aisle, where pledge envelopes and other donations may be safely placed. There will be no collection taken by ushers.

-Communion (wafers only) will be administered at the foot of the chancel steps. Gluten-free hosts are available. Please inform an usher or a member of the clergy.

-All communicants must proceed down the main aisle, maintain social distance as indicated by the decals on the floor, and return to their seats via the side aisles.

-Restrooms will be available only to those who are attending the service.

If you have questions or wish to make a suggestion, please contact the rector. 

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Stephen Gerth and Father Jay Smith. Father Gerth is responsible for posting the newsletter on the parish website and for distributing it via e-mail.

The Calendar of the Week

The November 2020 Calendar