FROM THE RECTOR: LOOKING AHEAD

The doors of Saint Mary’s opened at 7:00 AM on Ash Wednesday. People were still coming in when they were closed at 8:00 PM. I want to thank all of our parish volunteers and staff for doing so much and for doing it with a real joy in our ministry of welcome. The Right Reverend Allen K. Shin, bishop suffragan (and former assisting priest and curate here), was celebrant and preacher for the 12:10 Sung Mass. Bishop Shin will be back with us as celebrant and preacher for the Solemn Mass on Wednesday evening, March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.

In the summer of 1998, a few weeks after a telephone interview with Saint Mary’s Rector Search Committee, I was jogging and listening to what is still my favorite twentieth-century setting of the Mass ordinary, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor. I realized that were I called to serve at Saint Mary’s, I would be serving in a parish with an extraordinary musical tradition. I had no idea then how much my spiritual life would be enriched by worshiping in this building and in this musical tradition. Here music is a dimension of holiness.

At the Sung and Solemn Masses on Ash Wednesday, everything was right, good, and, joyful inside the church, despite the penitential tone, when the choir sang Miserere mei, Deus, a setting of Psalm 51 by Gregorio Allegri (1582–1652), during the imposition of ashes. During a recent liturgy meeting, Dr. David Hurd referred to the Allegri setting’s “remarkable solo line.” Chorister Charlotte Mundy, soprano, sang that remarkable music beautifully and flawlessly at both liturgies. With that solo line, repeated five times, Allegri gives us a pure sound of extraordinary simplicity and other-worldly beauty—and the music is so high that few people can sing it. If I may, Charlotte and our musicians made us listen with our souls.

On the Sundays of Lent, the parish choir joins the congregation downstairs in the chancel for the Solemn Mass. Our extraordinary musical resources—our musicians and our building—enable us to sing hymns and the other congregational chants without organ accompaniment. We hear their music differently—and our music, too—when the choir is in the chancel and not in the gallery. On the Fourth Sunday in Lent, the organ is used modestly, rose vestments are worn, and flowers will be on the high altar.

As is our custom, on all of the Fridays in Lent, following Evening Prayer at 6:00 PM, we pray the Stations of the Cross at 6:30 PM. Most of the congregation will follow the officiant and servers to the stations on both sides of the nave ambulatory. Others will remain in their pews. (Personal note: the arthritis in my right knee makes it hard for me to genuflect without holding on to something; nowadays I just bow lot.) I invite you to join us. (Note: Centering Prayer will meet in the Morning Room on Fridays in Lent at 7:00 PM.)

Finally, Lent in our current lectionary year, that is, Year A, reminds me of the excitement I heard in the voices of the four senior priests with whom I served in Dallas right out of seminary. They loved the then-new Prayer Book lectionary. Year A retains the historic gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism and temptation (Matthew 4:1–11). I’ll write more about the second Sunday of the Lenten Season next week. One of the best decisions of the 1969 Roman Catholic Church lectionary was to move three gospel lessons from weekdays in Lent to Sunday. The gospels on the last three Sundays in Lent of Year A are the accounts of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (John 4:1–42), Jesus Healing the Man Born Blind (John 9:1–42), and Jesus Raising Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1–44). These gospel lessons were never appointed for any Eucharist in previous Prayer Books. I can’t imagine my life as a Christian without knowing them and hearing them preached. Happy Lent. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Shalim, Naquann, Ronald, Pat, Martha, Sharon, Marilouise, MaryHope, John, Luis, Margaret, Carlos, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Karen, Takeem, and Michael; Yamily, 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: March 1: 1888 Francis Burr James; 1909 John Netterfield; 1913 Robert H. Currie; 1923 Henri Bigelow Beach LaFerre, priest; 1927 Julia Watt Lawrence, Mary Dral Werner, Mary Lynch; 1933 Amelia Jane Hammond Todd; 2015 Kenneth Wayne Cross.

THE WEEKDAYS OF LENT AND OF HOLY WEEK, except for the feast of the Annunciation, are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial. Good Friday and all other Fridays of the year, except for Fridays in the Christmas and Easter seasons, and any Feasts of our Lord which occur on a Friday, are also observed as days of special devotion in commemoration of the Lord’s crucifixion. —See: The Book of Common Prayer, page 17.

LENTEN QUIET DAY . . . There will be a Quiet Day here at Saint Mary’s on Saturday, March 14, 10:00 AM–3:00 PM. The day will be led by our resident Franciscan friars, Brother Damien Joseph SSF and Brother Thomas Steffensen SSF. The Brothers will lead the group in an exploration of ways to read and contemplate the Gospels and other scriptures, using an Ignatian “active imagination” method. Using lectionary readings, art, guided imagery, and the individual imagination, the brothers will encourage those attending the Quiet Day to seek and to find deeper connections to Christ in scripture as well as applications for their daily lives. A donation of $15.00 is encouraged, and scholarships are available. Please contact Father Smith, if you would like to attend. (All are welcome. We just need to know the approximate numbers in order to plan for lunch.)

AROUND THE PARISH . . . We are extremely grateful to our faithful and hard-working musicians, ushers, welcomers, altar servers, parish volunteers, launderers of altar linens, bakers of bread, sextons, administrative staff, and assisting clergy, who give so much of their time and talent to make what we do possible here at Saint Mary’s. Their dedication and generosity were on full display at the parish on Ash Wednesday, from 6:00 AM till closing at 8:00 PM, and we are particularly grateful to all those who did so much to make that day a success. We are also grateful to Bishop Allen Shin, who came back to Saint Mary’s to celebrate and preach at the 12:10 PM liturgy. It is always good to have him with us once again . . . Father Jay Smith will be out of the city and away from the parish for work from Tuesday, March 3, until Thursday, March 5 . . . Flowers are needed for the Sundays after Easter. We also welcome donations to help with the decoration of the church for Holy Week and Easter Day. Please be in touch with Chris Howatt in the parish office if you would like to make a donation . . . Attendance at all Offices and Masses: Last Sunday: 189; Ash Wednesday 244.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, March 1, 2020, The First Sunday of Lent, Sung Matins 8:30 AM; Mass 9:00 & 10:00 AM; Adult Education 10:00 AM; Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Solemn Evensong and Benediction 5:00 PM . . . Wednesday, March 4, Weekday of Lent, Sung Mass 12:10 PM; Wednesday Afternoon Grab-and-Go, 2:00 to 3:00 PM in the church narthex; The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class meets at 6:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study . . . Thursday, March 5, Mass with Healing Service 12:10 PM . . . Friday, March 6, Evening Prayer 6:00 PM, Stations of the Cross 6:30 PM, Centering Prayer Group 7:00 PM in the Morning Room.

A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS . . . The members of the Flower Guild are always happy to welcome those who wish to join their ranks, either on a regular basis, or during Advent and Holy Week, when preparations take place for Christmas and Easter. If you would like to help with Easter decorations this year, please contact Brendon Hunter. You don’t need to be a designer in order to volunteer! Brendon is also looking for help with a variety of altar guild duties, working with candles, vestments, altar linens, and the sacred vessels. Work in the sacristy can be a prayerful and satisfying ministry. Please contact Brendon if you have questions or would like to serve in this way.

OUTREACH AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Our next Drop-in Day will take place on Wednesday, March 18, in the Mission House basement and in the Narthex of the church. Every Wednesday, we hold our Grab-and-Go, during which socks, underwear, toiletries, and seasonal items are available in the church lobby at the Forty-sixth Street entrance to the church . . . 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

THE SOCIETY OF SAINT FRANCIS . . . Brother Desmond Alban SSF, minister provincial of the Society of Saint Francis, Province of the Americas, is in residence in the friary here at Saint Mary’s. He was with us on Ash Wednesday. Both he and Brother Damien Joseph SSF took their turns imposing ashes in either the church or the Mercy Chapel during the day and helped in other ways on that very busy day. It is good to have Brother Desmond with us. Brother Thomas Steffensen SSF needed to be away on Ash Wednesday, since he was attending a session of his quarterly spiritual-direction training. He returned to the parish on Thursday. Brother Damien Joseph was using a new camera on Ash Wednesday. It is an upgrade and will prove useful for parish communications and for his own art photography.

ABOUT THE CHORAL AND ORGAN MUSIC ON SUNDAY, MARCH 1 . . . Sunday’s choral music is English in origin, separated by two centuries. The setting of the Mass is by Charles Wood (1866–1926). Wood had a decided influence on the development of English church music in his time. His principal composition teachers were Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) and Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848–1918), and his students included Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) and Herbert Howells (1892–1983). Irish by birth, Wood received his early musical training as a treble chorister in the choir of the Church of Ireland’s Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. In 1883 he became a member of the inaugural class of the Royal College of Music. His career included teaching music, directing, and playing the organ at several colleges. After Stanford’s death in 1924, Wood succeeded his mentor as Professor of Music at Cambridge. Wood’s compositions are varied and include eight string quartets, but he is chiefly remembered for his church music and his arrangements of carols. His Short Communion Service, sung at Sunday’s Solemn Mass, is described as “In the Polyphonic style, written for unaccompanied singing, chiefly in the Phrygian mode.”  As such, Wood has done what church music composers throughout the centuries have done by returning to a stilo antico (antique style) for inspiration.  

Henry Purcell (1659–1695) is the composer of Sunday’s Communion motet, Remember not, Lord, our offenses. Purcell, more than any other composer of his time, defined English Baroque musical style in a variety of vocal and instrumental genres that included works for theater, court, and church. He was born in London, and his family home was virtually in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, where he became organist in 1679. Standing on the foundation of such composers as Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585), William Byrd (c. 1543–1623) and Orlando Gibbons (c. 1583–1625), copies of whose anthems he made at an early age, Purcell forged a musical language of rich harmony and vivid textual expression. Today’s motet is Purcell’s five-voice setting of the collect following the Trinitarian invocation which begins the Great Litany. This choral prayer, composed in the early 1680s, presents its Prayer Book text mostly syllabically, colored expressively by Purcell’s characteristic use of chromatic harmony. — David Hurd

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . The Wednesday Night Bible Study Class meets next on March 4 at 6:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study. This term the class is reading Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. The class is led by Father Jay Smith. Father Smith will be away on March 4, and the class will be led by Brother Damien Joseph SSF. Father Smith will return to the class on March 11. Newcomers are always welcome . . . Beginning on March 1, Father Peter Powell will resume his series on the prophets in the Adult Forum on Sundays at 10:00 AM. The series will take place on all the Sundays in Lent and on Palm Sunday . . . After Eastertide, on most of the Sundays in May, the Franciscan friars will be leading the Sunday Adult Forum—exact title and topic to be announced shortly.

COMING UP . . . Sunday, March 8, Daylight Saving Time begins. Clocks should be set ahead one hour . . . Thursday, March 19, Saint Joseph . . . Wednesday, March 25, The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . April 5, The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday . . . The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry, XXVII Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, will be the celebrant and preacher here at Saint Mary’s on Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2020, at 6:00 PM. We look forward to welcoming Bishop Curry for this, his first visit to Saint Mary’s as presiding bishop.

AT THE GALLERIES . . . At the Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, New York, NY 10014, (212) 570-3600. Vida Americana (“American Life”): Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945, February 17–May 17, 2020. From the museum website, “Mexico underwent a radical cultural transformation at the end of its Revolution in 1920. A new relationship between art and the public was established, giving rise to art that spoke directly to the people about social justice and national life. The model galvanized artists in the United States who were seeking to break free of European aesthetic domination to create publicly significant and accessible native art. Numerous American artists traveled to Mexico, and the leading Mexican muralists—José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—spent extended periods of time in the United States, executing murals, paintings, and prints; exhibiting their work; and interacting with local artists. With approximately 200 works by sixty Mexican and American artists, this exhibition reorients art history by revealing the profound impact the Mexican muralists had on their counterparts in the United States during this period and the ways in which their example inspired American artists both to create epic narratives about American history and everyday life and to use their art to protest economic, social, and racial injustices.”

The Calendar of the Week

The Complete Service Schedule for 2020