VOLUME 22, NUMBER 20

APRIL 5, 2020 

FROM THE RECTOR: EASTER 2020

I write on the afternoon of Easter Eve. I’m very thankful that we resident clergy and friars have maintained the Daily Mass and Daily Evening Prayer. We are all taking on work as it comes and adapting as we can. All of us are grateful for the witness of our live-streamed services and the spiritual connection made for an enlarging parish community. We were so honored by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s offer to video tape a sermon for Maundy Thursday for us since he could not be with us as celebrant and preacher. If you haven’t had a chance to view the video, it’s less than fourteen minutes in length. I commend it to you.

This morning your clergy and the friars walked through how we will celebrate the Great Vigil of Easter. There will be a very small fire in the church in the area between the pews and the chancel. We will light a candle from the fire and process to the Lady Chapel. The paschal candle is already in its stand. The lights will be on in the chapel when we arrive.

Since no one can be close enough to me, the celebrant, to hold the altar book, one of the priests will say the traditional words and I will repeat them as I cut a cross, Alpha and Omega, and 2020 into the candle and then place five incense nails into it. With light from the candle brought from the fire, I will light the Paschal candle and pray, “May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.” The light will be shared.

Br. Damien Joseph SSF will sing the Paschal Proclamation: Exsultet. Prophecies will be read, Christ’s resurrection proclaimed, and liturgy of the Eucharist will begin. After the epistle, psalm, and gospel, there will be a homily and the renewal of baptismal vows with the blessing and sprinkling of water. Next will be the Prayers of the People, the Great Thanksgiving, and Communion. For those who are able to watch the live-stream, there will be a very short break as we turn the iPhone on a tripod in the church off and turn the iPhone on a tripod in the chapel on. Stay with us.

On Easter morning, there will be a Sung Mass at 10:00 AM. On Easter afternoon, we will celebrate Easter Day Evening Prayer & Benediction at 5:00 PM. The gospel reading at Evening Prayer is from John, Jesus’ appearance to his disciples, save Thomas, on the evening of the day of resurrection. During adoration of the Sacrament, we hear the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples on the Road to Emmaus from Luke—the only passage in Luke that I can’t read without emotion. Both services will be live-streamed. I hope many may be able to join us.

I am not at all immune from worry for myself and for people I know and those I don’t know. Most days I limit myself to the reading summaries of the news of the day. People are in touch with my colleagues and me, and we try to respond as we are able. Our trustees have begun to reach out to people, as they can, by telephone and other forms of messages. With our office manager and bookkeeper working remotely, Father Jay Smith and I often are in the office to take care of things.

I have spent an enormous amount of time last week as the Paycheck Protection Program was rolled out, working with the finance team at the diocese (through whom we process our payroll) and our bank. The team at the diocese has been working long days on behalf of the 130 congregations that process payroll through the diocese. I thought the application was ready on Friday, but changes were made to the program last week. I have everything I need to get in on Monday—as far as I know.

There have been many graces and many smiles as we work and pray. I’m glad I serve in a congregation where we are permitted to carry on with the regular worship of the Church. I hope broadcasting many services of the web may become part of our ministry. Happy Easter. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Jorge, Margarita, Richard, James, Luis, Gladys, Carmen, Emily, Lauren, Kristin, Shalim, Diana, Daniel, Nam, Maria, Maritza, John, Marilouise, MaryHope, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, Michael, Emil, Barbara, Ethelyn, Dennis, Margaret, Burton, and Abraham; for Leo, Carl, David, and Barbara Jean, religious; for Ryan, Gene, Gaylord, Louis, priests; for Charles, bishop; for the members of the Twelve-Step Groups that meet at Saint Mary’s; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty; and for all the members, benefactors and friends of this parish.

GRANT THEM PEACE: April 12: 1886 Rachel McLellan; 1888 Evelyn Tower; 1891 Anna Holbrook Ely, Daniel Cottier; 1901 Henrietta Olive Favor; 1906 Howard Lewsen Rescousie; 1919 Henry Wiedner; 1925 Irene McFall Meyers; 1964 Harold Bosworth Libbey.

PREPARING FOR WORSHIP ON EASTER DAY . . . The readings for Mass on Easter Day are Acts 10:34–43; Psalm 118:14–17, 22–24; Colossians 3:1–4; John 20:1–18. At Evening Prayer and Benediction, we will hear Isaiah 51:9–11, John 20:19–23; Luke 24:13–35. These readings can be accessed on the parish website.

THE EASTER APPEAL . . . The collection taken up at the Maundy Thursday liturgy is normally directed to those who are in need. Since the members of the parish community will not be able to gather physically in the church this year, the members of the board of trustees have decided to divide the Easter Appeal donations that we hope will be coming to us by mail in the following way: half of the donations will be used to assist with the parish’s budget shortfall, the other half will be donated to Breaking Ground, one of our outreach partners, that works to find housing for those without shelter. The Appeal packets were mailed on Friday, April 3. We ask you to be as generous as you are able in these hard times.

HOLY WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Saturday, April 11, The Great Vigil of Easter will be celebrated in the Lady Chapel beginning at 7:00 PM, April 11 . . . Sunday, April 12, A Sung Mass will be celebrated in the Lady Chapel on Easter Day at 10:00 AM ; Evening Prayer and Eucharistic Benediction will be offered in the Lady Chapel on Easter Day at 5:00 PM . . . These services will be live-streamed on Facebook and then archived on the parish website.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . During Easter Week, and for the foreseeable future, the resident clergy and the friars will continue to celebrate the Eucharist every day at 10:00 AM. On Saturdays and Sundays, we gather for Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM, and on weekdays at 6:00 PM. The 10:00 AM Mass is livestreamed on the parish’s Facebook page.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . We have learned that one of our sextons, Jorge Trujillo, was hospitalized last week to receive treatment for COVID-19. He was back home as of Thursday, April 9. He tells us that he is feeling better and feeling stronger every day. Parishioners Luis Reyes and Gladys Ramos-Reyes have also fallen ill. They have not been hospitalized and they continue to recuperate at home . . . The Board of Trustees of the parish met via Zoom on Thursday, April 9 . . . We urge all those who are able to continue to make their pledge payments during this time. Our parish administrator is working from home, but is connected to the parish office remotely. He may be reached either by e-mail or by phone. He would be happy to discuss payment arrangements with you . . . The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Right Reverend Michael B. Curry was to be our celebrant and preacher at the Maundy Thursday liturgy this year. Since that was not to be, he very kindly recorded a homily for us, which is available on the parish website . . . Problems with our live-streamed services: If you are watching our services as they are live-streamed from the Lady Chapel, please be aware that we sometimes experience a loss of connectivity. It can take a couple of minutes to re-connect to the Internet. We apologize for any inconvenience and suggest that, if you are able, you wait a couple of minutes for us to solve the problems . . . Father John Merz, vicar of the Church of the Ascension in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was an assisting priest here at Saint Mary’s in the mid-2000s. He is a kind, pastoral, and thoughtful priest, with a very practical side to him. He was active in relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy. He and the members of his parish have been developing a feeding program which has been expanded in some very interesting and practical ways during the pandemic. His work was featured on Friday in the New York Times. The title of the article is “How to Help in a Pandemic: Ask Before You Donate 1,000 Pizzas A Brooklyn priest learned to cut through the red tape after Hurricane Sandy.” He has lessons for us. For more information about Father Merz’s work, please visit the website of North Brooklyn Angels . . . We are grateful to our many parishioners—and to our fellow staff members—who have answered our texts and e-mail messages this week as we’ve prepared for Holy Week and also dealt with the ongoing needs of the parish. We have had a lot of questions—where is...?; how do I...?; do you think you could possibly...? We are separated physically, but it is clear that we are still united by a common purpose and mission. Thank you very much. We know how much we rely on you and how much we enjoy working with you. May this crisis end soon!

FROM THE FRIARY . . . Brother Damien Joseph SSF and Brother Thomas SSF, along with some of their brothers in California, have been posting meditations on the website of the Society of Saint Francis in recent weeks. They’ve included “When All You Can Do Is Nothing” and “Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” as well as a video of a Lenten Retreat that was designed originally for a Quiet Day here at Saint Mary’s and at Saint Luke’s Church, Sea Cliff, Long Island.

FROM THE MISSION HOUSE STUDIO . . . Our resident iconographer, Zachary Roesemann, recently told us of an icon now in a gallery in London that is of particular interest during this pandemic. The icon was painted in the early nineteenth century and is in what Zach has described as “the distinctive Lebanese style.” It was probably painted by a Melkite (Greek Catholic) iconographer. The image is of the Blessed Virgin nursing the Child Jesus. The icon has inscriptions in Greek and Arabic. One of those inscriptions reads, “Star of Heaven, please save us from the epidemic. Please answer our prayers, because your Son hears you and he will not hold back anything from us. Our Lord Jesus, set us free from death, because your pure Virgin Mother hears our prayers, and for the sake of your Mother help us. For our sake, you pure Virgin, the hand of Jesus, you are the saint and the Mother of God.” The owner of the Temple Gallery has kindly granted us permission to quote the prayer. The icon may be viewed here.

A NEW FORM OF ASSISTANCE . . . A new volunteer organization called Invisible Hands was recently established here in New York to assist those at high risk of infection with COVID-19. Volunteers, who are at lower risk of infection, shop or run certain errands for those who are sequestered. We are told that 8,000 volunteers have recently signed up to assist in this effort. However, the need is great, and it is sometimes necessary to wait a few days before one can be assigned a volunteer. For more information, please visit Invisible Hands’ website.

LIFE IN TIMES SQUARE . . . Though the performing-arts community is reeling from the closure of theaters here in Midtown and throughout the city, the community is finding new ways to perform for and reach out to their sequestered fellow New Yorkers. The website of the Times Square Alliance has links to a variety of resources: online performances, classes, interviews and panel discussions.

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