FROM THE RECTOR: PREPARING TO REOPEN

As I write, the board of trustees, staff, and parish clergy are planning for the reopening of the church for public worship and prayer on Wednesday, July 1. There are many moving parts, as it were, that need to come together for this to happen. Before that day, all of the cushions, kneelers, books, and pamphlets will need to be removed from the church and the chapels. I think it will be just fine with the Lord if we stand or sit, as we are able, for all of the prayers—including the confession of sin.

As of now, we are planning to open the church Monday through Saturday at 11:00 AM, celebrate the Eucharist at the high altar at 12:10 PM, and then allow the church to remain open for prayer until 2:00 PM. On Sunday, we will open at 10:00 AM, celebrate the Eucharist at 11:00 AM, and close at 12:30 PM.

We already know that 40 individuals, or 30 individuals and five couples, can sit at a safe distance from each other in the nave for Mass. The seats in the chancel will be reserved for the clergy and the friars. Since public worship ended, only the celebrant has received the bread and wine consecrated each day at the Eucharist. In order to communicate those attending the Eucharist, we consecrate additional hosts once or twice per month, place them in a ciborium, and then reserve them in the tabernacle—it’s been a real grace to have a tabernacle at the Lady Chapel altar. Be assured that the hosts, both wheat and gluten-free, are consecrated after they have been carefully placed in the ciborium. The hosts are only touched during the ministration by the gloved hand of the celebrant.

The lessons will be read and the sermons will be preached from the lectern. Communion will be given by the celebrant at the chancel steps. The Wine will not be administered. The Bread may only be received in the hand, not on the tongue. If someone is unable to come forward, the celebrant or another assisting minister will go to him or her, if requested. Safe distance will be maintained.

There can be no congregational singing until the pandemic has passed. There can be no ministration of wine, or communion using leavened bread, and there will be no holy water in our stoups for the foreseeable future. I am in touch with colleagues about what a safe set-up for lighting a candle at a shrine might look like.

The 47th Street doors of the church will not be opened during this phase of the reopening. There will be a sign directing people to the 46th Street entrance where one doorway will be open for entry and a second as an exit. There will be tables with service bulletins and a basket for offerings as people enter. We will ask members of the congregation to take their service bulletins away with them and to refrain from sharing them with their neighbors during the service. We are working on proposals for the set-up we will need to live-stream properly our services at the high altar.

During the first days we are open, I am planning to be in the church while it is open to help and to see how it goes. Ushers and servers are being contacted to see if any are able to assist during the hours that we are open. We have a good supply of face masks for those who don’t have them. Masks will be worn by all in the church, except for the celebrant and reader while he or she is speaking.

Opening our restrooms will be a challenge—surfaces will need to be disinfected after each person makes use of the facilities. At this point, if one has been in the city since the shutdown, one is mindful that one should plan ahead.

In moving our daily Mass to the Lady Chapel, Father Smith, Father Pace, and I had to think about many, many details. More than once since the pandemic arrived, I’ve clicked on YouTube to listen to Steve Winwood’s 1986 hit single, “Roll With It.” I was in Baton Rouge when that song came out. I always wondered whether it was recorded in New Orleans. At some point, I learned it was recorded up the Mississippi, in Memphis, another river town. It has become my personal anthem. In the next few months, we will need to “roll with it” as we see what works and what doesn’t. We will need to remain flexible and respond quickly when things need to be changed. We will have to change old habits and give up treasured customs for the sake of the common good. The health and safety of all must remain our first priority, which will not be the worst thing as, finally, we come to worship together, in person, for the first time in all these many weeks. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Michael, Larry, Evan, Leroy, Shalim, Nam, John, Marilouise, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, José, James, and Burton; for Ronald, Desmond Alban, and David, religious; for Gene, Gaylord, Louis, priests; and Charles, bishop; for the members of the armed forces on active duty, especially Isabelle; for all health-care workers; all those who work for the common good; for all fathers; and for all the members, benefactors, and friends of this parish. We pray for justice and peace for the people of this nation. We pray for the safety and welfare of our city and those who dwell herein.

A GOOD CATCH . . . I discovered late on Saturday afternoon, June 20, 2020, that the parish’s “Master Burial Register” (an Excel spreadsheet) records the wrong date of death for George Bassett Prentice, one of the many great musicians to have served as organist and music director of the parish. Father Jay Smith, while checking my work, found a news item about him in the New York Times archive. It’s reprinted below along with a note from The Story of St. Mary’s (1931), by Newbury Frost Read. I will check to see if the Burial Register needs to be corrected tomorrow afternoon. At the moment, it seems that June 21 is one of a very few dates on which no one associated with this parish died. —S.G.

GEORGE BASSETT PRENTICE, August 2, 1847–June 20, 1907 . . . A small notice appeared in the New York Times on Monday, April 20, 1896, which stated that “the musical services last night in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, in West Forty-sixth Street were commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dr. George B. Prentice’s connection with the parish as organist and musical director.” The readers of the Times that day were informed that Dr. Prentice hailed from Norwich, Connecticut, where he had been organist at Christ Church, Norwich. He was an alumnus of Trinity College, Hartford, and had been granted the degree doctor of music from Racine College, Racine, Wisconsin. The notice in the Times also pointed out that “many of the masses sung in St. Mary’s Church have been adapted by Dr. Prentice. Many of his own compositions have been, and are, sung by the choir.” Dr. Prentice died eleven years later, on June 20, 1907—the only person in this parish’s long history to die on that date. He is remembered as follows in Newbury Frost Read’s The Story of St Mary’s, “When the Board met the 27th June, Beverly Chew spoke of the death of Dr. Prentice, and the following is transcribed, not only because it fittingly closes a remarkable term of faithful service, but because it presents an ideal that it would be well to strive to attain. A life that deserved such an eulogy is not a life that should be lightly forgotten: ‘The Secretary presented the following Minute, recording the death of our late fellow Trustee, George B. Prentice, Mus. Doc. It is with deep sorrow that the members of this board record the death on June 20th, 1907, of their late associate, Dr. George B. Prentice. Of Dr. Prentice’s work in organizing and developing the type of music that has made this Parish famous throughout the Anglican Communion, very much could be said, but it is felt that at this time it is sufficient to acknowledge the debt we owe to the genius—that conceived and the patient ability that accomplished the important results achieved. For thirty-three years he gave himself to the work and only retired when disabling sickness rendered him powerless to perform his duty. The Parish owes to him the deepest gratitude for the life of devotion to its service. He was a careful and attentive member of this board, and prompt and faithful in the performance of every duty. His associates will greatly miss his presence at the meetings and record with grateful memory his genius as a musician and his high character as a man’ ” (page 200).

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

SAINT MARY’S WORSHIP VIDEOS are live-streamed daily at 10:00 AM on Saint Mary’s Facebook page. And they can be viewed there even if you don’t have a Facebook account. They are uploaded after the Mass, first to our Vimeo page and then to our parish webpage. We also have a parish YouTube account, but at the moment we are not posting our videos there. Weekday Masses average a little less than thirty minutes and include a homily written for the day.

THE FLOWER MARKET HAS REOPENED . . . We welcome donations for flowers for the altar in the Lady Chapel and for the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham on June 28. A donation of $150.00 is asked. We also welcome donations for flowers for the high altar, since we hope to be celebrating Mass in the church on Sundays beginning on July 5. The suggested donation for those arrangements is $250.00. Please be in touch with Chris Howatt by email if you would like to make a donation.

WE NEED YOUR HELP . . . If you have made a pledge for 2020, please continue to make payments on your pledge, if possible. If you have not yet made a pledge for 2020, we urge you to do so. If you are able to make an additional donation to support the parish at this time, we would happily receive it. Donations may be made online via the Giving section of the parish website. You may also make arrangements for other forms of payment by contacting our parish administrator, Christopher Howatt, who would be happy to assist you. We are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously. —Stewardship Committee

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Parishioner Michael Merenda was discharged from the hospital this week and is now at home. Please keep him in your prayers . . . On Tuesday, June 16, the ashes of our rector emeritus, the Reverend Canon Edgar Wells, were brought to the church. At 4:00 PM, Father Jay Smith was joined in the Lady Chapel by Father Wells’s companion and caregiver, Evan Wong, and, via Facetime, by members of Father Wells’s family. The prayer for the Reception of the Body and the Commendation were offered, along with the prayers from the Burial of the Dead (BCP 446 ff). Please keep Father Wells, Evan, and their family and friends in your prayers. We continue to give thanks for Father Wells and for his faithful ministry in and for this parish . . . Bishop Andrew M.L. Dietsche’s Guidance on Re-Opening Churches for Public Worship, Outreach, and the Accommodation of Outside Groups is available on the diocesan website . . . The New York State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Religious & Funeral Services During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is available online.

SAINT THOMAS FIFTH AVENUE . . . Saint Thomas observed Corpus Christi Sunday, as we did, on June 14. I was so happy that their rector, Father Carl Turner, borrowed our large monstrance for a service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at the high altar. It’s done beautifully with wonderful music. You can see the video on Saint Thomas’s website here. —S.G.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, June 21, The Third Sunday after Pentecost, Sung Mass 10:00 AM. The readings at Mass on Sunday are Romans 5:15b–19; Psalm 69:8–15; Matthew 10:16–33. The celebrant and preacher is Father Jay Smith . . . Tuesday, June 16, Alban, First Martyr of Britain, c. 304, Mass 10:00 AM . . . Wednesday, June 24, The Nativity of John the Baptist, Mass 10:00 AM . . . Saturday, June 27, Votive of Our Lady, Mass 10:00 AM.

A BLACK LIBERATION READING LIST . . . The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library, published a well-illustrated reading list this week that was curated by the Center’s staff. The list of ninety-five works includes fiction, non-fiction, history, poetry, memoir, essays, drama, biography, political and cultural analysis, and current events. There is a place to start—or to continue—for every interested reader. We invite you to read, study, and join the conversation.

CONFRONTING RACISM: WORDS & DEEDS . . . In light of recent events and ongoing realities in our society, some members of Saint Mary’s have begun some impromptu conversations about racism and about how we as individuals and as a community can respond. At present, conversations are informal, and are being held via the online Zoom platform. Participants will decide the shape and content of the discussion moving forward.  Options might include a structured curriculum, book and film discussions, or other routes.  If you’d like to join in these discussions, please email Brother Thomas or Brother Damien.

FROM THE FRIARY . . . The meditations of our Franciscan brothers and other brothers of the Society of Saint Francis are archived on the Society’s website. Brother Damien Joseph SSF posted a new meditation last week that is entitled “A Tale of Three Mothers.” It can be read here. We are grateful that the brothers are sharing their reflections, rooted in their reading of Scripture, the Franciscan tradition, and their experience with us. We recommend them to all of our readers.

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.

ONLINE RETREATS . . . Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, New York, has offered three online Zoom retreats during the month of June. The final retreat in this series is An Introduction to Centering Prayer (a Zoom retreat), led by Brother Bernard Delcourt, OHC (June 24–26). Visit the monastery website for more information about registration, suggested donations, and information about online retreats to take place during the month of July.

AT THE MUSEUMS . . . Online at the New-York Historical Society: The Society’s museum is temporarily closed to help contain the spread of COVID-19, but virtual presentations of the collections and select exhibitions are available online. You are invited to participate in a live, interactive journey through history, as museum docents or curators answer questions and walk viewers through a slideshow of objects and imagery via Zoom, an easy-to-use video conferencing platform that requires no special login or membership. The museum’s upcoming, scheduled presentations for individuals are as follows. Click the links to learn more and buy tickets. Lincoln & New York: The City That Made Him President. June 24, 2020, 3:00 PM

$10 (Free for Members); A New Light on Tiffany, June 30. 2020. 11:00 AM. $10 (Free for Members). Visit the museum website for more information.

In time for Pride month, the New-York Historical Society has also posted on its website a 2013 conversation between the late writer and activist, Larry Kramer, and playwright, Tony Kushner. From the Society’s website, “[Larry] Kramer was a playwright and essayist who found the cause of his life in the early 1980s when his community of gay men in New York City began falling sick and dying from a mysterious new illness that would later be called AIDS. He was a founder of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the first service organization for HIV-positive people—a group he was eventually ousted from because of his pugnacious approach to advocacy. And later, he was a founder of the grassroots group ACT UP. He’s also the author of The Normal Heart, a searing autobiographical play that debuted Off-Broadway in 1985 and depicted the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York. In 2013, during the run of New-York Historical’s exhibition AIDS in New York: The First Five Years, Kramer joined Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner for a public program to discuss his legacy and the enduring relevance of The Normal Heart. (In a moving coincidence, the program took place on the day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, a major step on the way to full marriage equality.) The audio recording of the program is available here.

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

The Calendar of the Week