DONATE NOW

FROM THE RECTOR: MICHAEL JAMES JOSEPH MERENDA, APRIL 6, 1945-JULY 17, 2020

Michael Merenda died at home on Friday morning, July 17, 2020. He was seventy-five years old. Mike, as he was known, had been gravely ill for many weeks. He had a rare blood cancer, myelofibrosis. He is survived by his spouse, Leroy Sharer, his sister-in-law Mary Merenda, and many nieces and nephews. He will be mourned by friends, colleagues, and members of his parish community. He was a generous and happy person. He was a genuine friend to many, including me.

Father Smith and I had been visiting him at home. Leroy, professor of neuropathology at Rutgers University Medical School in Newark, was at work when Mike died. Mike’s loving caregivers were with him. Father Smith took the 12:10 Mass for me so I could pray the Commendation at the Time of Death for Mike with Leroy.

Mike was a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. Having majored in French, he served in the Peace Corps in the Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. For many years, he was general counsel and later executive vice president of Capital BlueCross in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. When the Affordable Care Act was passed, he was a person whose profession meant that he had to read it all and make it work. On many occasions, I lent a pastoral ear as he spoke about the challenges he faced as the act reshaped healthcare. On many occasions, Mike was the one giving his wisdom to his rector. Many times over the last twenty-one-plus years, I called him for advice.

Mike was a serious pianist. He played squash, too. Mike and Leroy also had many shared interests, opera and dance, food and wine, France and Italy, the Caribbean, and, most certainly, a love for Saint Mary’s. Leroy is a member of the board of trustees, and Mike had been a trustee during Father Edgar Wells’s rectorate.

Mike’s parents were both born in Calabria, Italy. He was the youngest of three brothers. They grew up in Westchester, where Mike had been a high-school football athlete. His father was a contractor and builder in Westchester. Mike used to say that, when driving around parts of that county, just north of the city, he would sometimes see a house and recognize it as his father’s work. Mike liked to remember how sad his mother would be whenever he had to eat American food. Mike loved to tell the story of bringing a college friend home for Thanksgiving with the Merendas. His friend didn’t realize that there would be a Calabrian feast in which a small turkey was more table decoration than anything else.

If memory serves, he was a member and president of the fraternity next door to the Dartmouth fraternity that would be made famous by the movie Animal House. Mike got to know Bishop Frank Griswold, while he was presiding bishop, through the Harvard Club. They shared a trainer for many years and would see each other there at the gym. They also had Saint Mary’s in common.

Mike’s family was Roman Catholic. Mike formally joined Saint Mary’s at the Easter Vigil, April 2, 1988. It meant a lot to him that his mother was fond of Father Wells, who was a pastor to her while living with Mike and Leroy at the end of her life. She was buried from Saint Mary’s when she died in 1992. Leroy told me this morning that she had died in the same room in which Mike died this morning. I couldn’t help but think she was watching over him all along, with him all along, and still watching him as he entered the Paradise of God, to join “the glorious company of the saints in light.” —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR, Leroy, Seaudath, Maria, Larry, Scott, Samantha, Luis, Shalim, Rahanna, Emily, John, Marilouise, Ken, May, Willard, Alexandra, Takeem, Charles, Philippe, Javier, Jennifer, Barbara, and Burton; 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; for all those who work for the common good; for all the members, benefactors, and friends of this parish; and for the repose of the souls of Charles Postlewate and Michael James Joseph Merenda. We pray for justice and peace for the people of this nation. We pray for the safety and welfare of our city and for those who dwell herein . . . GRANT THEM PEACE: July 19: 1891 Louis Edward Bieral; 1897 Francis Austen; 1898 Ethel Notman Chambers; 1899 Frank John Schoen; 1903 Jacob Eiler; 1932 Jeanette Trimarco.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Charles Postlewate, the brother of Marie Postlewate, died a year ago on July 13, 2019, in Fort Worth, Texas. He was seventy-eight years old. Please keep Charles, Marie, and their family and friends in your prayers.

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

THE FLOWER MARKET HAS REOPENED . . . We now welcome donations for flowers for the high altar. 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.

NEW YORK STATE COVID RENT RELIEF PROGRAM . . . Until July 30, residents of New York State will be able to apply for a one-time rent-assistance program. Certain income and other eligibility requirements apply. For more information, you may visit the New York State Homes and Community Renewal website. The link is here.

COVID-19 . . . It appears that tests for COVID-19 are now increasingly available in New York City. For more information about testing sites in the city, please visit this page on the website of the Health Department of the State of New York . . . We’ve discovered that it can be difficult for celebrant and communicant to stay six feet apart when Communion is being administered. The celebrants are now wearing face shields during the ministration of Communion as an added precaution . . . While the wearing of face masks is controversial in some parts of the United States, that seems not to be the case here in Manhattan. We see many construction workers and, increasingly, members of the police force wearing them. In order to enter the church here at Saint Mary’s, one is required to wear a face mask. If you’ve forgotten to bring a mask, an usher or sexton can provide you with one.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Wednesday, July 15, was the feast of Saint Bonaventure. Bonaventure was a Franciscan friar, who died in 1274. He was also a priest and a cardinal, and one of the great theologians of the medieval church in the West. He is known as “Doctor Seraphicus.” He also served as the seventh Master General of the Franciscan Order. He died in 1274 and was canonized in 1482. Brother Damien Joseph SSF preached the homily at Mass on July 15. You may read his sermon, in which he discussed Bonaventure’s theology and spirituality in light of the day’s gospel passage, here.

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . We have received several inquiries about whether there will be music during the 11:00 AM Mass on Sundays. The plan, for the moment, is this, though the plan is subject to change. Dr. Hurd will be with us on Sundays, and he will play a prelude and postlude and will improvise at several points during the Mass. The singing of hymns by congregations is not permitted under current guidelines. We hope that a cantor might be with us on Sunday morning at some point later this summer. This would allow us to have some choral music during the Mass. We will keep our readers posted . . . Meanwhile, Dr. David Hurd and the Choir of Saint Mary’s released its latest virtual choral offering this week. On the video, the choir sings a setting of the hymn “Father, we thank thee,” composed by David Hurd in 2006 to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Reverend Peter Carey’s ordination to the priesthood. The link to the video is here. The original Greek text of the hymn is to be found in the Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, a church manual compiled, probably in Antioch, in Syria, as early as AD 110. F. Bland Tucker (1895–1984) took certain prayer texts from chapters 9 and 10 of the Didache, translated those texts, and used them as the basis of his own hymn text, found in Hymnal 1982 at 302 and 303. Dr. Hurd used the Tucker text for the 2006 setting. The text is as follows:  

Father, we thank thee who hast planted thy holy Name within our hearts.

Knowledge and faith and life immortal Jesus thy Son to us imparts.

Thou, Lord didst make all for thy pleasure, didst give us food for all our days,

giving in Christ the Bread eternal; thine is the power, be thine the praise. 

Watch o’er thy Church, O Lord, in mercy, save it from evil, guard it still,

perfect it in thy love, unite it, cleansed and conformed unto thy will.

As grain, once scattered on the hillsides, was in this broken bread made one,

so from all lands thy Church be gathered into thy kingdom by thy Son.

The production of the video was coordinated by Dr. Hurd, and the video itself was edited by soprano, Charlotte Mundy. Sound editing was performed by Sharon Harms, alto, and Levy Lorenzo. We are, once again, greatly impressed by the skill and the artistry of our musicians, and we are grateful to Dr. Hurd, Charlotte, Sharon, Levy, and to all the members of the choir for this generous offering.

LIFE ON 46TH STREET . . . The restaurants on 46th Street are working valiantly to survive, many of them are now providing sidewalk service, and are doing a decent business. They are learning from each other. Bare tables have become tables with table cloths. Tables open to the elements (it rained last week) are now covered with colorful umbrellas. Everyone is cooperating: no raucous competing for customers. But all of this is reducing the number of available parking spots on the south side of the street (though not on Sunday mornings), but the neighbors seem to be dealing well with all that for the moment . . . One of our favorite coffee places, Four Five, re-opened on Monday, July 13. Father Jay Smith spied their open door down the street the Thursday before and went in for a visit. Two of the company’s owners, Tom Tsiplakos and Stefanos Vouvoudakis were in there doing a deep cleaning. They told Father Jay that not all of their employees are ready to come back, but they are trying to find ways to open up while keeping everyone safe and healthy. Because many of the workers who once filled the office towers on Sixth Avenue are still working from home, Tom and Stefanos expect that they will have fewer customers for a while. The owners and many of the managers of this company (they roast coffee in Queens and have several retail outlets) are Greek-Americans. Father Smith asked how things were going in Greece. “It could be worse,” he was told. The small islands helped with self-isolation, it is believed. Father Smith was introduced to Mike, another manager. He was told that Mike grew up in Sparta and had a statue of King Leonidas in his backyard. They discussed Spartan culture and virtues—and beards—for a bit. Then they gave Father Smith a cold brew, coffee that is, and he went on his way. We hope for their sake, and our own, that life will return to something like normal before too very long . . . The owner of Oggi, a jewelry manufacturer located next door to the parish house, often joined us for Morning Prayer last year. Then his life changed. His wife had a baby in January and the epidemic hit in March. He and a few of his employees are back as they try to get things back to normal. His wife and infant daughter are healthy and well, he tells us. It was good to see him . . . Signs that the church is open: an employee from Oggi came in this past week, said a prayer, saw Brother Damien, and asked him if he had a rosary. Damien said, “Yes. Come back tomorrow, and I’ll also get one of the priests to bless it for you.” And so it happened. Just like it used to. Small things, with larger meanings.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, July 19, The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Mass 11:00 AM. The church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 12:30 PM. The celebrant and preacher is Father Jay Smith . . . Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, July 20, 21, and 23, Weekdays after Pentecost, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Wednesday, July 22, Saint Mary Magdalene Mass 12:10 PM . . . Friday, July 24, Thomas à Kempis, Priest, July 25, 1471 . . . Saturday, July 25, Saint James the Apostle, Mass 12:10 PM.

THE GALLERY AT SAINT MARY’S . . . During the lockdown, Brother Damien Joseph SSF has been exploring the interior of the church and chapels, looking closely at aspects of the building’s art and architecture that are often overlooked or never seen. He’s now captured some of those missing moments with his camera and has printed a number of the images for an exhibition in the Gallery in Saint Joseph’s Hall. Working with gallery curator, José Vidal, Damien has created and hung a show in the gallery that awaits the return of Saint Marians to Coffee Hour or a feast-day reception. However, since we do not yet know when that day will arrive, Damien has created an online exhibition so that members and friends of the parish can look at the array of images that are now hanging on the gallery wall. The exhibition—“Watchers and Holy Ones”—can be viewed on the website of the Society of Saint Francis. We hope to post the images on the parish website before too very long. For information about purchasing one of the photographs, please contact curator, José Vidal. Damien Joseph and his brothers have kindly agreed to donate all sale proceeds to the Parish of Saint Mary the Virgin. — J.R.S.

CONFRONTING RACISM: WORDS & DEEDS . . . In light of recent events and ongoing realities in our society, some members of Saint Mary’s have begun weekly 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. At the moment, there are two groups that have been meeting, one at an afternoon time and the other in the early evening. 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.

TALKING ABOUT RACE . . . The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture has posted a user-friendly set of materials to help people to reflect on and have conversations about race. This section of the website is inviting, graphically rich, and organized in a way that allows one to browse the materials and to click on topics that are of particular interest. The link is here . . . The mission of Rural and Migrant Ministry (RMM) is to work for the creation of a just, rural New York State by nurturing leadership, standing with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers and rural workers, and changing unjust systems and structures. One of the central focuses of RMM is education and the training of young people for leadership. The leaders of RMM include several Episcopalians, lay and ordained. Its executive director is Father Richard Witt. You are invited to watch “Unchained: An RMM Youth Panel Discussion on Racial Injustices. The video has been posted on YouTube lasts just over an hour.

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.

FROM THE CONCERT HALL . . . Listen to an interview with the New York Philharmonic’s principal clarinetist, Anthony McGill, on YouTube followed by his performance, with the Philharmonic, of Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. The Concerto was commissioned by jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman and was composed between 1947 and 1949. The Philharmonic has also provided a several other performances by its musicians online that are available here.

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 Mercy Chapel 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.

-           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 encourage 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 40 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.

-           Mass bulletins will be provided, but will be removed from the church after each service.

-           All electric fans have been removed from the church.

-           There will be no hand-held fans available at the door

-           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.

-           There will be no collection taken by ushers.

-           A donations basket will be placed at the head of the center aisle, near the Communion area.

-           (Donations are encouraged and gratefully received.)

-           There will be no Offertory procession.

-           There will be no communal singing.

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

-           There will be no coffee hour.

-           These guidelines are to ensure the health and safety of all.

Please follow the directions of the ushers and the members of the clergy.

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