FROM THE RECTOR: LITURGY IN THE TIME OF COVID

Since I became rector in 1999, Ash Wednesday has been by far the day of the year when the greatest number of people enter our church. Some come for the said Masses at 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM. It’s been our custom for Miserere mei by Gregorio Allegri (c. 1582–1652) to be sung during the imposition of ashes at the Sung Mass at 12:10 PM and the Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM. Many, many more just come to be marked on the forehead with ashes and to hear the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (The Book of Common Prayer [1979], 265).

This year there will be no avoiding the annual challenge to our Ash Wednesday piety and ritual practices that comes from the reading of the day’s historic gospel, a selection from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21. The passage begins: “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). The appointed passage also includes these words on fasting: “But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (6:17–18).

On Tuesday this week, Father John Beddingfield, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity here in the city since 2019, circulated a copy of the Roman Catholic Church’s instructions for the imposition of ashes in the time of COVID-19 to a few of us and asked what we were planning to do on Ash Wednesday. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments mandates the following practice for imposing ashes this year. Priests will bless the ashes and say the words of ministration once to the whole congregation. Those who wish to receive them will come, bow their heads, and be sprinkled with them. The priest will not touch the forehead. I found this photo from Ash Wednesday 2020, the day the pope celebrates the liturgy at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome. It illustrates the problem the imposition of ashes presents for all of us: it’s impossible do so at a safe distance.

On Wednesday after Evening Prayer, Father Jay Smith and I talked briefly not only about the First Day of Lent but also about what COVID-19 means for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Day—and the Blessing of Candles on for the Presentation on February 2. On Thursday, we received a letter from our bishop addressed to the entire diocesan community. It includes these words, “I am asking that our customary practice of imposing ashes during the Ash Wednesday liturgy, in all forms and manners, be suspended this year.” Safe distancing is the issue. We agree with our bishop. We at Saint Mary’s will not put ourselves or others at risk.

The distribution of palms on Palm Sunday may well not be possible. The washing of feet on Maundy Thursday will not be possible. On Good Friday, the veneration of the cross poses the same issues as Thursday night. Then, there’s the Easter Vigil. My concerns about the vigil are two-fold. The Liturgy for the Lighting of the Paschal Candle presents the issue of safe-distancing. Until the pandemic recedes there can be no blessed water in the stoops. I’m also concerned about safety in the city at night. Just this morning at the gym, one of the managers told me about being attacked (punched) on his way to work near the gym before dawn by someone trying to take his wallet. The scar to his right hand while defending himself has not healed completely.

During Lent for the last five years, the organ has only been used on the Fourth Sunday in Lent and the choir has sung from the chancel. Before then, the organ would introduce hymns, accompany a verse or two, and then fall silent. This year is different. We will have no choir in the chancel, no Allegri on Ash Wednesday. It takes ten singers to sing Miserere Mei—only a quartet along with Dr. David Hurd can sing safely in the choir loft. So, I’ve asked Dr. Hurd to add organ music to worship this year during Lent. It will be a Lent we will all remember. We think we may be able to live-stream a scaled-down Stations of the Cross. Stay tuned.

Finally, we now have two contractors preparing proposals for us for live-streaming at Saint Mary’s, and possibly a third who is also interested. I’ve asked them to give us proposals in time for the January meeting of the board of trustees. I was delighted to learn that the supply chain for the equipment to upgrade our audio-visual presentations has been restored. The epidemic continues to present all of with many challenges, but we do what we can, and we live in hope. Let us continue to pray for one another —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Burton, Penny, Trevor, Marilouise, Barbara, Quincy, Florette, Mary, Shalim, John, Jaime, José, Margaret, Abraham, Dennis, Emil, and Hardy; for all who suffer from COVID-19; for Scott, 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 and for the repose of the soul of Carl Apgar . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . January 17: 1896 Robert Halsey; 1898 Julia Ann Maria Baldwin; ; John Nesbitt Maxwell Hawthorne; 1923 Katherine Oakley Johnson; 1926 Frances Josephine Montgomery; 1946 John Clarence Sharp; 1957 William L. Irving; 1967 Letitia De Souza; 1998 John Zippler Headley.

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

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, January 17, The Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Mass 11:00 AM. The church opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 12:30 PM. The preacher is the Reverend Jay Smith. The service is played by Dr. David Hurd. He will be joined by cantor, Christopher Howatt, tenor. This service is live-streamed . . . Monday, January 18, The Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle, Mass 12:10 PM. Monday, January 18 is also the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is a Federal holiday, but our worship schedule remains the same: the church opens at 10:00 AM and Mass is at 12:10 PM.

THE GIFT OF FLOWERS . . . We are hoping to receive donations for altar flowers for many of the Sundays in January and early February. If you would like to make a donation, please contact Chris Howatt in the parish office. If you are interested in the work of the Flower Guild, please speak to Brendon Hunter, Grace Mudd, Marie Rosseels, or Brother Thomas.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . It makes us very happy to be able to open our doors again for public worship, on weekdays as well as on Sundays. The surge of infections in our city and around the country is concerning. We have committed ourselves to redoubling our efforts to keep every member of the community safe and healthy. If you are at all unwell, do not come to church. If you are experiencing symptoms, contact your primary-care physician and get tested. If you have a fever of 103.5, which is not being handled by an analgesic, and/or you are having difficulty breathing (by difficulty we mean you must stop talking in order to focus on your breathing), go to an emergency room immediately.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . On Friday, January 15, 2:00–3:00 PM, we hosted our first Drop-by of 2021. Eight volunteers welcomed twenty-seven guests into the church, ambulatory, and Lady Chapel. Safe-distancing and the wearing of face coverings were strictly enforced. We distributed clothing items, toiletry articles, and a small supply of transit cards. We discovered that the following items continue to be in demand: underwear for men and women in all sizes, particularly in large and extra-large; thermal underwear; gloves and caps; masks; men’s pants, sizes 34-42 (waist); and one- or two-trip transit cards. We continue to believe that we’re providing a much-needed service here in the Times Square neighborhood. We are grateful to all those who continue to contribute to this ministry with donations of cash, clothing, and toiletry articles . . . Saint Mary’s has long provided assistance to our neighbors at the Saint Clement’s Food Pantry, sending cash donations, but also receiving non-perishable food items which were then delivered to the Pantry. The pandemic has made collecting and delivering difficult for a number of reasons. However, since food insecurity has increased in the city—also because of the pandemic—we would like to re-double our efforts in assisting the Saint Clement’s program. Cash donations are gratefully received. Please put Saint Clement’s Food Pantry in the memo line or field when you make your donation, and we thank you.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . Please note: all the adult-education classes this year begin at 9:30 AM, NOT at 10:00 AM. They normally conclude at 10:30 AM, allowing those attending the class to serve at the altar or to attend Mass in the nave.

If you would like to attend Brother Damien’s five-week series via Zoom, please send an e-mail to Grace Mudd or to Brother Damien, who will send you a link.

Brother Damien writes, “On Sunday, January 10, we began our five-week introduction to mystical theology in the Western Christian tradition, “Christian Mysticism and the Secret of Knowing God.”. Our first session consisted of a broad overview of mysticism in this context, which will provide a backdrop for our glimpses into the writing of five Franciscan mystics in the weeks to follow. Our focus on Sunday, January 17 will be: Contemplatio – fixing the mind on God. We will consider a mystical approach to contemplation using brief selections from letters of Clare of Assisi, her imagery of “the Mirror of Eternity,” and her instructions to a Sister on her method of contemplative prayer; Then, on Sunday, January 24 we will discuss Dilectio – the delights of God’s love. We will sample the rich (and historically often controversial) theme of romantic and even erotic love as an image for knowing God, specifically through selections from Ramon Llull’s Book of the Lover and the Beloved. We’ll also briefly touch on this theme’s roots in the Biblical Song of Songs. On the last Sunday in January, Sunday, January 31 this will be our focus: Passio – knowing God in suffering. The cross, suffering, and death of Christ may seem an unlikely ground for a way of contemplation often associated with “raptures” and “ecstasy,” but it is in fact central to the mystical vision. We’ll look at excerpts of Bonaventure’s reflections on the Cross and Passion of Christ and on Francis of Assisi as an example of mystical union with Christ. Finally, on Sunday, February 7 we will discuss Ablatio – the way of negation and unknowing. The pinnacle of experiencing God, according to virtually all of the great mystics, is the entry into a state of unknowing, beyond conceiving or describing. In this session, we’ll use selections from Angela of Foligno’s Memorial to approach the mystical via negativa (“way of negation”) and the compelling, if counter-intuitive idea, of the “darkness of God.”

Next Up: Father Peter Powell will resume his series on the Revelation to John, the Christian Bible’s final book, on February 21. (There will be no class on February 7.) Father Powell will teach on all the Sundays of Lent and on Palm Sunday. His classes in the fall on Revelation were extremely interesting. Our current political situation reminds us that certain ways of apocalyptic thinking persist in our society. Reading Revelation together and confronting that text’s beauties and its challenges has many benefits. We invite you to join us.

If you would like to attend Brother Damien’s five-week series via Zoom, please send an e-mail to Grace Mudd or to Brother Damien, who will send you a link.

The class will meet in Saint Joseph’s Hall, with face coverings and social distancing required.

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.

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The organ voluntaries on Sunday morning are movements of the Pastorale of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), BWV 590. The opening movement is a siciliano with three imitating voices intertwining over various pedal points. This movement, the only part of the work which utilizes the pedals of the organ, is followed immediately by a second movement which is in A-B form, typical of a Baroque keyboard suite. The third movement is an Adagio with clear differentiation of solo melody and accompaniment, not unlike the middle movement of Bach’s Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue, BWV 564. These three movements comprise today’s prelude. The fourth and final movement of Bach’s Pastorale, played for the postlude, is fugal but, like the second movement, has an A-B structure typical of movements in a Baroque keyboard suite.

The settings for the Mass on Sunday are from Saint Peter’s Service by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s since 2016. Saint Peter’s Service, a setting of the Rite II Mass ordinary, was commissioned by Saint Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Bay Shore, Long Island in 2008. It is scored for unison voices and organ and therefore is also suitable to be sung by a single cantor, as it will be offered at Mass today. It may be noted that tomorrow, January 18, is the Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter, so the scheduling of this setting, named for Saint Peter, anticipates that commemoration. In this setting the Kyrie and Trisagion—not sung this morning—as well as Sanctus and Agnus Dei feature fluid melodic and accompanying figures intended to reflect the more placid movements of the sea, as desired by the commissioning parish. The Gloria, by contrast, incorporates frequent metrical shifts and angular melodic figures, which suggest those choppier activities of the ocean so well known to that Long Island parish.

Sunday’s cantor is tenor, Christopher Howatt. During the Communion he will sing Lord, make me an instrument by Jonathan Willcocks (b. 1953). Willcocks’s Lord make me an instrument is from a larger choral work titled Lux Perpetua. The text is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. Jonathan Willcocks was born in Worcester, England. He was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, and an Open Music Scholar at Clifton College before taking an Honors degree in music from Cambridge. He is currently musical director of the Guildford Choral Society, the Chichester Singers, the Leith Hill Musical Festival, and the professional chamber orchestra, Southern Pro Musica. His setting of this classic prayer text is in an attractive conventional style.

More about today’s cantor: Chris Howatt has been a regular member of the choir at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin for more than ten years. He also stepped into the role of office manager at the parish nearly five years ago. Not only is he an actively performing singer in the realms of musical theater and cabaret, but he was also a member of the Associate Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera for two seasons. He has been heard on recordings as diverse as Jessye Norman’s Christmas CD, In the Spirit, to singing backup for The Pet Shop Boys on their cover of the Village People’s “Go West.” As an accompanist and music director, he has worked with such talents as David Hyde Pierce, Howard McGillin, Tyne Daly, Rita Moreno, Brad Oscar, and Cady Huffman, among others. He has served as musical supervisor for productions of Sylvia, Lend Me a Tenor, and Inspecting Carol at the George Street Playhouse, as well as musical director for that theater’s world-premiere production of Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are, written and directed by the late theatrical legend Arthur Laurents. For several years he displayed both pianistic and vocal talents as music director/arranger and performer with the two-time MAC Award nominated vocal group Boulevard East, producing and recording their CD, Timeless, as well as performing with them in various cabaret venues.

COMING UP ON OUR SCREENS . . . The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song will premiere February 16 and 23, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings). This moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage. Renowned participants in the series include media executive and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey; singer, songwriter, producer and philanthropist John Legend; singer and actress Jennifer Hudson; Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of The Episcopal Church; gospel legends Yolanda Adams, Pastor Shirley Caesar and BeBe Winans; civil rights leaders Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. William Barber II; scholar Cornel West; and many more. Through their interviews, viewers will be transported by the songs that speak to one’s soul, by preaching styles that have moved congregations and a nation, and by beliefs and actions that drew African Americans from the violent margins of society to the front lines of change.

NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS COVID-19 TESTING SITES . . . COVID-19 testing is walk-in only. No appointment is needed. Walk-in testing is available at no cost to you at NYC Health + Hospitals locations. Please visit the NYC Health + Hospital website for further information and for a listing of testing locations. The site also provides information about tests for children both above and below the age of two.

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 mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt and parish volunteer, Clint Best.