FROM THE RECTOR: SEEING, HEARING

We had many helpful comments about the first live-stream with the new video and sound system on Sunday, October 3. Last Sunday, October 10, the new video system was set to operate, but, for reasons not entirely clear, our system did not connect to the new Verizon Wi-Fi. Fios was chosen for broadcasting because the fiber-optic cable is more stable than wireless internet. Last Sunday, Blair Burroughs, videography team leader, arrived to find that he could not turn on the connection to the live-stream. Ian Ruben-Schnirman, director of technical services, adi: audible difference inc., has been working this week to solve the problem. He and the folks at ingenuIT, our IT service, seem to have solved the problem. The system is now up and running, and the live-stream from Sunday, October 10, is uploaded to Saint Mary’s Vimeo page. The Burial of the Dead for Michael James Joseph Merenda, October 2, 2021, was also recorded and is available for viewing. It is our hope that the live-stream will work on Sunday morning.

We learned several things after viewing the October 3 live-stream. First, we realized that the sound quality needed to be improved, especially where the music, both organ and choir, were concerned. The lively acoustic of our building, a blessing in many ways, makes this a bit of a challenge. Ian has adjusted the settings for a number of the microphones in the church, and we think that should improve things significantly. We’ve also learned that the clergy, cannot speak sotto voce about procedure and the inevitable problems while their microphones are on—the headsets are very sensitive. For the same reason, we need to open and close the doors behind the altar quietly—the live microphones seem to “hear” everything. The goal of the installation was to have a good sound system for worship in the church and a good video system for live-streaming. We think these new systems can do what we want them to do. Now, we need to learn how to use them well.

Writing about videography brought to mind one of the five sermons Jesus preaches in Matthew’s gospel. The longest and most famous is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–7:29). The third of the five is known as the Sermon in Parables (Matthew 13:1–52). Because of the crowds, he gets into a boat to teach in a series of parables. Raymond Brown says concerning the parables sermon, “Structurally the center of the Gospel, these parables serve as a varied commentary on the rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees” (An Introduction to the New Testament [1997], 185–86).

Jesus begins with the Parable of the Sower: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them . . . Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:3–9). The crowd is still there, but the disciples interrupt his teaching to ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10). The answer they receive always makes me uncomfortable. It reminds me of the passage in Exodus where the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Both passages raise for me the problem of evil.

Jesus answers the disciples’ question in this way, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive’ ” (Matthew 13:11–15).

The evangelist comments, “All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world’ ” (Matthew 13:35).

I hope Saint Mary’s live-stream worship ministry and videos available online will help many people see and hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Shalim, Margaret, Dave, Ted, Arax, John, Karen, Gary, Greta, Larry, Pat, Liduvina, Gladys, Jonathan, Emerson, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, Ralph, Mario, Peter, George, Abraham, Dennis, Emily, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; Randall, Louis, and Albert, priests; all who work for the common good; and all the friends and members of this parish . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . October 17, 2021: 1895 Charles Eugene Bachelder; 1915 Betty G. Blume; 1927 William Harry Werner; 1942 Catherine Fisher.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . October 17, The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24, Year B). Adult Education 9:30–10:30 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall. Solemn Mass, 11:00 AM. The readings at the Solemn Mass are Isaiah 53:4–12; Psalm 91:9–16; Hebrews 4:12–16; and Mark 10:32–45. The celebrant and preacher at the Solemn Mass will be Father Stephen Gerth. Evening Prayer will be said in the church at 5:00 PM . . . Monday, October 18, Saint Luke the Evangelist, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Tuesday–Saturday, October 19–23, Mass 12:10 PM and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The church is open on weekdays from 10:00 AM until 5:30 PM . . . Tuesday, October 19, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Friday, October 22, 6:30 PM, Saint Mary’s Online Centering Prayer Group . . . Saturday, October 23, Saint James of Jerusalem, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Next Sunday, October 24, The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25, Year B). The appointed readings are Isaiah 59:1–4, 9–19; Psalm 13; Hebrews 5:12–6:1, 9–12; Mark 10:46–52. The celebrant and preacher will be Father Peter Powell.

ALL SOULS’ DAY . . . On All Souls’ Day and on the following five weekdays, we remember by name those we love who are now in the nearer presence of God. This year, All Souls’ Day is Tuesday, November 2, and Mass will be at 12:10 PM that day. Requiem Masses will then be celebrated Wednesday–Saturday, November 3–6, and on Monday, November 8. Mass, as usual, will be celebrated each day at 12:10 PM.

Next week members and friends of the parish will receive in the mail a form and an envelope for All Souls’ prayer requests. A special offering to accompany All Souls’ intentions is traditional. Names will be read according to the following schedule at the daily 12:10 Mass, by the last name of the person making the intention:

On Wednesday, November 3           Last names A–F

On Thursday, November 4              Last names G–L

On Friday, November 5                    Last names M–R

On Saturday, November 6                Last names S–V

On Monday, November 8                Last names W–Z

Please return your list of names and your freewill offering as soon as you are able so that we can process the lists in time for the Requiem Masses beginning on November 3. May the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . The Stewardship Committee has been hard at work on the 2021 Stewardship Campaign. Materials are being written, designed, and printed. Stewardship packets will be mailed during the third week of October. The theme of this year’s campaign is With God’s Help, Meeting Challenges & Finding Opportunities. We invite all our readers to begin to pray about how they might offer their time, talent, and treasure to the glory of God and to support this parish in the coming year.

NEW AND EASIER WAY TO GIVE TO SAINT MARY’S . . . Our parish administrator, Christopher Howatt, has been working hard with some of the parish’s lay leaders to make it possible to make cash donations, including annual pledges, safely and more efficiently online. As the annual Stewardship Campaign begins, we invite you to consider making your pledge or other donations online. This is how it works:

First, go to www.stmvirgin.org, and then click on Donate Now in the menu bar along the top of the web page. Then, click on the Give Now button in the center of the page and the new giving form appear. (Do not click on any other button.)

Then, fill in the amount you wish to give. Select the applicable fund to which you wish to direct your donation by clicking on the arrow to the right of the words “general donation.” A list of possible funds will appear. If the funds listed aren’t specific enough for what you intend to do, write in the memo line any specific designation, memorial, or purpose for your gift.

Then, click on the square denoting whether this is to be a one-time or a recurring gift. If you choose a recurring gift, the system will ask you how often and on what date you wish to start to make your recurring gift.

Click Continue, and you will open another screen to enter your payment information. You will have a choice of making your donation using your credit/debit card or having an amount deducted directly from your checking account. Click on the applicable box and fill in the account information as requested.

At the bottom of that page you will see some grayed-out text asking if you wish to make an additional donation to cover our processing costs. It would help us if you did so. Then, click on the button to the left, the text will change to black and a button at the bottom will appear with the amount of your total donation. Click on that button to complete your donation.

Before you go, the system will ask you if you wish to set up an account with us. Establishing an account will enable you to change or cancel your recurring donation in the future; it is recommended you do so. If you do, when you return to the giving page you will be able to Sign In at the top, right-hand corner of the page, which will allow you to manage your account in various ways, including tracking and confirming your gifts.

This all sounds more complicated than it in fact is. We invite you to try it out. We are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . It’s Socktober! Warm Feet, Warm Hearts! We get to celebrate Socktober by making donations of socks to Neighbors in Need. White and black socks, and woolen socks, for both men and women in all sizes are most welcome! Socks are an item much in demand with our guests especially as the weather begins to get colder . . . We also welcome donations of sweatshirts, thermal underwear, and coats . . . At our monthly Drop-by Days, we distribute clothing and toiletry and hygiene items—and Metro Cards when they are available—to those in need in the Times Square neighborhood. Our next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, November 19. Volunteers work from 1:30 PM until 3:30 PM. Our guests are invited into the church at 2:00 PM and we close our doors at 3:00 PM. We need six (6) volunteers for each Drop-by. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Marie Rosseels, MaryJane Boland, or Father Jay Smith. You may reach them by calling the Parish Office at 212-869-5830.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . On the five Sundays in October, from 9:30–10:30 AM, Father Jay Smith will teach a series on the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their sayings, their lives, and their enduring influence and significance. This coming Sunday, October 17, we will read some of the desert elders’ sayings concerning humility, a core virtue in desert spirituality . . . Beginning on Sunday, November 7, Father Peter Powell, will begin his series on the Holiness Code, Leviticus 17–27. He writes, “I have long been attracted to the Holiness Code as the source of much of what has become Christian Ethics. The foundation of the call to be ethical is that we are called to be Holy because the Lord Our God, who brought his people up from the land of Egypt, is Holy. To be Holy is to be a people apart. This fall and then again in Lent we will look at these chapters and related chapters in the Torah that ground us in what we undertake when we say we are children of God. Our faith has expectations. These are not the easiest chapters to read so we will do so carefully as we learn about ourselves and our faith. In these chapters you will find the texts used to argue against same-sex marriage as well as the texts used to mandate the forgiveness of debts. How do we read these texts today in a way that takes each seriously while understanding them in their context? We live in a church that encourages marriage for all who desire it. Are we in conflict with the bible or might there be, as I think there is, another way of treating these difficult verses? We live in world in which some are calling for the forgiveness of all student debt (and some for the cancelling of all debt for the poor), what does the call for Jubilee have to say about how we are Christians today? These are only two of the many ethical issues raised in these chapters. I look forward to studying with you in the fall.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . The organ prelude on Sunday is a setting of the chorale Wir glauben all an einen Gott, Vater (“We all believe in one God, Father”), by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). It is based upon Tobias Clausnitzer’s German metrical creed of 1668. This setting, catalogued as BWV 740, is in five voices, two of which are played on the pedals. Bach introduces the chorale melody one phrase at a time in the upper pedal voice which anticipates its eventual arrival in the soprano register. He presents this chorale melody for the creed gently in a placid tone of confident reverence. Sunday’s postlude is Bach’s setting of a different credal chorale, this time, Martin Luther’s Wir glauben all an einen Gott, Schöpfer (“We all believe in one God, Creator”), BWV 680. This setting is from Bach’s Clavier-Übung III, literally translated “keyboard practice,” Part III, which is sometimes referred to as Bach’s “Organ Mass.” The chorale melody here first appeared in a collection, edited by Johann Walter in collaboration with Luther, that was published in Wittenberg in 1524. Rather than presenting this entire chorale melody in some fashion, as is the usual expectation of chorale preludes, Bach takes only the chorale’s first few pitches and uses them to build a fugue for the hands. This fugue is played above a rising and falling phrase, recurring in various keys, and played by the feet on the pedals. The angular muscularity of this setting has caused it to be nicknamed the “Giant” Fugue.

Tomás Luís de Victoria (c. 1548–1611) is considered the most important Spanish composer of Renaissance polyphony. Victoria knew and may have been instructed by Palestrina (1525–1594), who was maestro di cappella of the Seminario Romano in Rome at the time Victoria was studying at the nearby Jesuit Collegio Germanico. During his years in Rome, Victoria held several positions as singer, organist and choral master, and published many of his compositions. He was ordained priest in 1575 after a three-day diaconate. There are twenty authenticated Mass settings by Victoria, in addition to two Requiems. Although the Missa Dominicalis, sung as the Mass setting on Sunday morning, has long been attributed to Victoria, the authorship of the setting has recently been questioned by scholars who have recognized that there are elements in the music which appear uncharacteristic of Victoria’s style. No alternative authorship has been determined. The Missa Dominicalis is an alternatim setting, that is, phrases of text are sung in segments which alternate chant with four-voice polyphony. In addition, the polyphonic segments are rigorous in their use of chant phrases as cantus firmus. The cantus firmus for the Kyrie (not sung this morning) and the Gloria is Mass XI, Orbis Factor, the plainsong designated for Sundays throughout the year. The cantus firmus for the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei is Mass XVIII, the plainsong designated for Weekdays in Advent and Lent, and at Masses of the Dead.

The motet at Communion at Sunday’s Solemn Mass, I will wash myself in innocence, was composed in 2003 by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s, to recognize the diaconal ordination of Leighton James Lee, formerly dean of the Cathedral of the Redeemer, Calgary, Alberta, and currently rector of Saint Mark’s Anglican Church, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The motet was first sung soon thereafter at Father Lee’s ordination to the priesthood. It is a four-voice choral setting of a portion of Psalm 26 (verses 6-8, 12) which reflect upon the preparation for and execution of corporate worship. The intention expressed by this psalm text is well applied to virtually all occasions where the faithful gather for worship.

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 6:30 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.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR . . . Saturday, October 23, Saint James of Jerusalem . . . Thursday, October 28, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles . . . Monday, November 1, All Saints’ Day . . . Tuesday, November 2, All Souls’ Day . . . Wednesday–Saturday, November 3–6, and Monday, November 8, Annual Requiem Masses, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Sunday, November 7, All Saints’ Sunday . . .  Thursday, November 25, Thanksgiving Day . . . November 28, The First Sunday of Advent (Year C/Year Two).

AT THE THEATER . . . The Peccadillo Theater Company at the Theatre at Saint Clement’s, 423 West Forty-sixth Street, New York, NY, October 20, 2021–January 9, 2022. Morning’s At Seven, Paul Osborn’s treasured comedy classic, returns to New York for the first time in twenty years featuring an all-star cast, including Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, Judith Ivey, Dan Lauria, Tony Roberts, Patty McCormack, John Rubinstein, Keri Safran, Jonathan Spivey. Set in the early 1920s in a small midwestern town, Morning’s At Seven tells the story of the four Gibbs sisters, all of whom live within a “stone’s throw” of each other. Now in their late sixties, the sisters and their husbands find themselves at a dramatic “fork in the road,” forced to confront longstanding rivalries and betrayals as well as the fears and disappointments of advanced middle age. At once hilarious and deeply touching, Morning’s At Seven lays bare the inner workings of the American family in all its messy, embarrassing, ridiculous glory. The play is directed by Dan Wackerman, who, with his husband, Kevin Kennedy, often worships with us on Sunday morning. They have been great supporters of Saint Mary’s. We invite you to support them in turn—and have a great time doing it! Tickets may be purchased online. The play has been produced by Julian Schlossberg, Roy Furman, Eric Falkenstein, Sandy Robertson, Suzanne Grant, and Alexander Marshall, in association with The Peccadillo Theater Company and Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre. 

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.