FROM THE RECTOR: THE OLD BALL GAME

The Reverend Canon George W. Brandt, Jr. shared an article with me on Thursday, July 1, from a British website I didn’t know, UnHerd Daily. The article in question is by the Reverend Canon Dr. Giles Frazier, rector of St. Mary Newington, London. It’s called “My Shamefully Silent Church.” Its subtitle is “As football terraces [soccer stadiums] sing out, compliant Bishops surrender to Government dictat.” What Canon Frazier is talking about, of course, is the stricture forbidding congregational singing.

It made me remember something I had seen on ESPN the morning after the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, June 11. Bill Murray, Chicago native, actor, comedian, and writer, had led the Cub fans in singing, “Take me out to the ball game” the day before. You can see and listen to it the video on YouTube here. Even if you are no fan of the Cubs, you’ll enjoy Bill Murray’s performance. The stadium is full, the crowd is loving it, and many folks are singing along with Murray’s enthusiastic, if less than professional, performance.

It all made me remember sitting in the bleachers during my days at the University of Chicago, and I suddenly found myself thinking, “Why aren’t we singing in church?” Canon Frazier’s article led me to look at the City of Chicago’s website for COVID-19 data. Fortunately, the numbers continue to decline. This is the link for the numbers for New York City.

This year the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Sunday, August 15. I am thinking about the return of Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings at some point before then. We will need to make some modifications when we do that. One example: the gospel can be sung from the lectern, incense can be offered, and, once we have more servers, torches can be there too. There is plenty of space between the lectern and the first row of pews. Our open doors and windows will remain open.

Canon Frazier wrote, “Why is singing so important? Because the primary purpose of the Church is the worship of almighty God, and, for many of us, this is most effectively done with heart and voice.” I am hopeful that COVID-19 statistics will continue in a positive direction. And if it continues to be safe to sing in packed baseball stadiums, I think it will be safe for fully vaccinated persons to sing in our church.

I’ve decided that this week, at the Thursday celebrations of the Eucharist, we will resume our parish tradition of offering the anointing with the holy oil for healing during this service. When offered, the celebrant, with a face mask, will stand where he or she does at present for the ministration of Communion. Then, as the person is anointed, the priest says, “I anoint you with oil in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The person responds, “Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer [1979], 456). The anointed person returns to his or her seat.

When all have reached their places in the pews, the priest will say, “As you are outwardly anointed with this holy oil, so may our heavenly Father grant you the inward anointing of the Holy Spirit. Of his great mercy, may he forgive you your sins, release you from suffering, and restore you to wholeness and strength. May he deliver you from all evil, preserve you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Ibid.). Even if one is not being anointed, it is good to hear this succinct summary of God’s active place in our lives. Do watch Bill Murray’s performance, and please pray for the restoration of congregational song. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Charles, José, Maria, Ronald, Mario, Roman, Alexei, Christopher, Luis, Liduvina, James, Jonathan, Emerson, Rita, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, John, Shalim, Peter, George, Abraham, Burton, Dennis, Ethelyn, Emil, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; for James, Randall and Louis, priests; for all who suffer from COVID-19; for all who work for the common good; and for all the friends and members of this parish . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . July 4: 1907 B. Whiting Pierson; 1910 Herbert Arthur Link; 1911 William Joseph Anstett; 1986 Richard Johnson.

WE NEED YOUR HELP . . . If you have made a pledge for 2021, please continue to make payments on your pledge, if possible. If you have not yet made a pledge for 2021, we urge you to do so. If you can 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 . . . We learned recently that Tom Harris has been appointed president of the Times Square Alliance. Before his appointment, Tom served for some years as head of security operations for the Alliance. He and his team—especially Sergeants Jean Bijoux and Simon Tsakh—have been very helpful to us over the years, as have the hard-working members of the Alliance’s sanitation operations. We are very happy that Tom will continue to provide his calm, expert leadership here in the Times Square neighborhood. We are grateful to him, to his predecessor, Tim Tompkins, and to all those who work for the Alliance, who have supported our work and ministry so generously over the years . . . We received news this week that parishioner Jason Mudd was granted tenure by the New York City Department of Education. Jason is the vice principal for organization at Long Island City High School, in Queens, New York. Congratulations, Jason! We’re very proud of your accomplishments at the school . . . Father Matthew Jacobson will not be with us on Sunday, July 4. He will be with his family, celebrating his parents fiftieth wedding anniversary. Please keep Janet and Richard Jacobson in your prayers as they celebrate this milestone . . . Would you like to donate altar flowers? We are looking those willing to donate altar flowers for all the Sundays in July and August, except for August 15. The suggested donation is $250. Donors often give flowers in memory, thanksgiving, or celebration of people or life events they would like to pay tribute to. Please contact Chris Howatt, if you would like to donate or speak to Brendon Hunter for more information . . . Please speak to the rector if you’d like to volunteer to take photographs on Sunday morning, during Mass or the adult-education classes. The photographs are used to illustrate the weekly newsletter.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, July 4, The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost. Mass 11:00 AM, Father Jay Smith, celebrant and preacher; Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 5:30 PM . . . July 5, Independence Day, Federal Holiday, Mass 12:10 PM. The church opens at 11:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM. Evening Prayer will not be said in the church. The parish offices will be closed . . . Tuesday–Saturday, July 6–July 10, Mass 12:10 PM and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The church is open from 11:00 AM until 5:30 PM . . . Tuesday, July 6, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Next Sunday, July 11, The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: Mass 11:00 AM, Father Matthew Jacobson, celebrant and preacher; Evening Prayer 5:00 PM.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . At our monthly Drop-by Days, we distribute clothing and toiletry and hygiene items to those in need in the Times Square neighborhood. Last Friday, May 21, we served 29 guests. Our next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, July 16. 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.

You may also support this ministry by making a cash donation (if using PayPal, please write “Neighbors in Need” in the memo line). We are also in particular need of underwear for both women and men in all sizes. For men, briefs and boxer briefs seem to be preferred over boxers, though all of these are useful and welcome. Also, we would happily receive donations of single-ride MTA transit cards. These are useful for visits to social workers, shelters, soup kitchens, etc. We are grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry so generously.

We have been blessed over the years to receive donations of clothing from parishioners, friends of the parish, local businesses, neighbors, and passersby for use in our outreach program. We are very grateful for all these donations, since they keep our costs down in a significant way and they allow us to help our neighbors in very useful ways. However, we’ve discovered that not everything that is donated can be distributed or used. This presents us with a problem. We don’t want to throw usable things away, but we can’t hold on to clothing that we will never be able to distribute. We recently discovered a recycling program—reFashion NYC—run by New York’s Department of Sanitation that is helping us to solve this problem. We are now able to recycle items of clothing that we cannot use. The city, in partnership with organizations like Housing Works, collects the clothing and, after sorting it, recycles it, either for sale at Housing Works locations or, after shredding, for industrial uses. Saint Mary’s is now a part of this effort. There is now a bin onsite, where clothing set aside for recycling, can be placed and then picked up. The bin is not for donations, which must always be sorted first by our volunteers. It does, however, allow us to solve a storage problem and to recycle materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill. We are grateful to Brother Thomas Steffensen SSF, who discovered the program, and to Christopher Howatt, Harka Gurung, and Jorge Trujillo, who helped us find a way to make the program work for us given the restrictions of our building complex.

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The organ voluntaries on Sunday are the two movements comprising Pamela Decker’s Faneuil Hall, which was commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for its 2014 Biennial National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Decker writes “The work, as a whole, pays tribute to the city of Boston through a musical portrait of the landmark that has housed pivotal meetings and events in the history of the United States. The hall has been referred to as ‘the Cradle of liberty.’” The first movement, Elegy: The Cradle of Liberty is played for the prelude. It is cast in the form and meter of a lullaby to emphasize the image of a cradle. The second movement, Fugue: Liberty and Union Now and Forever, is played as the postlude. Its theme is based on a musical spelling of “Faneuil Hall.” The interaction of counterpoint is meant to represent the vitality of the historic discourse represented by Fanueil Hall. The movement begins with solid foundation tone and in strict fugal procedure. After the exposition it steadily increases in movement and sonority, departing increasingly from strict counterpoint and becoming more a metaphorical fugue—an intense conversation of discrete thematic elements—until it thunders to its E-Major finish. Pamela Decker, distinguished composer and organist virtuoso, is professor of organ and music theory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She is also organist of Grace St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tucson.

The musical setting of the Mass on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 4, was commissioned in 1974 from Calvin Hampton (1938–1984) by the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship. When the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church compiled its 1976 Church Hymnal Series I, Hampton’s setting was included as the fifth of five new musical settings for Eucharist Rite II. Hampton’s eight-movement setting includes Kyrie, Trisagion, Lord’s Prayer, and Jesus, Lamb of God, in addition to the Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei to be sung at Mass on Sunday. The Gloria is in a flowing 6/8 meter with largely stepwise melodic motion supporting a gentle lyricism throughout. The Sanctus is in common time but maintains a similar lyricism through the fluid movement of the accompaniment. This Sanctus is the only movement from the setting which was included in The Hymnal 1982. (Hampton’s well-known setting of the Nicene Creed which, in normal times, is often sung at Saint Mary’s—S105 in the Hymnal—is from his Mass for the New Rite, also dating from 1974.) Calvin Hampton was organist and choirmaster at Calvary Episcopal Church in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, for much of his active professional life. He was especially admired for his brilliant organ playing, his wide-ranging and eclectic compositional palette, and his imaginative liturgical and concert programming.

Born in Dublin, Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) was educated at the University of Cambridge where he was appointed organist of Trinity College while still an undergraduate. He later studied music in Leipzig and Berlin. In 1882 he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music. In addition, from 1887 he was also professor of music at Cambridge. Among his students was a generation of distinguished composers including Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Stanford himself was a prolific composer whose works included seven symphonies and nine operas. He is perhaps most dearly remembered today, however, for his enduring church anthems and settings for Anglican worship. During the administration of Communion on Sunday, soprano Charlotte Mundy will sing Stanford’s A Song of Freedom. This song is the first of his Six Bible Songs, Opus 113, first published in 1909. The text is Psalm 126.

More about today’s cantor: Soprano Charlotte Mundy specializes in music that is new, daring and sublime. She has been called a “daredevil with an unbreakable spine” (SF Classical Voice). Recent performances include George Benjamin’s one-act opera Into the Little Hill at the 92nd Street Y and a set of music for voice and electronics presented by New York Festival of Song, described as “an oasis of radiant beauty” by the New York Times. She acted and sang in A Star Has Burnt My Eye at the BAM Next Wave Festival and The Apartment at Abrons Arts Center. As a member of Ekmeles vocal ensemble and TAK ensemble, she has been an artist-in-residence at the music departments of Columbia, Stanford, Penn, Cornell, and many other universities. The multi-sensory ritual of Mass at “Smoky Mary’s” is a constant inspiration to her. Learn more at charlottemundy.com. —David Hurd

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 . . . Thursday, July 22, Saint Mary Magdalene . . . Friday, August 6, The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Sunday, August 15, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . Tuesday, August 24, Saint Bartholomew the Apostle . . . Monday, September 6, Labor Day . . . Wednesday, September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . Saturday, September 11, Requiem Mass for Victims of Attacks on 9/11/2001 . . . Tuesday, September 14, Holy Cross Day . . . Tuesday, September 21, Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist . . . Wednesday, September 29, Saint Michael and All Angels.

AT THE MUSEUMS . . . On Sunday, July 4, the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, the first reading is Ezekiel 2:1–7. The reading was chosen, in part, to complement the gospel, Mark 6:1–6. The passage from Ezekiel is a call story in which the prophet is sent to speak the word of the Lord to a people who are not inclined to listen to that word. The gospel passage includes the famous verse, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

The Book of Ezekiel is an amazing text that is worth close study, though it is not necessarily an easy text to read or understand. Saint Marians are of course well acquainted with the passage from Ezekiel 37, the Valley of the Dry Bones, which is read each year at the Easter Vigil. New York’s Metropolitan Museum has in its collection an amazing engraving that gives us one artist’s imagining of the Dry Bones vision. If you have access to the Internet, it is worth taking a look at the print.

From the museum website, “The Vision of Ezekiel; a group of corpses and skeletons emerging out of tombs, above them five winged putti holding a banderole (1554) by Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, Mantua c. 1520–1582) after Giovanni Battista Bertano (Mantua 1516–1576). Not on view. Large and dramatic, this engraving depicts the prophet Ezekiel’s vision in the Valley of the Dead when he saw vast numbers of the people brought back to life. As recorded in the Book of Ezekiel from the Old Testament, the prophet was brought to a valley filled with dry bones and commanded to prophesize over them. As he did so, ‘there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them . . . .’ (Ezekiel 37:7-8). The Biblical passage is represented here with great imagination. Set in a darkened valley the bones appear to be organizing themselves, joining up to form animated skeletons, and gradually taking on flesh. At either side of the print are sealed tombs and between them others from which skeletons emerge. The tomb at the right with female figures at each corner seems to have been inspired by the tomb designed by Giulio Romano (c. 1529) for Pietro Strozzi in the basilica of S. Andrea in Mantua. The designer of the print, Giovanni Battista Bertani, was from Mantua and a pupil of Romano. This is an early proof impression of the print before an inscription was added to the banderole held by putti in the upper section.”

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.