FROM THE RECTOR: CLOTHING, NOT COSTUMES

In 2012, the Right Reverend Charles E. Jenkins III, X Bishop of Louisiana (1951–2021), arranged for two sets of vestments, given to Saint Luke’s Church, Baton Rouge, while I was a curate there, to be moved to Saint Mary’s. The sets were made by Joanna (Jenny) KilBride, a member of the Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic. The guild was a group of Roman Catholic artists and craftsmen. Jenny’s father, Valentine KilBride (1897–1982), was an early member of the guild. He was a dyer and weaver. He made vestments in their historic shape called a “conical chasuble.” His daughter Jenny, also a dyer and weaver, and his grandson Ewan Clayton, a calligrapher, were still members of the guild when it disbanded in 1989.

Jenny visited Nashotah during my senior year in seminary. I still have the white chasuble she made for me. It has fleur-de-lis braid covering the front seam and the opening for the collar. It was made for my ordination to the priesthood. There is no further decoration. The stole has the braid as well at its ends. The tassels are not sewn on but made from the fabric of the stole itself.

The sets from Saint Luke’s Church were given, if memory serves, by the Reverend Susan Davidson and Dr. Jerry Davidson in memory of Susan’s parents. We use the purple set in Lent, the red set on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Every time they are worn, I appreciate the beauty of the craftsmanship. I think their simplicity rightfully takes the attention away from those who wear them.

The plate picturing Gregory the Great and his parents is from Annales ecclesiastici a Christo nato ad annum 1198 (Ecclesiastical annals from Christ’s nativity to the year 1198). It was written by Caesar Baronius and Odorico Raynaldi and published between 1588 and 1607. They are wearing the ancient Roman cloak. If I’ve got it right, it is from this garment that the conical chasuble comes down to us. Its origin was ordinary clothing.

With the advent of Eucharistic adoration, the shape of the chasuble evolves, leading to the various iterations that followed. The reredos painting behind the high altar depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as queen of heaven includes the figures of Saint Anselm and Saint Dominic. They seem to be wearing conical chasubles, but the vertical folds of fabric are wrong. On a conical chasuble, the folds will be horizontal and curved when the hands are raised for prayer.

Raiment for the Lord’s Service—A Thousand Years of Western Vestments was an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. It opened on November 15, 1975, and closed on January 18, 1976. I was still an undergraduate in Charlottesville, Virginia, when it closed. While staying with the priest who sent me to seminary, I came across his copy of the catalog. I haven’t seen one since then. But I remembered the title closely enough to identify it. Copies were available at the used book sites. I bought one.

There are three introductory essays in the catalog. “Vestments in the Anglican Tradition” was by the Reverend Donald L. Garfield, seventh rector of Saint Mary’s (1924–1996; rector 1965–1978). I think it’s worth quoting Father Garfield’s final, short paragraph. Concerning conical chasubles he wrote, “More impressive and quite historical is a return to chasubles of the conical shape (not just big but different in make) that are themselves the symbol and need little or no symbolism.” In A Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (Davies, J.G., ed., 1972), concluding his excellent article on vestments, Professor Gilbert Cope expresses the hope that with wider acceptance “it would be possible to use a vestment as an aid to Christian unity and not as a badge of division.” In the medieval symbolism of vestments, the chasuble, covering all our imperfections, stood for charity. Can we learn from what we see?” I think Father Garfield’s words are worth keeping in mind. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Ernest, James, Larry, Emily, Robert, Talia, Esmé, Gary, Greta, Pat, Eloise, Hortense, José, Ralph, Mario, Liduvina, Jonathan, Emerson, Rita, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, John, Shalim, Peter, George, Abraham, Burton, Dennis, and Emil; Ryan, Randall, Louis, and Albert, priests and Andrew, bishop; all who suffer from COVID-19; the people of metropolitan New York, Afghanistan, Haiti, Mississippi, and Louisiana; all who work for the common good; and all the friends and members of this parish. Your prayers are also asked for the repose of the souls of Antonio De'mario Green and Billie Barbara Lesh. May they rest in peace and rise in glory . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . September 5: 1904 John Elliott Tyson; 1943 Edward Conway Shaler, Jessie L. Montgomery; 1945 Helen Willoughby Barrere; 1953 John C. Sheridan; 1964 Joseph Henry Schuman.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Antonio De'mario Green, the grandson of former parishioner, Larry Green, died suddenly on Friday, August 20, 2021, near his home in Petersburg, Virginia. He was only thirty-three years old. In addition to his grandfather, he is survived by his wife, Alicia Randolph, his five children, his parents, and several siblings. He was a member of Mosby Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Please keep Antonio, Larry, and their family and friends in your prayers . . . Billie Barbara Lesh, who was born on August 30, 1931, in Greeley, Colorado, died on August 30, 2021, at Pathways Hospice in Loveland, Colorado, about thirty miles from her home in Ault, Colorado. Mrs. Lesh was the mother of the Reverend Dr. Ryan Lesh, who was sponsored for ordination by this parish. Mrs. Lesh’s husband, Edwin Lesh, died in 2019. Mrs. Lesh is survived by Father Lesh, her daughter, Pamela Guttersen, and two grandchildren. A celebration of Mrs. Lesh’s life is to take place on Friday, September 10, 2021, at the Eaton Community Church in Eaton, Colorado. Please keep Billie, Edwin, Ryan, Pamela, their family and friends, and all who mourn in your prayers.

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. —The Stewardship Committee

“AND THE RAIN FELL, AND THE FLOODS CAME . . .” . . . As most of our readers know, the effects of Hurricane Ida were not kind to many parts of metropolitan New York. The rain was torrential on Wednesday night. Saint Mary’s was largely unscathed, but not entirely. Our sextons are vigilant about monitoring the drains in the courtyards to the east and west of the church building, but the drains themselves would, in an ideal world, be larger than they are. When seven inches of rain fall within a couple of hours, the drains are hard put to get all the water out of the courtyards before that water begins to seep into the basements. (The sewers in Forty-sixth Street into which our drains empty also become overburdened, which doesn’t help.) As a result, we did have some flooding in our basements—in parts of the undercroft and in the Mission House basement. Six or seven boxes containing clothing and toiletries were affected. There was significant loss in only three or four of those boxes. Still, there was a lot of clean up to do. We are very grateful to our sextons, Harka Gurung and Jorge Trujillo, for their hard work on Thursday morning, moving water towards drains and mopping up the remnants. Harka and Jorge were joined by our faithful and hardworking parish volunteers, MaryJane Boland and Marie Rosseels. They’d planned on doing their usual Thursday work of folding and sorting clothing donations but were confronted with all the damage in the basement. They went to work to salvage what they could and make plans for preventing such losses in the future. If you would like to donate to that effort—metal shelving and plastic boxes—we would be very happy to receive it. Thank you, MaryJane, Marie, Harka, and Jorge. You took on a messy job and accomplished a great deal. We are grateful.

FROM THE ARCHIVES . . . On August 24, we received an inquiry from a Mr. George Harvey Smith, who wrote to us asking if we knew when his parents might have served as caretakers at Saint Mary’s Summer Home in Keyport, New Jersey. Keyport is southeast of New Brunswick and about twenty-one miles north of Asbury Park. Our intrepid archivist, Mary Robison, went to work and this is what she discovered:

“Dear Mr. Smith, [I’m not sure that I was able to find out much about your parents, but this is what I have learned]. Lucy Purdy and her family are listed in the 1930 census as caretakers of this home, which was at 151 First Street, Keyport. We know that they replaced someone named Carter as caretakers around 1924, but I haven’t been able to find out anything more about Carter, or about any other caretakers. The 1944 hurricane caused significant damage to the house, and in December of that year, the parish put the summer home up for sale. The December 1944 [number of the parish’s] newsletter informs members of the parish about the sale, noting that ‘this decision has been regretfully reached for purely financial reasons. For some few years there has not been sufficient income to properly maintain and run our Summer Home, though we have been holding on to the hope of better days to come. Then came the hurricane, with thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to our Keyport property. This made necessary the decision of the Trustees.’ . . . The house was originally built in 1853 by Joseph E. Coffee and was known as Bay View House before Saint Mary’s purchased the property.”

We are grateful to Mary, who went way beyond the call of duty to answer Mr. Smith’s inquiry in such detail. Her research gives us an insight into a fascinating part of life in New York City at a time when there was no air-conditioning and no polio vaccines.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Our friends at the Times Square Alliance have informed us that the Brazil Day celebrations will go ahead this year as usual on the Sunday before Labor Day: our block on 46th Street will be closed from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM this coming Sunday, September 5. Kiosks and small sheds will be erected in the street for the customary vendors. Some of the performances, which usually take place to the east of us, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, have been curtailed because of COVID-19. There should be no problem with access to our block on Sunday morning and the large crowd of visitors usually arrives only in the early afternoon, after the conclusion of Mass. The event is designed to celebrate Brazil’s Independence Day on September 7. The date celebrates Brazil’s Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves on September 7, 1822. Please keep New York’s Brazilian community and all the people of Brazil in your prayers during this difficult time in that beautiful nation’s history . . . Dr. David Hurd will be away from the parish on vacation until the end of September. He returns to the parish in time for the beginning of the choir season on Sunday, October 3 . . . Father Gerth will be away from the parish from Saturday, September 18. He returns Saturday afternoon, September 25.

AROUND TIMES SQUARE . . . Much to our surprise, a ferris wheel showed up in Times Square last week. The Times Square Alliance’s website tells us, “Ride a state-of-the-art ferris wheel in the Crossroads of the World and soar up 110 feet through a canyon of spectacular billboards, getting an entirely new vantage point on Times Square. Buy tickets online or in person at $15 for children 3–10; $20 for general admission; and $35 per person for VIP/skip the line tickets. Riders must be 42" tall to ride. Riders between 42" and 48" must ride with a supervising companion. Not recommended for children under 3 years. For all ticket inquiries, contact ticketing platform Universe or send an e-mail for more information.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, September 5, The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18, Year B). The readings are Isaiah 35:1–7a, 10; Psalm 146:4–9; James 1:17–27; Mark 7:24–37. The celebrant and preacher will be Father Jay Smith. Evening Prayer is said in the church on Sundays at 5:00 PM . . . Monday, September 6, Labor Day, Federal Holiday Schedule: the church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 12:10 PM. The parish offices are closed. Evening Prayer is not said in the church . . . Tuesday–Saturday, September 7–September 11, Mass 12:10 PM and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The church is open from 10:00 AM until 5:30 PM . . . Tuesday, September 7, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Wednesday, September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Friday, September 10, 6:30 PM, Saint Mary’s Online Centering Prayer Group . . . Saturday, September 11, Requiem Mass for Victims of Attacks on 9/11/2001 . . . Next Sunday, September 12, The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19, Year B). The readings are Isaiah 50:4–11; Psalm 116:1–8; James 2:1–5, 8–10, 14–18; Mark 8:22–9:1.

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . The cantor on Sunday is Ruth Cunningham, who is well known to the people of Saint Mary’s. During the Communion at Solemn Mass, Ruth will perform an improvisation on Saint Columba’s Prayer, which begins “Be a bright flame before me, O God/a guiding star above me./Be a smooth path below me,/a kindly shepherd behind me/today, tonight, and for ever.”

Ruth is a sound healing practitioner and was a founding member of the group Anonymous 4. She specializes in early music performance as well as improvisational sacred music from a variety of spiritual traditions in both liturgical and concert settings. She works with individuals and groups on using the voice and music for healing and creating a spiritual practice using sound. With Anonymous 4, Ruth performed in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East and made thirteen recordings with the ensemble. Ruth’s own CD releases are Light and Shadow: Chants, Prayers and Improvisations and Harpmodes: Journey for Voice and Harp. She has released two CDs of multi-faith chants with colleague Ana Hernandez: Blessed by Light and HARC: Inside Chants. She is a member of the core faculty for The Chartres Academy Wisdom School that meets in Chartres, France, each summer. She has also performed and recorded Renaissance music with the early-music vocal group, Pomerium, and is a regular member of the professional choir of the Church of Saint James on Madison Avenue. She studied sound healing with Pat Moffitt Cook and vocal improvisation with Rhiannon (a colleague of Bobby McFerrin). For more information, you are invited to visit Ruth’s website, www.ruthcunningham.com.

The guest organist on Sunday is Michael Hey. In 2015, Michael was appointed associate director of music and organist of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, where one of his first major tasks was to perform for the first U.S. visit of Pope Francis. Michael plays for over 700 services a year at Saint Patrick’s, many of which can be heard on Sirius XM radio, on television, and online. In September 2017, Michael received first prize in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music First International Organ Competition. The following month his premiere solo CD recording Michael T. C. Hey plays the Great Organ of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York was released by the JAV recording label. In addition to extensive solo organ performing, Michael enjoys collaborating with other artists. He has performed with Renée Fleming, Matthew Polenzani, and Isabel Leonard. He performs duo recitals with violinist Christiana Liberis. Michael is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he received his B.M. and M.M. degrees in organ performance. He is represented in North America by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. Visit www.michaelhey.com for more information.

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. Our next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, September 17. 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.

We would welcome donations of new packets of underwear for both men and women, including undershirts, briefs, boxers, boxer briefs, brassieres, etc. We are so grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry so generously.

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.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . There has been a change in our Christian Education offerings for the fall. Father Jay Smith will not be teaching his series on Virtue and the Virtues as Guides for Christian Living. He plans to teach that series in spring 2022. Instead, on the five Sundays in October 2021, he will teach a series on the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their sayings, their lives, and their enduring influence and significance. During the month of November, Father Peter Powell about The Holiness Code, Leviticus 17–27.

VOLUNTEERS & DONORS NEEDED . . . A Note to Our Faithful Ushers: If you are at Mass and notice that the ushers’ table is understaffed, we invite you to jump in and lend a hand. It’s vacation season, and on some Sundays, we do not have a full complement of ushers . . . Would you like to donate altar flowers? We are hoping to receive donations for flowers for the following Sundays: September 19 and October 10, 17, 24, and 31. The flowers on the altar on October 31 will, of course, remain on the altar for All Saints’ Day, Monday, November 1. The suggested donation for flowers is $250. Donors often give flowers in memory of, thanksgiving for, or celebration of certain people or life events. Please contact Chris Howatt in the parish office, if you would like to donate or you may also 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.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR . . . Tuesday, September 14, Holy Cross Day . . . Tuesday, September 21, Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist . . . Wednesday, September 29, Saint Michael and All Angels . . . Sunday, October 3, The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, The Beginning of the 2021–2022 Choir Season and the 2021–2022 Christian Education Season . . . Monday, October 11, Columbus Day, Federal Holiday Schedule . . . Monday, October 18, Saint Luke the Evangelist . . . Saturday, October 23, Saint James of Jerusalem. 

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.