FROM DR. HURD: FEAST DAY ORGAN RECITALS 2022-2023

The organ at Saint Mary’s, Aeolian-Skinner Opus 891, dates from 1932 with additions in 1942 and 2002. It is a legendary instrument due to its high rear-galley installation and the resultingly rich musical voice it has given to the legendary worship tradition of Saint Mary’s, its sonic refinement (in contrast with its strikingly unfinished appearance), its thrilling engagement of the lively acoustics of the church, and the remarkable musicians, too many to name, who have brought it to life, performing on it through the years in the liturgy, in recital, and on recordings. In addition, no discussion of the organ at Saint Mary’s is complete without thankful mention of Lawrence Trupiano who has curated it for decades.

The New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists has twice recognized its International Performers of the Year by presenting them in major recitals at Saint Mary’s. In addition to these great musical events, short organ recitals traditionally have been played preceding Solemn Mass on several major feast days. Visiting artists have included many who are affiliated with New York churches and schools as well as artists from out of town. These short recitals, along with so much else, took a pause from March 2020 through November 2021 due to the pandemic. However, they resumed last December for a shortened season as Saint Mary’s began again to schedule evening Solemn Masses on major feast days. In the present 2022-2023 season, our recital series will again include programs on All Saints’ Day (1 November), The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 December), The Epiphany (6 January), The Presentation (2 February), Eve of The Annunciation (24 March), and Ascension (18 May).

Here is an introduction to the musicians who will present organs recitals on this year’s series:

Tyrone Whiting, Director of Music at the Church of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, will present the recital on 1 November, All Saints’ Day. Tyrone Whiting is an organist, pianist, and conductor who began his formal studies as a teenager at Croydon Parish Church (now Croydon Minster) in London, UK. Five years later, in the summer of 2011, he was awarded the Associateship diploma of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO). He graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he was three times winner of the Geoffrey Singleton Prize for Organ Performance, and twice winner of the Cardnell Organ Prize for ‘talents as an organist.’ He also studied at Trinity’s Junior Department where he was awarded the Hambourg Award for Improvisation. He graduated from the Royal College of Music (RCM) in the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Science course. Returning to the RCM in 2016, he received a distinction in the Master of Music degree course. In addition to working in and around London as a teacher of organ, piano, and theory, he was also Head of Music at Elmhurst Independent School for Boys for several years and worked as an animateur in London schools and with the London Mozart Players. Prior to his arrival in the United States, he was Director of Music at Saint Mary’s Parish Church, Battersea from 2012 to early 2018. In September 2017, he was appointed Director of Music at Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey. At Grace Church, he extended the Chorister Choir School program, developed and expanded the adult choir, and founded the Brick City Chorus, an adult chamber choir. He is currently Director of Music at the historic St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, where he oversees an adult choir, a children’s choir Chorister program, and a robust series of concerts throughout the year. He has performed extensively including major venues in England, France, and Spain, and continues an expanding schedule of performances on this side of the Atlantic. His program on 1 November will include works of J. S. Bach and César Franck, the bicentennial of whose birth is being celebrated this year.

Michael Hey, Associate Director of Music and Organist of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City, will present the recital on 8 December, The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Described as “scintillating” and “tremendously virtuosic” (The Straits Times, Singapore), concert organist Michael Hey has been increasingly visible on U.S. and international stages. He has performed organ concertos with the San Francisco Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra, and New York City Ballet Orchestra. He has appeared at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. In September 2017, he received first prize in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music First International Organ Competition. Released in October 2017, his premiere solo CD recording Michael T. C. Hey plays the Great Organ of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York is available for purchase by the JAV recording label. In 2015, he 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. He plays for over 700 services a year at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, many of which can be heard on Sirius XM radio, television, and online. Not exclusively a solo organist, he enjoys collaborating with other artists. He has performed with Renée Fleming, Matthew Polenzani, and Isabel Leonard. He performs duo recitals with violinist Christiana Liberis. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he received his B.M. and M.M. degrees in organ performance under Paul Jacobs. He is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC. His program on 8 December will probably feature some of Marcel Dupre’s Fifteen Antiphons, Opus 18, or Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativité du Seigneur.

Gail Archer, director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University, will present the recital on 6 January, The Epiphany. Gail Archer is an international concert organist, recording artist, choral conductor and lecturer who draws attention to composer anniversaries or musical themes with her annual recital series including her 2021 series, A Slavic Celebration, and Max Reger, The Muse's Voice, An American Idyll, Liszt, Bach, Mendelssohn, and Messiaen. She was the first American woman to play the complete works of Olivier Messiaen for the centennial of the composer's birth in 2008; Time Out New York recognized the Messiaen cycle as “Best of 2008” in classical music and opera. Her recordings include her August 2020 release, Chernivtsi, recorded at the Armenian Catholic Church, Chernivtsi, Ukraine, featuring contemporary Ukrainian composers, A Russian Journey, The Muse’s Voice, Franz Liszt: A Hungarian Rhapsody, Bach: The Transcendent Genius, An American Idyll, A Mystic In the Making (Meyer Media), and The Orpheus of Amsterdam: Sweelinck and his Pupils (CALA Records). Her 2022 European tour took her to Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. She is the founder of Musforum, www.musforum.org, an international network for women organists to promote and affirm their work. She is college organist at Vassar College, director of the music program at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she conducts the Barnard-Columbia Chorus and Chamber Singers, and a faculty member of Harriman Institute, Columbia University. She is artistic director of the artist and young artist recital series at historic Central Synagogue, New York City. Her program on 6 January will feature works from Ukrainian composers Tadeusz Machl (1922–2003), Svitlana Ostrova (b. 1961), Victor Goncharenko (b. 1959), and Mykola Kolessa (1903–2006).

David Hurd, Organist and Music Director at The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, will present the recital on 2 February, The Presentation. David Hurd is a native New Yorker and has studied locally at the Juilliard School, the High School of Music and Art, and the Manhattan School of Music. He graduated from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, and he continued graduate studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has received doctoral degrees, honoris causa, from academic institutions in Connecticut, Illinois, California, and Tennessee. From 1976 until 2015 he was on the faculty of The General Theological Seminary, having been named Professor of Church Music and Organist there in 1984. He has taught also at Duke University, Manhattan School of Music, Westminster Choir College, and Yale University. A lifelong Episcopalian, he served on the Standing Commission on Church Music from 1977 to 1986 and was a major contributor to The Hymnal 1982. Since winning first prizes both in organ performance and in improvisation at the 1977 International Congress of Organists, he has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, and has been a featured artist at several national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists. His catalogue of published musical compositions features choral, vocal, liturgical, and organ works, and includes I Sing as I Arise Today, a collection of seventy-seven hymn settings, several of which also appear in various denominational hymnals. In 2010 he became the fifteenth recipient of The American Guild of Organists’ biennial Distinguished Composer Award. He was appointed Organist and Music Director of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in 2016 having previously served in New York City at Trinity Church Wall Street (and Saint Paul’s Chapel), The Church of the Intercession, Saint James’ Church, All Saints Church, and Church of the Holy Apostles. He is represented by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. His program on 2 February will include the Passacaglia of J. S. Bach and his own recent composition Introduction Passacaglia and Fugue on Windham which was commissioned by the 2022 Victoria Bach Festival.

Timothy Pyper, Director of Music at Church of the Holy Apostles in New York City, will present the recital on 24 March, Eve of the Annunciation. An accomplished recitalist, Timothy Pyper has been Director of Music at the Church of the Holy Apostles since 2017. Prior to this, he was Director of Music at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he developed a nationally renowned sacred music program. Other church appointments include tenures as Assistant Organist at Saint James’ Cathedral in Toronto and Organist of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York. Since 2021 he has taught at Williams College where he serves as Lecturer in Music and College Organist. An accomplished recitalist, he has won First Prize in numerous regional and national organ competitions including the Arthur Poister Memorial Competition, the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ (RCCO) National Competition, and the John Rodland Memorial Competition. He has performed at RCCO and American Guild of Organists’ conventions and is described by The American Organist as possessing “effortless technique and sensitive musicality.” His solo recitals and choral recordings have been aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and by National Public Radio’s Pipedreams. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Cornell University where he studied with Annette Richards and David Yearsley. His dissertation focused on the performance practice of early 20th-century English organ music. He received his B.M., M.M. and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music as a student of David Higgs and he holds the Fellowship diploma from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. Other significant teachers have included Giles Bryant, John Tuttle, William Porter (improvisation) and Barbara Lister-Sink (piano). As an AmSAT-certified instructor of the Alexander Technique, he gives regular workshops on the development of healthy keyboard technique. His program on 24 March will comprise the dramatic Sonata on the Ninety-Fourth Psalm by Julius Reubke (1834–1858).

Mickey Thomas Terry, Department of Music at Howard University, Washington, DC, will present the recital on 18 May, Ascension Day. Mickey Thomas Terry holds degrees from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His principal organ teachers have been Clarence Watters, Charles Callahan, and Ronald Stolk (improvisation). He was the Second Prize winner of the 9th Annual Clarence Mader National Organ Competition (Los Angeles/Pasadena), and a finalist in both the Michigan International Organ Competition (University of Michigan Music School-Ann Arbor), and the Flint Competition (Flint, Michigan). He is a critically acclaimed concert organist who has concertized throughout the United States and the Caribbean. He has been broadcast several times on Public Radio International’s Pipedreams. Since 1997 he has been a featured recitalist and workshop presenter at several National and Regional Conventions of the American Guild of Organists in cities throughout the United States. He is considered one of the leading authorities on the music of African-American classical composers. He has published several journal articles in The Musical Quarterly (Oxford University Press), The American Organist Magazine, The Diapason, as well as the British journal Choir and Organ. He also has an article in Volume IV of Essays in American Music (Garland Publishers, 1999) and as well as an essay that appears in Readings in African-American Church Music and Worship (GIA Publications, 2001). He is the editor of the currently ten-volume African-American Organ Music Anthology published by MorningStar Music Publishers (St. Louis, Missouri). He has also served on the Advisory board for the ECS/AGO African-American Organ Music Series published by E. C. Schirmer Music Company of Boston. His latest publication Blacks in the Arts: Music, Art, and Theater-Selective Readings which will be released shortly. He appears on the Albany Records label compact disc George Walker-A Portrait, playing the organ works of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker and on the Minnesota Public Radio compact disc Pipedreams Premieres, Volume 2, playing an organ work of Thomas H. Kerr. He has taught on the faculty of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and serves as a Master Instructor in Howard University’s Department of Music. He serves as Organist of Fairfax Presbyterian Church, Fairfax, VA, and is the recipient of the 2022-2023 Artist Fellowship awarded by the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Distinguished Artist Award from the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts of Howard University. His program on 18 May will include works by French and African-American composers.

I am honored to share in presenting this series of organ recitals with five distinguished colleagues. We hope these musical offerings will heighten the celebration of these six major feast days of the Church in our 2022-2023 season. Please plan to partake of these offerings and bring friends to the 5:30 PM organ recital and 6:00 PM Solemn Mass on these days of holy festivity. — DH

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

We pray for those who are sick and for those in any need or trouble; we pray for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week; for those living with drought, storm, flood, fire, and earthquake, and we pray especially for Julie, Carole, Lindsay, Stacy, Penny, Nadira, Peter, Eric, Carlos, Christopher, Linette, Larry, Luis, Stuart, David, Barbara, Marjorie, Shalim, Greta, Liduvina, Quincy, Laverne, Abraham, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, Emil, Pat, Robert; and Matthew and Scott, priests.

You are invited to keep these intentions in your minds, hearts and prayers this week:
We pray that God will grant to all those in authority the wisdom and strength to do God’s will.
We pray also for peace in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, and Yemen; and
For the people of Somalia, who are experiencing a severe drought;
For those ill with COVID-19;
For those suffering from depression, anxiety, or addiction;
For victims of physical and sexual abuse;
For all refugees and for those seeking asylum in the United States, especially those now sheltering in the Times Square neighborhood;
For those without food, shelter, or work, and for those seeking work;
For the ministry of Neighbors in Need;
For the Search Committee of the parish.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday, October 23, The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25C), Adult Education 9:30 AM in the Parish House; Solemn Mass 11:00 AM. The readings at Mass are Jeremiah 14:7–10, 19–22; Psalm 84:1–6; 2 Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18; Luke 18:9–14. Father Jacobson will celebrate and Father Powell will preach. The musical setting of the Mass on Sunday is Mass for Four Voices by Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585). The Communion motet is Cantate Domino by Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612).

Commemorations this Week: Monday, October 24, Saint James of Jerusalem, Brother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Martyr, c. 62 (Transferred); Wednesday, October 26, Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, 899; Friday, October 28, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles; Saturday, October 29, James Hannington, Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa and His Companions, Martyrs, 1885.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2022–2023

This week, the annual stewardship letter and pledge cards were mailed and should be arriving in your mailboxes soon if they haven’t done so already.

The 2023 pledge cards include ways to pledge your time and talent as well as your treasure. In an insert accompanying the letter, the Stewardship Committee highlighted some of the many ways to contribute to the mission of Saint Mary’s. We hope that all the members of our community will read the insert and prayerfully consider new ways of service and involvement in the coming year.

It is possible to submit 2023 pledges of treasure, time and talent electronically, via our website. Please click here for the online pledge card. If you aren’t on our mailing list and would like to be, please contact Chris Howatt in the parish office or fill out a welcome card here on our livestream page.

Thank you in advance for your generosity in 2023! And all to the greater glory of God.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED, SAINT MARY’S OUTREACH MINISTRY:

The October Drop-by is taking place today, Friday, October 21. Special Drop-by events to assist asylum seekers now sheltering in the neighborhood are being planned as we work with a number of logistical issues.

The November Drop-by will take place on Friday, November 18, 2:00-3:00 PM.

Our biggest clothing needs are sturdy shoes; coats, jackets and sweaters; and cords, khakis and jeans. We also accept financial donations as we purchase toiletries, underwear and thermals. You can drop off clothing at any time that church is open.

Our need for volunteers is increasing. We need your help in unpacking, sorting and hanging donated clothing. This takes place every week at different times, and we are happy to talk about how this might fit with your availability.

We are especially hoping to recruit volunteers who are fluent in Spanish as well as English for our Drop-by days for Asylum Seekers.

If you would like to discuss volunteering for any of our Neighbors in Need activities, please send us a message at neighbors@stmvnyc.org.

AROUND THE PARISH

Wednesday, November 2, is All Souls’ Day. There will be two Masses that day: a Said Mass at 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel and a Sung Mass, which concludes with the Blessing of the Vault, at 6:00 PM in the church.

On the five weekdays after All Souls’ Day, we will celebrate the parish’s Annual Requiem Masses at 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel. As is our custom, we invite the members and friends of the parish to submit the names of their departed loved ones for remembrance in the Prayers of the People at each of those Masses.

Click here to download and print the All Souls’ form.

Parish administrator, Chris Howatt, will be out of the office on vacation October 21–24. He returns to the office on Tuesday, October 25. Parish volunteer, Clint Best, will be covering the office on Friday and Monday. Dr. David Hurd will be away from the parish on Sunday, November 6. He will be playing the Joy Huttar Memorial Recital that afternoon at Grace Church, Holland, Michigan. We are always honored that David is able to represent Saint Mary’s in this way. Please keep him in your prayers. Parishioner Clark Anderson will play the organ and conduct the choir at the Solemn Mass on November 6. Larry Long will play and conduct the choir at Evensong and Benediction that day.

SAINT MARY’S BOOK CLUB

The next book that we will read is Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. This non-fiction book is a brilliant, compelling, and moving reflection on mortality, family, marriage, illness, and death. It was much praised when it appeared in 2005 and it won the National Book Award that year. It is available in paper, hardcover, and as an e-book at the usual online retailers. The book will be a fitting continuation of our November meditations on life, death, and resurrection following All Souls’ Day. However, Didion’s reflections are so humane, so personal, and so honest that the book is never grim. Please join us.

The group will meet in Saint Benedict’s Study on Sunday, November 20, at 1:00 PM. Please contact Father Jay Smith, if you would like to attend.

COMING UP

On Tuesday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, Solemn Mass will be celebrated at 6:00 PM in the church. The Bishop of New York, the Right Reverend Andrew M.L. Dietsche will celebrate and preach. Mass is preceded by an organ recital that begins at 5:30 PM.

Wednesday, November 2, All Souls’ Day, Said Mass 12:10 PM and Sung Mass and Blessing of the Vault 6:00 PM.

Friday, November 11–Saturday, November 12, 246th Diocesan Convention, Westchester Marriott, Tarrytown, New York.

Thursday–Saturday, November 3–5, and Monday–Tuesday, November 7–8, Annual Requiem Masses 12:10 PM each day in the Lady Chapel.

Sunday, November 6, 5:00 PM, Evensong & Benediction.

Daylight Saving Time will end at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 6. Clocks should be turned back one hour.

Wednesday, November 16: Evening Meet and Greet with Candidates for Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of New York at St. Andrew’s, Harlem, 2067 Fifth Avenue, between 127th and 128th Streets. 2 or 3 Train to 125th Street.

Sunday, November 20, The Last Sunday after Pentecost.

Wednesday, November 23, The Eve of Thanksgiving Day, Sung Mass 6:00 PM.

Sunday, November 27, The First Sunday of Advent.

Saturday, December 3, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Advent Quiet Day, led by Father Sammy Wood.

Saturday, December 3, Special Convention to Elect a  Bishop Coadjutor for the Diocese of New York, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

The organ prelude on Sunday is the first two of the five movements on the Latin hymn Te Deum laudamus (“We praise thee, O God”) by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707). Buxtehude is one of the most highly regarded composers of the generation before Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). His compositions include a wealth of organ music, pieces both free and based upon pre-existent melodies for sacred texts. His Choralfantasia Te Deum laudamus is a five-movement work based upon the Solemn Tone plainchant for Te Deum, the ancient Latin hymn traditionally (but doubtfully) attributed to Saints Ambrose and Augustine. The Praeludium, the first of the five movements, is introductory to the four succeeding versets in which the plainsong melodies are quoted. Following the Praeludium, the second movement, Primus versus, quotes the opening verse of the plainsong for “We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.” It is heard as a cantus firmus in long notes alternately below and above more accompanying figuration, and later in other varied textures. Sunday’s postlude is the fifth and final verset of Buxtehude’s Te Deum. This fifth movement is based on the verse Tu, devicto mortis aculeo (“Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death”). It comprises two sections of strictly imitative counterpoint and a closing section in freer fantasia style.

The setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is the Mass for Four Voices by Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585). Tallis was one of the most foundational composers of English church music. His long life and musical career included service under four English monarchs—Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I—with all the shifts in the church’s liturgical and institutional life that these different reigns occasioned. Tallis’s early life is not well documented, but references to his musical employment begin to appear as early as 1532 when he was appointed organist at the Benedictine Priory of Dover. Notably, he was later employed at Canterbury Cathedral and served as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. Along with William Byrd, Tallis enjoyed an exclusive license to print and publish music that was granted by Elizabeth I in 1575. While he was one of the first musicians to compose for the new Anglican rites of the mid-sixteenth century, Tallis retained an affection for the Latin forms and continued to compose extensively for them. Tallis’s unnamed Latin Mass for Four Voices probably dates from the 1550s. Its musical style reflects the trend of that time away from very florid liturgical settings and toward syllabic and chordal compositions, favoring clearer declamation of the text.

Sunday’s Communion motet is by Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612), who was born in Nuremberg and baptized on October 26, 1564. Hassler had a musical career that bridged the late Renaissance to the early Baroque period. His initial musical instruction was from his father, Isaak Hassler (c. 1530–1591). Hans Leo left home in 1584 to study in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1 532–1585) and become a friend and fellow pupil with Gabrieli’s nephew Giovanni (c. 1554–1612). Thus, Hassler was one of the first of a succession of German composers to experience in Italy the musical innovations that were shaping what would later be identified as Baroque style. Hassler was recognized in his day not only as a composer, but also as an organist and a consultant on organ design. Although he was a Protestant, Hassler’s early compositions were for the Roman church. Hassler’s four-voice setting of the first three verses of Psalm 96 was published in Nuremberg in his Sacri concentus, 1601. His works also include two other settings of this joyful psalm text: one for five voices (Cantiones sacrae, 1591), and the other an impressive poly-choral setting for twelve voices in three choirs. The more modest four-voice setting, however, is the most well-known. It presents the text in alternating homophonic and contrapuntal textures, using voice pairing at annunciate to give a hint of poly-choral flavor and add emphasis to the text. — David Hurd

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S

Saturday, October 22, 8:00 PM. In the Miller Theatre’s Early Music Series at Saint Mary’s, Belgian ensemble Vox Luminis will present a program entitled “Sacred Monteverdi.” From Miller’s website, “This is a program of emotive sacred works by Claudio Monteverdi, specifically selections from his Selva Morale e Spirituale (or “Moral and Spiritual Forest”). The chamber ensemble (ten singers plus strings, harp, and organ) expertly navigates the liturgical works from this unique and complex anthology, featuring a variety of genres from motets to Masses.”

Saturday, November 19, 2022, 8:00 PM. The Miller Theatre Early Music Series at Saint Mary’s presents The Orlando Consort: Josquin’s World. From the Theatre’s website, “The brilliant Orlando Consort marks the end of an era with their final season together. For their farewell program, they reflect on Josquin Desprez, the greatest and most influential composer the Western world had yet seen at the time of his death, 500 years ago. Experience a magical sequence of music that reflects on the composer and his world. And don’t miss your last chance to hear one of the most joyous and legendary vocal ensembles of our time.”

Information about purchasing individual tickets or tickets for the entire Early Music series is available on the Miller Theatre website. Please do not call the Parish Office to purchase tickets.

MAKING DONATIONS FOR FLOWERS AND DECORATIONS

Dates that are left for altar flower donations in 2022 are Sunday, October 30 and November 13. Many Sundays are feast days are now available for 2023, including the Epiphany and Baptism of Our Lord, January 6 and 8; Sundays January 15, 22, and 29; Candlemas, February 2; Sundays February 5, 12, and 19; and the Annunciation, March 25. The flowers on the high altar and at the shrines are often given in memory, celebration, or honor of someone, a life event, or other occasion, which is printed in the bulletin.

We also welcome donations for flowers and other decorations at Christmas and Easter. Please contact Chris Howatt if you would like to make a donation for one of the available dates or for the holy days.

ADULT EDUCATION OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2022

This coming Sunday, October 23, at 9:30 AM, in Saint Benedict’s Study, we will continue the first part of this year’s study of the Holy Eucharist in the Adult-Education program. Brother Thomas Bushnell will teach the classes on this coming Sunday and on October 30.

October 23: The Eucharist as Prayer
October 30: The Eucharist as Presence

Participation by the members of the class is invited and encouraged.

To find Saint Benedict’s Study, please enter Saint Joseph’s Hall via the entrance at 145 West 46th Street, bear right and head down the long hallway which takes you past the rest rooms, the windows, and then heads toward the Sacristy. The classroom is located on your left, just short of the doors to the Smoke Room, the Control Room, and the Sacristy.

On Sundays in November, and on the first two Sundays in December, Father Peter Powell will teach a series of classes on Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians. Father Peter writes:

“We have the church that we have largely because of Paul of Tarsus. The New Testament includes many letters ascribed to Paul, and what those letters all have in common is the founding or nurturing of what we now call a church. Seven of the letters are accepted by all scholars as authentic, which is to say that they were almost surely written by Paul himself. Scholars disagree about the rest. Some scholars argue for Pauline authorship, some disagree, often vigorously.

“What difference does this make? That’s the underlying question we will explore for six weeks each Sunday morning in November and early December, and then again during Lent. All of the letters are included in the biblical canon, and are, therefore, of equal value, at least theoretically. However, most of us, whether consciously or not, value some parts of the bible more than we do others. For instance, I prefer Mark over the other gospels and Romans and 1 Corinthians over the other epistles. I have my reasons for these preferences, but I recognize that preferring certain books can mean neglecting others.

“Some people value Paul’s ‘authentic’ letters more than they do the rest. This series of classes gives us an opportunity to discuss those canonical issues, but also to read some texts that it would be a shame to neglect. We will begin with Colossians, then study Ephesians, and finally turn to 2 Thessalonians. If we have time, we’ll look at 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. I hope you will join us. I think we will enjoy reading these challenging texts together.”

EL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS/THE DAY OF THE DEAD

At midnight on November 1, All Saint’s Day, many Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and other Latin Americans will begin their celebration of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. This celebration is not the Mexican Halloween, despite the use of skulls and skeletons in the iconography of the day. The day is connected to the celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, but is distinct from it. Several Mexican scholars have published a website, in English, dedicated to providing information about this distinctively Mexican and Latino celebration. They write, “A dedication to the deceased, the Day of the Dead (El Día De Los Muertos) is a two-day holiday that reunites the living and dead. Families create ofrendas (“offerings”) to honor their departed family members that have passed. These altars are decorated with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, and the favorite foods and drinks of the one being honored. The offerings are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods and join in the celebrations!”

Take a look at this informative and very attractive website. It is exciting to be able to learn more about all of our neighbors.

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Jay Smith, except as noted. Father Matt Jacobson also edits the newsletter and is responsible for formatting and posting it on the parish website and distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt, parish administrator, and parish volunteer, Clint Best.