FROM FATHER JACOBSON: ONLINE MINISTRY AT SAINT MARY’S

As you may have noticed, the location for joining us online for Solemn Mass changed this week. Rather than going to Vimeo’s website, our live-streaming is now on our own site: https://www.stmvirgin.org/livestream. This new webpage also can be reached under the Worship tab on the top of our homepage by clicking on Live-stream and Featured Videos. We are still using Vimeo, but they are now mostly behind the scenes. It is our hope that having the webcast, resources for the service, and archived videos all in one place will make it easier for those who are unable to worship with us in person.

When we begin broadcasting, the screen on this page will activate automatically and go live. If it doesn’t, try reloading the page on your browser. In between services, the screen will say when the next event is scheduled to begin. This is usually the following Sunday at 11:00 AM. When we are able, we will also webcast on major feasts that fall during the week as we did with Candlemas on Wednesday. The page will reflect if we plan to stream a weekday service. It will also be noted on our homepage.

The bulletin and the lessons will be posted below the live-stream screen when they are ready, usually by Friday for the Sunday Solemn Mass. They can be downloaded as PDFs.

The broadcast goes live before the service starts in time for Dr. David Hurd’s organ prelude. Dr. Hurd begins playing approximately five minutes before the start of the liturgy. Sometimes we have organ recitals on weekday feasts and they begin thirty minutes prior to Mass. These recitals will be streamed as well.

Shortly after Mass has finished, though not immediately, a link will be added to the bottom of the page under Recent and Featured Videos for those who were unable to join us live and would like to view the video at a later time. There is a little bit of editing that takes place, but we aim to have a link to the video posted soon afterwards.

The clergy and the Board of Trustees expects our online ministry to continue to be an important part of Saint Mary’s even after the pandemic is behind us. The Board recently made a short video that discusses their decision to invest in the equipment necessary to do this ministry well. The video can be viewed by clicking here.

Mr. Blair Burroughs has played an essential role in making worship at Saint Mary’s accessible to people around the country and the world. In the video, he talks about how he serves the parish by broadcasting our liturgies from the control room next to the sacristy. Blair notes that it is not difficult to learn and he would be happy to train others. I’m very grateful for all that he has done and continues to do. The more volunteers we have with this ministry, the more confident I am that our online community will be able to count on our virtual presence week after week. If you feel that you might be called to this ministry, please get in touch with me or Blair and we would be happy to tell you more about it.

Whether you are joining us in person or online, you are an important part of our community and we will continue to look for new ways to nourish all the members of the Body of Christ. — MDJ

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Stephanie, John, Philip, Sylvia, Pat, Eloise, Karen, Shalim, Brian, Patricia, Carmen, Greta, Liduvina, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, Peter, George, Abraham, Emil, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; for Sammy, Randall and Louis, priests; for Andrew, bishop; for all victims of natural disaster; all who suffer from COVID-19; all refugees and migrants; all who work for the common good; all the friends and members of this parish; and for the repose of the souls of Dennis Smith and Frances Long . . .  GRANT THEM PEACE . . . February 6: 1888 Mary Jane Bailey; 1923 Leila West de Wolffers; 1933 Charles Richard Graham.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Longtime parishioner Dennis Smith died in hospice care in New Jersey on Friday, January 28, after a long illness. Those new to Saint Mary’s will not have met Dennis, since he has not been able to travel here from his home in West New York, NJ, for some time, but he was a faithful member of the ushers’ guild and a fixture here at the parish for many years. Dennis was calm in temperament, not given to drama or high anxiety, kind, always willing to help, and with a sense of humor all his own. He was a good and faithful man. He loved Saint Mary’s and was committed to this community. There are no funeral plans as yet. I hope you will keep Dennis in your prayers.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . On Sunday, February 6, The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, the Adult Education class will meet from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM in the Arch Room, on the Second Floor of the Mission House. Access is via 133 West 46th Street or via the sextons’ lodge off the Narthex of the church . . . Tuesday, February 8, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . The Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office: The Angelus is recited Monday through Saturday at 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM. The Holy Eucharist is celebrated Monday through Saturday at 12:10 PM. Evening Prayer is normally said in the church Monday through Saturday at 5:00 PM, except on Federal holidays and certain holy days. Solemn Mass is celebrated at 11:00 AM on Sunday morning and Evening Prayer is said at 5:00 PM in the church on Sunday afternoons.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . If all goes as planned, Father Sammy Wood, our new interim rector, will arrive in New York on Thursday, February 10 and members of the Board of Trustees will have an opportunity to introduce Father Wood to the congregation at the end of the Solemn Mass on Sunday morning, February 13. Please keep him and his family in your prayers as they plan their move and embark on this new chapter in their lives and ministries.

GOING LIVE . . . On the morning of Sunday, March 15, 2020, Saint Mary’s did not open its doors for public worship. The COVID-19 epidemic had arrived. The Holy Eucharist was celebrated in the Lady Chapel that day, as it was every day until July 1, when we opened once again for public worship. Father Gerth and I were in the Lady Chapel that morning and so were Brother Damien Joseph and Brother Thomas Steffensen. According to my records, Father Jim Pace was the celebrant at that Mass that day, which was third Sunday in Lent.

At some point during the week that followed, we began to live-stream the daily Mass via our Facebook page, using an iPhone and a tripod. It all seems rather primitive now, but it didn’t seem so back then. None of us had degrees in broadcasting, but Brother Damien Joseph had more knowledge and experience than the rest of us, and he told us that this would be possible. It seemed almost miraculous to me back then. I remain very grateful to Brother Damien Joseph for getting our very first live-stream started and teaching us all how to make it happen.

There were glitches along the way, of course. One day, famously, the iPhone popped out of its frame, did a somersault, and landed on the floor, presumably causing vertigo for our viewers. But, despite the glitches, there was also something rather exciting about being able to connect with our friends and members in this way. Connection was important back then during those hard, early days of the epidemic. On the mornings when I watched over the iPhone during the live-stream, I was heartened to see the names of those who were watching roll by, names that were often accompanied by heart emojis. One day I realized that these folks were not just watching, they were worshipping right along with us. When they typed “Peace be with you” into the chat, they meant it.

We’ve come a long way since then. The learning curve has been steep, and so have the costs. We were blessed to receive a very generous gift that has made it possible for us not only to live-stream many of our services in a professional manner, but also to upgrade our famously cranky sound system. None of this has been easy, and sometimes progress has seemed slow, but we have traveled far from those early days in the Lady Chapel.

As Father Jacobson notes in his article at the beginning of this week’s newsletter, we recently made some improvements in our live-stream that we think will make it much easier to access and use. I am grateful to parishioner, Reha Sterbin; parish administrator, Chris Howatt; consultant, Ian Ruben-Schnirman; and, in particular, Father Matthew Jacobson, for all their work on this project. I hope that the members and friends of the parish will continue to return to worship here in person, but many of us believe that the live-stream will remain important for us going forward. — Jay Smith

ADULT EDUCATION . . . The Adult Forum will meet this coming Sunday, February 6, at 9:30 AM in the Arch Room on the second floor of the Mission House. Father Matthew Jacobson will lead the class in a discussion of Luke 5:1–11, the gospel passage appointed for the day. Father Jacobson will preach on that text at the Solemn Mass later that morning. On Sunday, February 13, Father Peter Powell will lead the class in a discussion of Luke 6:17–26.

Sunday, February 20 and 27: “Encountering Women in the Ministry of Saint Paul,” led by VK McCarty. VK writes, “On our first Sunday together, along with highlighting the pleasantly surprising wealth of women mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Scripture, and their contribution to the story of emerging faith in the early centuries of Christianity, we will explore two of the women associated with the story and traditions of Saint Paul, namely Prisca, Saint Paul’s tent-making co-worker, and Thekla, witnessed with Saint Paul in the Apocryphal Acts. On February 27, we will continue our discussion, encountering Lydia—the Lord opened her heart—and Phoebe, the deacon from the church at Cenchreae.

VK McCarty is the author of From Their Lips: Voices of Early Christian Women, which is available from www.GorgiasPress.com She lectures at General Theological Seminary, teaches at Saint Luke in the Fields in the Adult Education department, and preaches at St. Gregory the Theologian Orthodox Church. We look forward to welcoming her to Saint Mary’s.

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) composed nearly a dozen organ settings of Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, the popular German chorale which para-phrases Gloria in excelsis (“All glory be to God on High”). This chorale had been adorned with organ arrangements before Bach’s time and in our own day one finds its melody paired with translated and paraphrased text in the hymnals of many denominations. The prelude on Sunday morning is a setting of Allein Gott from Bach’s miscellaneous chorale preludes. It is a bicinium, a piece in two voices. The upper voice is a modestly ornamented version of the chorale melody; the lower voice’s accompaniment clearly outlines the harmonies which support the melody. The postlude on Sunday is another setting of the same chorale found among Bach’s miscellaneous chorales. In this short piece, Bach separates phrases of the chorale melody, stated in unabashedly vivid harmony, with free fantasia passages sounding very much like they might have been improvised.

The setting of the Mass on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany is the double-choir Missa octo vocum of Hans Leo Hassler (1564–1612). Hasslwer was born in Nuremberg and baptized on October 26, 1564. His musical career bridged the late Renaissance and the early Baroque periods. 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. 1532–1585) 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. His Missa octo vocum, Mass for eight voices, was first published in Nuremberg in 1599. It is organized largely as a dialogue between two four-voice choirs which sing in antiphonal alternation, but then come together strategically in the splendid richness of eight parts. The established Venetian polychoral style is evident in this Mass setting, along with the harmonic clarity characteristic of the emerging Baroque style in Hassler’s time.

The motet sung during the Communion is a setting of Psalm 133 for five voices (SATTB), also by Hans Leo Hassler. The style of the music is more chordal than polyphonic, with voices often singing text in rhythmic alignment. Imitative passages along the way suggest the Venetian polychoral style for which Hassler was also known. — David Hurd

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . Our next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, February 18. Volunteers work from 1:30 PM until 3:30 PM. Our guests are invited into the church a bit before 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. The March Drop-by will take place on Friday, March 18.

We are especially eager to received donations of coats, thermal underwear, socks, and sweatshirts during these winter months. We are always happy to receive transit cards with one or two trips on them as well. Thank you to all who have supported this important ministry.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION FOR ALTAR FLOWERS? . . . Many dates for donating flowers are available, including the following Sundays: February 20 and 27; and Sunday, March 27, The Fourth Sunday in Lent. Several Sundays in Eastertide are also available. The suggested donation is $250.00 which provides flowers on the high altar; shrines of Christ the King, Blessed Virgin Mary, and Sacred Heart; and/or other locations depending on the calendar. The donation amount can be divided between more than one donor. Please contact Chris Howatt and Father Smith to donate the altar flowers. For questions about flowers and the Flower Guild, please speak with Brendon Hunter.

OF WILLS AND ESTATES . . . Your parish clergy are sometimes surprised to discover that there are members of the parish who have not yet made a will. Though understandable, procrastination in such matters is ill advised and, among other things, creates problems for one’s survivors. Our church has addressed this issue in the Book of Common Prayer, “The Minister of the Congregation is directed to instruct the people, from time to time, about the duty of Christian parents to make prudent provision for the well-being of their families, and of all persons to make wills, while they are in health, arranging for the disposal of their temporal goods, not neglecting, if they are able, to leave bequests for religious and charitable uses.” (The Book of Common Prayer, page 445).

This is good advice, and we are not ashamed to ask all of our readers to consider the final words of that injunction. We encourage you to leave bequests for religious uses, including to and for the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, your parish community, where you come to be nurtured by Word and Sacrament. This church’s ministry in Times Square absolutely depends upon the gifts of its people. We exist today because our forebears made provision for Saint Mary’s in their wills. — JRS

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Matt Jacobson and Father Jay Smith. Father Matt Jacobson is responsible for 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.