FROM FATHER JACOBSON: STATIONS OF THE CROSS

Years ago, when I was in the mountains of northern Italy skiing with Meredith, we decided to take a break one day and instead went hiking. It happened to be a Friday in Lent, and at some point along the way, I said something to her about how we were missing Stations of the Cross at Saint Mary’s back in New York. At the time, I was a parishioner at Christ and Saint Stephen’s in the Upper West Side, but I worked in midtown and would sometimes come to Saint Mary’s for the weekday Masses and also for Stations in Lent.

We were in the Dolomites, near the Austrian border, which I think has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. So, there was nothing to complain about, even if I felt as though I was missing out on something I knew was going on back in Times Square. After several hours of hiking, it started to snow. Initially, there were just flurries, but then the snow was really coming down. The visibility was getting poor and it seemed more than prudent to return back into town.

On our way back, I saw a path off to the right that we hadn’t noticed before. Even though it probably wasn’t a great idea to stay out alone in the mountains any longer than we had to, I felt inexplicably drawn to see where it might lead. So we went, even though the path led up another hill and not down into town. To our surprise, up that section of mountain, we found wooden carvings of the Stations of the Cross along the trail. There was something magical about stumbling upon them in a snowstorm that is difficult to put into words. I remember feeling that at any moment the Blessed Virgin Mary might appear to us from between the forest trees, which I really could only partially see beyond the snowflakes.

While walking the Stations at Saint Mary’s, it also on occasion transports me out of time and place and somehow I feel more connected to first century Jerusalem and to Jesus. This last Friday, we walked it for the first time since early on in Lent 2020. We didn’t know what to expect when we decided to bring back Stations, though we were determined to do it even if it meant me, Father Jay, and Father Sammy walking around the church by ourselves singing the Stabat Mater dolorosa a cappella.

As it turns out, parishioner Clark Anderson is available to play the organ and many of the altar servers have signed up to serve as well. Last week, several members of the congregation joined us in walking the Stations as everything fell into place. It was almost as if we were back in 2020, before the pandemic, picking up right where we left off.

Other than March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, we will walk Stations of the Cross every Friday throughout Lent at 5:30 PM, which follows shortly after the conclusion of Evening Prayer. I hope you can join us one or more of these weeks, especially if this isn’t a path you have taken before! — MDJ

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Wendell, Marjorie, Mara, Marcia, Howard, Pat, Norman, Phil, Archie, Cintra, Ronnie, Christian, John, Tevis, Eloise, Karen, Shalim, Greta, Liduvina, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, Peter, George, Abraham, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; Michael and Todd, religious; and Andrew, bishop.

Your prayers are asked for the repose of the soul of the Reverend Dr. Louis Weil, priest. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Your prayers are asked for all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, especially the people of Ukraine; the sick; the dying; the poor; the unemployed and those looking for work; all refugees and migrants; those without food, shelter, or work; those who suffer from COVID-19; and those who mourn.

Your prayers are asked for peace in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe; for all health workers and all those who work for the common good; for those who live and work in our neighborhood; for all those visiting Saint Mary’s this week; and for all the benefactors, friends, and members of this parish.

Your prayers are asked for the work of Neighbors in Need, for its guests, for its benefactor, and for its volunteers.

Your prayers are asked for Todd Patten Blackham, who will make his Initial Profession of Vows in the Society of Saint John the Evangelist on Saturday, March 12.

GRANT THEM PEACE . . . March 13: 1872 Thomas Richardson; 1893 Catherine E. Swart and Christiana C. Marston; 1916 James Dunn; 1924 Thomas William Meadows; 1925 Selden Blakeslee; 1930 Harriett Breslin; 1943 Frederick Charles Schmidt II; 1956 Ida Jane White Blinn.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . The Reverend Dr. Louis Weil died peacefully on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Oakland, California, after a long illness. He was eighty-six years old. Father Weil was born in Houston, Texas, and earned degrees from Southern Methodist University, Harvard University, the General Theological Seminary, and L’Institut Catholique de Paris, where he did his doctoral work. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1961 and to the priesthood in 1962. He was a student of—and a sensitive and expert teacher of—music, theology, history, and, most notably, liturgy. In his long career, he taught liturgics at Nashotah House (1971–88) and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (1988–2009). Before going to Paris to study liturgy, he spent ten years serving small churches in the Diocese of Puerto Rico and taught at the Episcopal Seminary of the Caribbean in Carolina, Puerto Rico. His work as scholar, author, teacher, and liturgist was always deeply intertwined with his calling to be both priest and pastor.

Father Weil’s studies in Paris were shaped by the nouvelle theologie, the “New Theology,” which blossomed in Europe, and especially in France, in the middle of the last century. The work of the “new” theologians helped prepare the Roman Catholic Church for the Second Vatican Council, an event that led to profound changes not only for Roman Catholics, but also for Protestants and Anglicans. One of the core principles of the nouvelle theologie was ressourcement, a “return to the sources,” to the Bible and the writings of the Church’s earliest theologians and to its most ancient forms of worship. Father Weil had a profound respect for the Book of Common Prayer, indeed he played an important role in the creation of the 1979 Prayer Book, but he believed that Christians needed to learn from those early Christian forebears, who were almost always pastors as well as scholars. Those forebears were just as important to him as Aquinas or Cranmer. All of this helped make Father Weil the teacher and liturgist that he was. He was happy to talk to his students about the baptismal practices of the third-century Roman church, but he also wanted his students to understand what they were doing when they baptized the faithful in twenty-first century America. History, theory, practice, and life in the Spirit were always intimately connected for Father Weil.

Father Louis Weil was a great friend of Saint Mary’s. He’d come here first as a young man and had visited the parish from time to time over the years. But it was in the first decade of this century that he came to know the parish well. Father Gerth, who studied with Father Weil at Nashotah, invited him to be with us during more than one Holy Week. During those visits he taught and gave advice, as well as criticism. He encouraged, reassured, and made people laugh. He ate with us. He worshipped with us. He helped us to understand that worship was essential, not peripheral, and that everything else flowed from the praise and presence of God.

Father Louis Weil was a gifted scholar and the most generous of teachers. His death is a great loss to the church. May his life and work inspire a new generation to return to the sources and to teach others how to worship joyously in the beauty of holiness. May his memory be a blessing. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. — JRS

PRAY FOR PEACE . . . As we hear daily the terrible news of what is taking place in Ukraine, we continue to pray: 

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed: kindle, we pray, in the hearts of all, the true love of peace and guide with your pure and peaceable wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth that in tranquillity your kingdom may go forward, till the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

FRIDAYS IN LENT . . . We will walk the Stations of the Cross each Friday in Lent, except March 25, at 5:30 PM, following Evening Prayer, which begins at 5:00 PM. We ask that masks be worn during Stations, and we recommend that everyone attending Stations (and Sunday Mass) be vaccinated.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, March 13, Daylight Saving Time begins . . . On Sunday, March 13, The Second Sunday in Lent, 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 Forty-sixth Street. The class will be led by Father Peter Powell . . . Tuesday, March 15, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Thursday, March 17, Saint Patrick, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Friday, March 18, 1:30–3:30 PM, Neighbors in Need Drop-by Day . . . Friday, March 18, Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM and Stations of the Cross at 5:30 PM; Saint Mary’s Online Centering Prayer Group, 6:30 PM. Please send an e-mail to the group’s leaders for more information about this prayer group . . . Saturday, March 19, Saint Joseph, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Holy Eucharist and the Daily Office: The Angelus is recited Monday through Saturday at 12:00 PM and 5:00 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.

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . The organ prelude on Sunday is one of the miscellaneous chorale preludes of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). It is based upon the German paraphrase of Psalm 51, Erbarm dich, mein o Herre Gott (“Have mercy on me, O God”). This work, catalogued as BWV 721, is unusual among the organ chorales of Bach in that its unadorned melody, stated in half-notes, is accompanied throughout by a steady succession of eighth-note chords which provide homophonic harmonic support. One finds this sort of texture from time to time in other music of Bach, but not in the organ repertory. In light of its style, some scholars consider this chorale prelude an homage to Johann Kuhnau (1660–1701) whose music was known to Bach and whom Bach eventually succeeded as organist of the Church of Saint Thomas in Leipzig. The text paraphrase of Erbarm dich is attributed to Erhart Hegenwalt based upon a broadsheet from 1524. The anonymous melody, in Phrygian mode, dates from the same 1524 Wittenberg source. Bach’s four-voice harmonization of this chorale, catalogued as BWV 305, will be played for the postlude on Sunday.

The Mass setting on Sunday morning is Missa Brevis by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary the Virgin. Missa Brevis was composed for and first performed at All Saints Church, Manhattan, where Dr. Hurd was director of music from 1985 until 1997. It is dedicated to the Reverend R. DeWitt Mallary, Jr. who was rector of the parish at that time. The musical themes of each movement of this setting are derived from the rendering of the letters of Father Mallary’s name as musical pitches. These pitches are intentionally arranged to achieve upward melodic gestures. The Kyrie is in Greek and is the most lyrical of the setting’s four movements. Its themes are stated in longer pitches by one each of the four voices while the other three voices accompany in imitative counterpoint. The remaining Mass parts are in Latin. Each is relatively compact and rhythmically straightforward with the liturgical text presented directly in angular melodic shapes and lean harmonic textures. The entire Mass is scored for four-voices. Solo voices complement the choral parts in the Agnus Dei.

The earliest record of the English composer Richard Farrant (c. 1525–1580) is in a 1552 list of the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal. He became Master of the Chapel Royal choristers in 1569. He also served as organist at Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor. Farrant’s most distinctive contribution may have been his writing of plays, in the creation of the first Blackfriars Theater, and in his pioneering work in combining music and drama. The church remembers Farrant for his anthems and canticle settings. His anthems Call to remembrance, Hide not thou thy face, and Lord for thy tender mercy’s sake have become staples of Anglican Lenten choral repertoire. These three anthems are primarily chordal in construction with clear alignment of words for heightened intelligibility. The Communion motet at the Solemn Mass on Sunday, Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake, sets a text from John Bull’s compilation Christian Prayers and Holy Meditations (Lidley’s Prayers, 1566). Manuscript sources vary in musical details. Some sources attribute this composition to John Hilton (c. 1569–1609) who was assistant organist at Lincoln Cathedral and became organist of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1594. — David Hurd

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Mara Rose Lieber, the daughter of Deacon Rebecca Weiner Tompkins, was struck by a car in downtown Brooklyn on Friday, March 4, and sustained serious injuries. Please keep her and Rebecca in your prayers . . . Parishioner Pat Rheinhold recently underwent treatment in a hospital near her home in New Jersey. Her hospital stay was difficult, but she is now at home and in good spirits. Please keep her and her wife, Eloise Hoffman, in your prayers . . .  We were grateful and very pleased that so many came to Coffee Hour in Saint Joseph’s Hall after Mass on Sunday. It was good to speak to each other in person after such a long time. We are grateful to Harka Gurung, Marcos Orengo, and José Vidal for putting it all together after this long hiatus. We hope that you will come back this Sunday. On the menu: individual and safely wrapped Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. The carbohydrates are back, though it will take more work to get to them . . . At Coffee Hour last Sunday, interim rector, Father Sammy Wood, introduced himself and his family to the parish community. Father Wood’s wife, Renee, his son, Patrick, and his daughter, Flannery, were with him in Saint Joseph’s Hall. Renee Wood is the Chief Financial Officer of the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation . . . We are grateful to an anonymous construction company who donated around 50 breakfast sandwiches out of the blue one day last week. Members of the staff were fed as well as several members of our noonday congregation. We have good neighbors. Please pray for them . . . Brother Thomas Steffensen, OFM, delivered the sermon at Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, on Ash Wednesday. Brother Thomas, who was a member of the resident Franciscan community here at Saint Mary’s, now lives in Poughkeepsie. His sermon may be accessed here. The sermon begins at 9:53 in the video . . . We welcome donations for flowers on the altar and around the church for the following dates: Sunday, May 15, the Fifth Sunday of Easter; Sunday, May 22, the Sixth Sunday of Easter; Sunday, June 5, the Feast of Pentecost; Sunday, June 12, Trinity Sunday; and other dates until the end of 2022. Please contact the parish office for more information.

ORGAN RECITALS AT SAINT MARY’S . . . On the Feast of the Annunciation, Friday, March 25, at 5:30 PM, the organ recital will be played by Nathaniel Gumbs. His program will be: Jubilate by Fela Sowande (1905-1987); Impromptu by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912); and Chorale No. 1 in E Major by Cesar Franck (1822-1890).

Dr. Gumbs is a native of the Bronx and has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including Antigua, St. Thomas, Ghana, Paris, and Munich. He currently serves as director of chapel music at Yale University where he works with students, faculty, and guests to coordinate music for three worshiping communities: the University Church in Battell Chapel, and at Yale Divinity School in both Marquand Chapel and at Berkeley Divinity School.

Dr. Gumbs earned his undergraduate degree from Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia, his Master of Music degree from Yale University, and in 2021 he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Eastman School of Music.  Nathaniel’s principal teachers include Steven Cooksey, David Higgs, and Martin Jean.

Prior to his position at Yale, Dr. Gumbs served as director of music and arts and as church organist at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he led several hundred volunteer musicians and staff in four choirs and other ensembles. He has also been a frequent guest musician at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and served as organist and clinician for the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference.

In 2017, The Diapason magazine recognized Nathaniel as one of twenty outstanding organists under thirty years old for his achievement in organ performance and church music. In 2018, Nathaniel curated the opening Hymn Festival (Singing Diverse Music in The New Church) for the Hymn Society’s annual conference.

ADULT EDUCATION . . . This coming Sunday, March 13, Father Peter Powell will continue his series on the Holiness Code, Leviticus 17–27. The class will meet in the Arch Room on the second floor of the Mission House. Access is via 133 West Forty-sixth Street or the sextons’ lodge at the east end of the narthex (vestibule) of the main entrance to the church. Father Powell 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. During these classes 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 some of 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 historical 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 a world where some call for the forgiveness of all student debt (and some for the canceling 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 during the season of Lent.”

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . The next Drop-by Day is scheduled for Friday, March 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 at least 6 volunteers for each Drop-by. If you would like to volunteer, please send an email to neighbors@stmvnyc.org or call the Parish Office at 212-869-5830. The April Drop-by will take place on Friday, April 22, the fourth Friday of the month, instead of the third, because April 15 is Good Friday. The May Drop-by will take place on Friday, May 20.

We are especially eager to received donations of coats, thermal underwear, socks, and sweatshirts during these winter months. We are always very happy to receive new or lightly used athletic shoes as well. Thank you to all who have supported this important ministry.

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.

LOOKING AHEAD . . . Friday, March 25, The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM . . . Sunday, April 10, The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday . . . Thursday, April 14, Maundy Thursday . . . Friday, April 15, Good Friday . . . Saturday, April 16, Easter Eve . . . Sunday, April 17, Easter Day . . . Easter Week, Monday–Saturday, April 18–23.

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