FROM ZACHARY ROESEMANN: BY THE HAND OF ZACHARIAS

Zachary Roesemann is Saint Mary’s resident iconographer. He works in a studio on the third floor of the Mission House, just east of the church building. He is also a faithful member of Saint Mary’s. This is how he describes his work, “I paint icons using traditional techniques and materials—natural pigments, egg tempera and twenty-three-karat gold leaf—the same elements used in Byzantine and Medieval art. Animal, mineral, and vegetable are united in the icon to glorify God. Also, as is traditional, I model my icons on the ancient originals, those images that the church has over the centuries accepted and revered as ‘windows on heaven.’

“I studied iconography with Father John Walsted in New York. Before being called to iconography, I was a professional singer. Now I paint icons at my studio at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in New York City.”

Zach recently painted—some prefer ‘wrote’—an icon of Pauli Murray (1910–1985) that had been commissioned by the General Theological Seminary. Murray was an attorney, teacher, and activist. She was also the first African American woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. One can read more about her on the Episcopal Church’s website. We recently asked Zach to tell us more about this beautiful, important, and timely icon. He writes:

“Pauli Murray appears in a chasuble and clerical collar in honor of her place as the first Black woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. The vermilion red of the chasuble is the liturgical color for both Ordination and Pentecost, and, further, recalls Eleanor Roosevelt’s description of Pauli as a ‘firebrand.’

“Pauli raises her right hand in blessing, and in her left holds a scroll. In the visual language of traditional iconography, Old Testament prophets are often shown holding scrolls on which are written passages from their prophecies. Since Pauli shared many of the qualities of those prophets, in this image her priestly clothing is paired with a prophetic scroll displaying the words of Isaiah 61:1: ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.’ This, with the following verses, was the text Pauli used for a sermon given on the first Sunday of Lent in 1974 while she was a student at General Theological Seminary. The sermon, titled ‘Women Seeking Admission to Holy Orders—as Crucifers Carrying the Cross,’ advocated the ordination of women. (Reprinted in Bettye Collier-Thomas, Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, 1850-1979, Jossey-Bass, 1997, p. 240.)

“The text on the scroll is in the English of the King James version, which is the translation Pauli used for her sermon, and is written in Roman lettering with deliberately old-fashioned ligatures. This is meant in part to slow down the viewer’s eyes. We tend to focus on a written text at the expense of other visual stimuli, but an icon, even one with a text, expresses itself above all in image. The antique printing also recalls the big, old family Bible Pauli used as a child to read aloud to her grandmother. As she wrote, ‘I liked the huge print and the way the verses were divided on the pages. I liked the sound of the words rolling off my tongue and I would let my voice rise and fall like a wailing wind.’ (Quoted in Daughters of Thunder, p. 271.)

“Pauli is shown without her usual eyeglasses. I chose to omit them for several reasons. Icons are not meant to be faithful portraits. Also, icons depict transfigured humanity; glasses would be superfluous for spiritual sight. Furthermore, icons are meant to connect the viewer with the person depicted, leading ultimately to God. I find that glasses can dominate the face and set up a barrier in this relationship. I wanted Pauli’s face to shine forth without visual impediment.

“The recessed area of the icon board is called an ‘ark,’ which is a container for something holy. But holiness cannot be contained, so parts of an image are sometimes shown extending into the border—in this case, Pauli’s halo and scroll. This seems especially apt for Pauli, since her prophetic and priestly ministries were marked by the breaking of boundaries and limits.

“The text around the border is a prayer Pauli wrote and used to conclude a sermon titled ‘Healing and Reconciliation’ delivered in 1977 at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, five months after her ordination:  ‘Show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ (Book of Common Prayer, p. 840; quoted in Rosalind Rosenberg, Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray, Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 379.)

“There is indeed rather a lot of text on this icon, but that seemed appropriate for Pauli, for whom words were her most powerful tools in her many battles and ministries.

“On the back of the icon is the traditional signature of an iconographer (icons are sometimes signed, sometimes not). In this case it is in Greek, using Byzantine ligatures:   

XEIP ZAXAPIOU = [by, or through] the hand of Zacharias

“The word ‘XEIR’ indicates that the artist is but the instrument God has used to make the icon, and not its ultimate Creator.

“This icon is painted in egg tempera, and gilded with 23-karat gold leaf, over a finely gessoed surface. The board was made in Bulgaria of linden wood, with oak braces for stability.”

© Zachary Roesemann 2022

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

Prayers are asked for the sick and for all those for whom prayers have been asked, especially Mavis, Kenny, Kate, Margaret, Shay, Ari, Ronan, Andrew, Erin, Sharon, Terra, Ava, Jorge, John, Harka, Carmen, Brendon, Bradley, Louis, Emil, Pat, Shalim, Greta, Liduvina, Quincy, Florette, José, Frank, Jean, Brian, Abraham, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Robert, Lucas, religious, and for the repose of the soul of Ida Vidal.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Ida Vidal, the stepmother of José Vidal, died on Wednesday, at her home in Orlando, Florida, after a long illness. Please keep Ida, José, their family and friends, and all who mourn in your prayers.

AN INVITATION TO ALL NEWCOMERS AND NEW MEMBERS

Father Sammy Wood and Ms. Renee Wood would like to invite all those new to the parish—new members, those looking for a parish home, those who are curious about life at Saint Mary’s—to join them and a few others for dessert and coffee—and perhaps a mimosa—on Sunday, June 12, at 1:00 PM after the Mass. We will be welcoming all of our new members and newcomers at this event, which will take place at the Rectory, right next door to the church (the street entrance is 144 West 47th St.). Please RSVP by Thursday, June 9. You can send an e-mail to the parish office or to Father Sammy at swood@stmvnyc.org. Father Sammy writes, “We’re delighted you’ve been part of the Saint Mary’s family lately, and we want to honor you, get to know you better, and let you learn a little more about the parish. Hope you can join us!”

AROUND THE PARISH

Father Sammy Wood, interim rector, sent a message to the parish via e-mail on Thursday in which he announced three important milestones in the life of the parish: 

–  the removal of the scaffolding on the Forty-sixth side of the church;

–  the relaxing of the requirement to wear face coverings while in the church;

–  and the restoration of the chalice at all Masses.

Copies of his letter will be available on the ushers’ table at the Forty-sixth Street entrance to the church on Sunday morning.

The parish’s AIDS Walk Team had a successful fundraising campaign for the Walk that took place on May 15. The donations deadline was just extended and now runs until June 30 (click here to donate). The current total is $56,878. Thanks to all who supported the team this year!

We hope to receive donations for flowers on the following Sundays: July 3, 10, and 31 and August 7, 21, and 28. In these summer month, the members of the Flower Guild usually find a bountiful array of seasonal blooms at the flower market, lovely things such as larkspur, sweet william, and the last of the spring peonies. They enjoy using these summer flowers while they are able to do so. There are also dates available in the fall and winter. Please contact Chris Howatt, our parish administrator, if you would like to make a donation. If you have any questions about the altar flowers or about joining the Flower Guild, please contact Brendon Hunter.

Longtime parishioner and incense maker, Kenny Isler, has given up his apartment in Cold Spring, New York, and has moved, at least for a time, to South Carolina. We will miss seeing him in the early morning hours here at the church when he would spend time in his basement incense room working on his fragrant recipes. We will miss seeing him in his customary pew on Sunday mornings, just south of Father Brown’s cenotaph. We will miss seeing him in his cassock and cotta, carrying either cross or candle. We are grateful to Kenny for all that he has done for us over the years, and we hope that he will return, or at least visit us, soon. Godspeed, Kenny.

Parishioner Margaret Malone is at home recovering from hand surgery, a procedure necessitated after an encounter with a much-loved but too aggressive cat. Parishioners Jennifer Stevens and Sharon Stewart visited Margaret this past week at her home in Queens. They report that she is in good spirits and is recuperating well. Please keep Margaret in your prayers.

Brother James Koester, SSJE, and Brother Jonathan Maury, SSJE, were at Saint Mary’s this week, on a visit from the monastery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brother James, who was recently elected to serve a third three-year term as superior of the Society, spent much of Friday in our parish archives. He has a particular interest in the history of Holy Week liturgies in the Episcopal Church and was researching the evolution of those liturgies here at Saint Mary’s. Priests of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist—known back then as the Cowley Fathers—had charge of Saint Mary’s. Father Granville Mercer Williams, SSJE, was the fifth rector of the parish and served here between 1930 and 1939.

A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated on Monday, June 6, for parishioner, John Conner. We are grateful to Larry Long, who played the service and conducted the choir, while David Hurd was away from the parish. We are also grateful to the following acolytes, MaryJane Boland, Julie Gillis, Clark Mitchell, Santiago Puigbo, Luis Reyes, and to usher and reader, Marie Rosseels, who gave of their time on Monday morning to serve at the funeral. John was an organist and church musician and so the music at the Mass was particularly lovely. We are grateful to Charlotte Mundy, Joy Tamayo, Ruth Cunningham, Cynthia Shaw, Kirsten Ott, Daniel Santiago Castellanos, Sherwin Chao, Christopher Howatt, Muir Ingliss, and Dominic Inferrera, who sang at the funeral Mass. The Reverend Pamela Bakal, rector of Grace Church, Nutley, New Jersey, preached a fine sermon and took on the task of presiding at the Committal at the cemetery in Englewood, New Jersey. Mother Bakal knew John well, since he’d often played at Grace Church. We are grateful to her for her assistance.

Father Matthew Jacobson will be away from the parish for several weeks, taking some well-deserved vacation time. He leaves on the evening of Sunday, June 19, and returns to the parish later in July. He has kindly agreed to continue as the parish webmaster during this time.

Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish June 14–16 for work. He will be back in church and will assist at the Solemn Mass on Sunday, June 19, Corpus Christi.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday, June 12, Trinity Sunday, Solemn Mass & Te Deum 11:00 AM. Father Matthew Jacobson is the celebrant. Father Sammy Wood will preach the sermon. Father Jay Smith will assist, chanting the gospel and administering the chalice. The Mass setting at the Solemn Mass is Mass Euge Bone. The setting is by Christopher Tye (c. 1505–c. 1573). Evening Prayer will be said in the church on Sunday at 5:00 PM. The Sunday Morning Adult Education Class has begun its summer break. Classes will resume in the fall.

Friday, June 17, Neighbors in Need Drop-by Day, 2:00–3:00 PM. See below for more information.

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated at the High Altar Monday–Saturday at 12:10 PM. Members of the congregation are now invited to sit in the pews in choir. The chalice is now being administered at the noonday Mass. Beginning on Monday, June 20, the daily Mass will be celebrated in the Lady Chapel.

Holy Hour. Wednesday mornings 11:00–11:50 AM, in the Lady Chapel. A time for silent prayer and contemplation before the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Eucharist follows at 12:10 PM. We invite you to join us.

On Sunday, June 19, The Body and Blood of Christ: Corpus Christi, there will be a procession in the church at the end of the Solemn Mass, which begins at 11:00 AM. The procession will end with Eucharistic Benediction. During 2022–2023, in some of our adult-education classes, we will explore the history and theology of the Eucharist. One of the things we will discuss is Corpus Christi—the origins of the feast and the custom of holding processions on that day, and we will discuss Saint Mary’s celebration of Corpus Christi, present, past, and future.

The Racism Discussion Group Meeting: The Group meets online on most Tuesday evenings from 7:00–8:00 PM. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office, or speak to one of the current members of the group, such as Charles Carson, Charles Morgan, Marie Rosseels, or Ingrid Sletten.

The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group meets online on most Friday evenings at 6:30 PM. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to this address or speak to Ingrid Sletten or Blair Burroughs.

A Time for Prayer and Preparation Before Mass on Sunday: The acolytes, readers, and members of the audiovisual team are invited to gather in in the Lady Chapel each Sunday between 10:00 and 10:20 AM for a time of silent prayer and preparation before Mass. All are invited to join them.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED

The Neighbors in Need program is Saint Mary’s principal outreach ministry. It was founded by members of the parish, along with resident sisters and friars and members of the parish’s clergy staff. We “own” it and run it. We provide clothing and basic, but essential, hygiene items to our neighbors in Times Square. Your cash donations and gifts of new and lightly used clothing make this ministry possible.

The July Drop-by will take place on Friday, July 15.

The August Drop-by will take place on Friday, August 19.

With the arrival of warmer weather, we are now eager to receive donations of lighter clothes such as shirts, blouses, T-shirts, slacks, shorts, jeans, socks and athletic shoes.

However, as you do your spring cleaning, please know that we would love to receive donations of coats, jackets, and sweatshirts. We did not receive many coats from our usual suppliers this past winter and we would like to prepare for Winter 2022–2023. We would be happy to receive donations of coats and other cold-weather clothing even during the summer months.

Our goal is to continue to distribute clothing and hygiene items to those in need in the Times Square neighborhood. We are grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry.

ABOUT THE MUSIC

The organ voluntaries on Sunday morning are movements from Te Deum Laudamus, a four-movement organ solo work by David Hurd, organist and music director here at Saint Mary the Virgin. Te Deum Laudamus was commissioned by Larry King, director of music at Trinity Church, Wall Street, from 1968 until 1989. Dr. King premiered Te Deum Laudamus at the Riverside Church in July 1982. The second movement of Te Deum laudamus, played for the prelude on Sunday, is subtitled The Adoration. It has four distinct sections, one for each constituency which offers praise in the text of the Latin hymn. Phrases of the plainsong Te Deum are quoted in each section. The Apostles’ praise is set in twelve-tone technique; the Prophets’ praise uses ascending scales in thirds and canonic imitation; the Martyrs’ praise is expressed in boldly juxtaposed major triads; the Holy Church’s praise is a five-voice baroque-inspired fantasia in which the plainsong melody is quoted in the upper pedal voice.

The first movement of Te Deum Laudamus, played for the postlude, is a Toccata subtitled The Acknowledgement. The chant melody for the initial verse of the Latin hymn provides the cantus firmus which is played in long tones on the pedals under rhythmic patterns of chords played by the hands in the outer sections of this movement. For the movement’s central section, the chant melody is refashioned as the theme of a four-voice fugue.

The setting of the Mass on Trinity Sunday is the Mass Euge bone by Christopher Tye (c. 1505–c. 1573). Tye was probably born in Cambridge, England, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1536. He served as a lay clerk at Kings College before being named master of the choristers at Ely Cathedral around 1543. In 1545, he was awarded the Doctor of Music degree by the University of Cambridge. Tye had a strong connection to Dr. Richard Cox, tutor of Prince Edward, son and heir of King Henry VIII. Cox was later to become bishop of Ely. This connection led to Tye’s becoming the prince’s music teacher, who by then had become King Edward VI. It no doubt also played a role in Tye’s ordination to the priesthood in 561. Tye resigned from his position at Ely Cathedral to become rector of Doddington, Cambridgeshire, where he served for the remainder of his life. The origins of Tye’s Mass Euge bone are uncertain, but it is believed that this setting may date from the composer’s early years at Ely, perhaps in connection with his doctoral degree. The music of the Mass is related to Tye’s earlier prayer motet Quaesumus omnipotens Deus which also is composed for six voices and includes both imitative counterpoint and rich choral textures.

The Communion motet on Sunday is a setting for five voices of the Matins Responsory for Trinity Sunday from a generation later than Tye by Roman Catholic organist and composer, Peter Philips (c. 1560–1635). Philips had a particularly colorful life which included performing, composing, editing, and publishing sacred and secular music in England, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Philips’s compositional mastery extended to all the forms he took on, including instrumental, keyboard, and choral expressions. Despite his having begun his music formation as a choirboy at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, Philips’s madrigals and motets are stylistically closer to continental styles than to the English examples of his time. Tibi Laus is one of the more madrigalian of Philips’s motets with its chordal textures and meter shifts between duple and triple.

Following the administration of Communion, the canticle Te Deum laudamus will be sung while incense is offered. The choir will sing this canticle, traditionally attributed to Saint Ambrose, to traditional plainsong in alternation with verses played on the organ. This manner of presenting liturgical texts, called alternatim, was often applied to portions of the Mass and Office. Alternatim performance practice was well established throughout Europe from the seventeenth century, documented in part by many organ versets which were composed for this purpose by leading organ composers. It is also not uncommon, in our time, for organists to improvise verses in alternation with those sung to chant.  — David Hurd

AT THE HISPANIC SOCIETY’S MUSEUM AND LIBRARY . . . American Travelers: A Watercolor Journey Through Spain, Portugal, and Mexico. Featuring the Contemporary Works of Timothy J. Clark. June 17—October 15, 2022. East Building Gallery, Broadway Between 155th & 156th Streets. From the museum website, “Since the days of Washington Irving, Spain has held a fascination for American writers and visual artists.  John Singer Sargent painted at the Prado in Madrid and in Granada, other nineteenth-century North American painters such as William Merritt Chase, Harry Humphrey Moore, and Mary Cassatt, and younger artists such as Childe Hassam and Robert Henri, toured and painted in Spain as an essential part of their artistic development. (Henri’s colleagues George Luks and George Wesley Bellows were also strongly influenced by Spanish art.) When The Hispanic Society of America (Hispanic Society Museum & Library) opened its doors in 1908, the Society itself became a source of inspiration for American artists with Hispanic interests. The current exhibition shares an under-appreciated resource of the Hispanic Society Museum Department collections, the large collection of watercolors by United States artists painted in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. Works by Hassam, Kuehne, Edwards, Peixotto, Robinson, Peets, and Petrovic are presented in conjunction with a suite of recent watercolor paintings by Timothy J. Clark (b. 1951). Clark was inspired by the Sorolla in America exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art—over half of which was provided by the Hispanic Society—to conduct several campaigns in Spain and Mexico. Like Hassam and the others before him, Clark depicted monuments, interiors, and cityscapes, both with figures and as compositions in themselves, as well as still lifes. His works are presented as easel-sized paintings, similar in size to oils, but executed in watercolor.”

FROM THE TREASURER

Planned giving is a vital part of your support for Saint Mary’s. We know that we have many members of our Legacy Society – that is, parishioners and friends who have remembered Saint Mary’s in their wills – and that is a great way to leave a lasting impact. Another way to leave a legacy to the parish is to make Saint Mary’s a designated beneficiary of one or more of your retirement, investment, or bank accounts. The “designated beneficiary” route can have significant tax benefits for an estate, and the parish will receive the assets directly without the funds having to go through the probate process. Designated beneficiary forms are easy to fill out and available from either your employer (if you’re still contributing to your retirement account) or from the plan administrator. Designating Saint Mary’s as a beneficiary of an older roll-over IRA account from an old employer, say, is a great way to give even if you have other plans for the majority of your legacy. — Steven Heffner

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