FROM FATHER WOOD: ON PROGRAMS AND COMMUNITY

I’m writing this looking out on Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, where I’m on my annual clergy Covenant Group retreat — a group of men, mostly priests, who cycled through the same little parish church on the North Shore of Boston back when I was in Seminary. We gather every September to share our lives’ developments from the past year, pray for each other, celebrate the Eucharist every day, and eat and drink and laugh together. I wanted you to know that because this year the group has been praying for you, as we pray for each of our parish families. It’s been a joy to fill them in on my first few months at Saint Mary’s and share my excitement about the year that’s about to begin.

That year begins this Sunday. On Sunday we kick off our new program year at Saint Mary’s — adult formation is back at 9:30 a.m., the choir returns to the 11:00 a.m. Solemn Mass, and Evensong and Benediction resumes at 5:00 p.m. I don’t particularly love the term “program year” because, more than just the day we start programs again, this Sunday — like every Sunday — is an opportunity for us. An opportunity to pray, to worship, to be more fully formed into the likeness of Christ. In short, another opportunity for us to continue becoming what God created us to be.

That’s why I’ve always maintained Christian Formation is for everyone — not just Sunday school for kids and youth; not just classes for the more brainy among our pew mates. Formation is for all of us because we are all malformed in the first place. In an article in The Christian Century, pastor Jason Micheli says the church is to be a counterculture. Through her “thick practices” of study, prayer and Eucharist, and the rich language of our liturgy, “the church forms a community, not individuals, to be a counterculture — a kingdom community that witnesses to the lordship of Jesus Christ.” But we’re only formed into that community as we’re re-formed from our old ways of life shaped by materialism, consumerism, and preservation of the self. As Alan Jacobs says: “We must take what Kant called the ‘crooked timber of humanity’ and ‘make it, if not straight, then straighter. To form it in the image of Jesus Christ.’”

I’ll leave you with a quote from Father Sam Wells, vicar of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields in central London. He says of his work in that parish:

“I’m trying to do something beautiful: to run a church. Every day we’re seeking to model the way Christ makes us God’s companions through fun, fellowship, sacrifice, service, prayer, and play, and to draw Christian and non-Christian, slave and free, prosperous and desperate, agile and disabled, privileged and excluded into the company of grace and glory for which the simple word is communion.

That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning: a stranger might wander in to a church cafe, concert, homeless drop-in, or committee meeting and say, ‘This kingdom you speak of — this turning of society into community, this freedom and flourishing beyond market and state, the company of grace — what does it look like?’ And we can sweep our hand over every aspect of our life together and say, gently but truly: ‘It looks like this.’”

That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning, too. My prayer this week in the shadow of Mount Monadnock has been for Saint Mary’s to allow God to draw us more deeply into his life and then use us for the life of the world. 

That work starts Sunday. Won’t you come be part of it? And invite a friend or three! — SW

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 who are travelling; for those living with storm, flood, fire, and earthquake, and we pray especially for Nancy and her family, and for Horacio, David, Richard, Nadira, Peter, Eric, Carlos, Christopher, Linette, Jordan, Larry, Luis, Stuart, David, Sterina, Frank, Dickie, Renee, Maggie, Barbara, Allen, Marjorie, Shalim, Greta, Sylvia, Liduvina, Quincy, José, James, Frank, Laverne, Abraham, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, Emil, Pat, Robert; James and Nicholas, religious, and Scott and Stephen, priests.

You are invited to keep these intentions in your minds, hearts and prayers this week:

For the people of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Florida;
For peace in Ukraine;
For peace, understanding, and reconciliation in the United States;
For those ill with COVID-19;
For those suffering from depression, anxiety, or addiction;
For all refugees and for those seeking asylum in the United States;
For those without food, shelter, or work;
For those seeking work;
For the Search Committee of the parish;
For the safety and welfare of our city and our nation.

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF NEW YORK BISHOP SEARCH

The Committee for the Election of a Bishop for The Episcopal Diocese of New York has completed its work of selecting candidates for bishop coadjutor. This Committee submitted the following names to the Standing Committee of the Diocese on September 15, 2022, and received their approval for the entire slate. The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

The Rev. Matthew Foster Heyd, the Diocese of New York

The Rev. Stephanie M. Johnson, the Diocese of Connecticut

The Rev. Matthew Hoxsie Mead, the Diocese of New York

The Rev. Steven D. Paulikas, the Diocese of Long Island

The Rev. Robert Jemonde Taylor, the Diocese of North Carolina

Saint Marians will note that one of the candidates is Father Matthew Mead, who served here as curate in the mid-2000s

What’s a bishop coadjutor? From An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: “A Bishop Coadjutor is an assistant bishop with the right of succession upon the resignation of the diocesan bishop. Before a bishop coadjutor is elected, the diocesan bishop must consent to such an election and state the duties which will be assigned to the bishop coadjutor when duly ordained and consecrated.” This means that the process to elect Bishop Dietsche’s successor has now begun.

The Committee for the Election of a Bishop has worked efficiently and well in recent months, ever since Bishop Dietsche announced that he will be retiring in 2024. The Committee has created an excellent website that includes a great deal of information about the discernment and the election processes. We commend it to you.

The website provides biographies of and statements by the candidates. We recommend that all our members and friends read these materials to acquaint themselves with the candidates. Along the way, one will discover the diversity and wealth of talent for ministry in the Episcopal Church.

What is the timeline for the election process?

September 26: Slate of Candidates announced and a twenty-five day period begins during which additional candidates may be nominated by petion.

New York Episcopalians will have several opportunities to meet the candidates, to hear them speak, and also answer questions. Since Saint Marians live in all five boroughs of the city and throughout the metropolitan area, we include the entire list of “meet-and-greet” sessions.

Schedule of Evening Meet and Greet Sessions with Candidates

Monday, November 14: Staten Island - St. Mary's, Castleton
Tuesday, November 15: Hudson Valley - St. George's, Newburgh
Wednesday, November 16: Manhattan - St. Andrew's, Harlem
Thursday, November 17: Westchester - Trinity/St. Paul, New Rochelle
Friday, November 18: Bronx - St. Margaret's, Longwood

Saturday, December 3, 2022: Special Convention to Elect the Bishop Coadjutor

Saturday, May 20, 2023: Consecration of the Bishop Coadjutor

Saturday, March 16, 2024: The Installation of the XVII Bishop of New York

A Prayer for the Election of a Bishop

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for the Diocese of New York, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES ON SUNDAYS AND WEEKDAYS

Sunday
The church will open at 9:00 AM and will close at 6:00 PM.
Adult Education will normally take place at 9:30 AM in Saint Benedict’s Study.
Solemn Mass is at 11:00 AM.
On the first Sunday of every month, there will normally be Evensong and Benediction in the church at 5:00 PM. On other Sundays, Evening Prayer will be said at 5:00 PM.

Monday–Friday
The church will open at 7:00 AM and close at 7:00 PM.
Morning Prayer will be said in the church at 8:00 AM.
Mass will be celebrated at 12:10 PM, normally in the Lady Chapel.
Evening Prayer will be said in the church at 5:00 PM.
On Wednesdays, Holy Hour will be kept in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament at 11:00 AM in the Lady Chapel.
The Mass on Thursdays will normally include Anointing and Prayers for Healing.

Saturday
The church will open at 10:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM.
Mass will be celebrated in the Lady Chapel at 12:10 PM.
Evening Prayer will be said in the church at 5:00 PM.

ADULT EDUCATION: THE 2022-2023 PROGRAM BEGINS

This coming Sunday, October 2, at 9:30 AM, in Saint Benedict’s Study, we will begin our year-long study of the Holy Eucharist in the Adult-Education program. On all but one of the Sundays in October, Brother Thomas Bushnell, BSG, will be introducing the series, talking not so much about abstract sacramental theology, but about what the Eucharist is and what it does:

October 2: The Eucharist as Meal
October 9: The Eucharist as Sacrifice
October 23: The Eucharist as Prayer
October 30: The Eucharist as Presence

On October 16, Father Jay Smith will teach the class. He plans to reflect a bit on Brother Thomas’s first two presentations as a way of discussing the goals and intentions of the series as a whole.

We hope that you will join us for some or all of these classes, which begin at 9:30 AM. 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 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.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday, October 2, The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22C), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM. The readings are Habakkuk 1:1–6, 12–13, 2:1–4; Psalm 37:3–10; 2 Timothy 1:6–14; Luke 17:1–10. Father Smith will celebrate, and Father Wood will preach. The musical setting of the Mass on Sunday is Missa Octavi Toni by the Italian Baroque composer Antonio Lotti (1667–1740). The Communion motet is a choral setting of Salve regina, also by Lotti. This Sunday, October 2, the first Sunday in October, marks the beginning of the choir season, during which the professional choir will sing at Solemn Mass on Sundays and major feasts through and including the Feast of Corpus Christi, Sunday June 11.

Commemorations this Week: Tuesday, October 4, Francis of Assisi, Friar, 1226; Thursday, October 6, William Tyndale, Priest and Reformation Martyr, 1536.

COMING UP

Sunday, October 9, The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost:

• Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM, concluding with the Blessing of the Block and a festive reception.

• At 4:00 PM, the Blessing of the Animals

• At 5:00 PM, Evening Prayer will be said in the church.

AROUND THE PARISH

Last January, our former rector, Father Stephen Gerth, and his husband, Richard Mohammed, moved to Pelican Bay, Florida, just north of Naples, and about forty-five minutes south of Fort Myers, on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The area was pounded this week by Hurricane Ian, and the results have been devastating. Though internet and phone service to the area have been interrupted, we heard briefly from Richard and Father Gerth on Thursday. They tell us that they were evacuated inland and have been staying with friends about half an hour from Pelican Bay. They are safe and well, and their apartment was not damaged in the storm. We were grateful and happy to hear that news. Please keep them and all the people of Florida in your prayers.

Thursday, September 29, was the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels and we celebrated the feast with a Sung Mass at 6:00 PM. We are very grateful to Father Tony Lewis, who traveled to New York from his home in Alexandria, Virginia, to be with us at the Mass. He preached a very fine sermon, and it was good to have him here. We are also grateful to Mr. Larry Long, who played the service and conducted the choir. Our organist and music director, Dr. David Hurd, was ill and was unable to play the service. Larry stepped in at the last minute and saved the day. As always, it is good to have him here at Saint Mary’s.

We are hoping to find several people willing to run our livestreamed Solemn Masses from the control room near the sacristy. At the moment, we have only one trained technician and it would be lovely if we could give him a Sunday off from time to time. This work is not as complicated as it may seem at first. If you would like a tour of the control room, please speak to Blair Burroughs or Father Jacobson.

Mother Kathleen Liles has served for many years as the rector of the Church of Christ and Saint Stephen on West 69th Street. She is a good friend of Saint Mary’s and has preached here on several occasions. This coming Sunday, October 2, will be her last Sunday at Christ and Saint Stephen’s. Father Matt Jacobson and MaryJane Boland will be representing Saint Mary’s for Mother Kathleen’s last day at her parish on the Upper West Side. Both were members of that parish in the past, and Father Matt was sponsored for ordination there and served on the parish’s vestry. Please keep Mother Kathleen in your prayers as she bids farewell to her parishioners.

If you think you might be called to serve as an officiant at Morning or Evening Prayer, please speak to Father Wood. We are resuming Morning Prayer in the church in October, Monday through Friday, and would love to have the help of others with this ministry.

Dates for altar flower donations are available for the following Sundays: October 9, 23, and 30; November 6 and 13; and December 11. Opportunities to donate for Sundays and feast days in 2023 will be made available soon. Flowers on the high altar, at the shrines, and other areas of the church, are part of our offering to the glory of God and add to the beauty and solemnity of our worship. Often, the flowers are given in the memory, celebration, or honor of someone, a life event, or other occasions, which is printed in the bulletin. Please contact Chris Howatt if you would like to make a donation for one of the available dates.

The exhibit, The Early History of Saint Mary’s, continues in the gallery in Saint Joseph’s Hall. The show includese photographs and a portrait of Father Thomas McKee Brown, our first rector and the founder of the parish; a portrait of Father J.G.H. Barry, the third rector of Saint Mary’s; a fascinating photograph of the steel frame of the present church; lovely, embroidered fragments of old and well-worn vestments; and other fascinating images from the parish’s early years.

If you are interested in being baptized or confirmed, we would be glad to help. Please speak to Fathers Wood, Smith, or Jacobson.

Sunday, October 2, Disability Pride Parade and Festival. The parade route starts at Madison Square Park, traveling from East 26th Street and Madison Avenue to Union Square Park at Broadway and East 17th. At the end of the parade at Union Square Park there will be live music, dancing and performances starting at 12:00 PM and continuing until 3:00 PM. Even if you can’t walk in the parade or attend the festival, we invite you to support our members, friends, and fellow citizens who live with disabilities. We pray that our parish and our city will continue to work to find ways to make our buildings, streets, and subways safer and more accessible.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Sunday, October 30, Father Sammy Wood, interim rector, will preach the sermon at the Solemn Mass. During the Mass he will discuss the stewardship of time, talent, and treasure.

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.

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

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

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

ABOUT THE MUSIC

The musical setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is the four-voice Missa Octavi Toni by the Italian Baroque composer Antonio Lotti (1667–1740). Lotti was born in Venice, his father Matteo having been Kappellmeister at Hanover at the time. Lotti’s career took shape at Saint Mark’s, Venice, where he was an alto singer, organist, and eventually maestro di cappella from 1736 until his death four years later. In addition to his well-known church music—Masses and cantatas—Lotti composed madrigals and about thirty operas, some of which were produced in Dresden where he was employed from 1717 to 1719. Lotti’s liturgical compositions retain Renaissance characteristics but also bear evidence of the emerging Baroque styles in approach to harmony and functional bass. His Misss Octavi Toni is a setting for four voices and, while polyphonic in construction, may well be more tonal than modal in harmonic conception. It imparts the liturgical text clearly and efficiently.

The Communion motet is a choral setting of Salve regina, the Marian antiphon traditionally sung daily in the interval between Trinity Sunday and the beginning of Advent. It is also by Antonio Lotti and is a setting for four voices. It begins with a hint of a traditional chant incipit for this antiphon, which is then imitated by other voices. Much of the text to follow is set in a homophonic texture with occasional two-voice pairings.

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 October Drop-by will take place on Friday, October 21.

If you would like to volunteer for Neighbors in Need, please send us a message at neighbors@stmvnyc.org. 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.

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Jay Smith, except as noted. Father Matt Jacobson 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.