FROM GRACE MUDD: FRIENDS ACROSS THE POND

Sitting at the crossroads of the world, Saint Mary’s gets a lot of visitors from all over this country and from many other countries, as well. Visitors have often been shown around by the Guild of Saint Martin of Tours or, more recently, been able to follow the audio tour available via QR codes posted around the church. But there are also often less formal tours offered; visitors to Smoky Mary’s are often especially interested in seeing the Smoke Room, and thurifers are frequently called into action to show them around!

One of our regular visitors, part of Saint Mary’s extended family, is Nicholas Riddle of Saint Bartholomew the Great in London. He and his husband Patrick come to New York a few times a year on business, and on one of those trips he asked to see our thuribles. It turns out that Saint Bartholomew’s was in need of a new thurible. While they had a few already, none did the job sufficiently. After taking several pictures and measurements, Nicholas returned home to London.

Saint Bartholomew the Great is the oldest surviving church in London. Established as an Augustinian priory in 1123, it has escaped major harm from disasters across nine centuries, including the Great Fire of London and both World Wars, though significant damage was done as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries in England in 1543. Saint Bartholomew’s has been through many changes over the years, but both the church and the hospital that was founded with the priory 900 years ago remain. While the hospital has continued in its original purpose (the oldest hospital in England still operating on its original site and now part of the National Health Service), parts of the church have seen more alteration. The Lady Chapel was, for a time, used as a printer’s shop where Benjamin Franklin worked for a year as a journeyman printer! But between 1889 and 1893, the church was restored and rebuilt and this summer the parish celebrated its 900th anniversary.

Back in September, we received happy news from our friend in London. As part of the anniversary celebrations, a member of Saint Bartholomew’s provided the funds to create the long-desired thurible Nicholas Riddle had been thinking about and researching while visiting Saint Mary’s back in 2018. While the thurible wasn’t ready in time for the anniversary celebrations on Annunciation this year, it was blessed and put into service at a Mass commemorating the 880th anniversary of the founding prior’s death on September 20th.

Nicholas and Patrick expect to be at Saint Mary’s again for Christ the King this year. Nicholas says, “It’s funny: when I look at it, I absolutely see the connection between the Saint Mary’s thurible and this one, but at the same time, they also look quite different in detail.” Funny or not, this thurible and its story are also a reminder of the connection between Saint Mary the Virgin, Saint Bartholomew the Great, and the wider church at home and abroad. — Grace Mudd

PRAYING FOR THE WORLD AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD

We pray for peace in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.

We pray for the people and clergy of two London parishes, both friends of Saint Mary’s, Saint Bartholomew the Great and All Saints, Margaret Street.

We pray for the sick, for those in any need or trouble, and for all those who have asked us for our prayers. We pray for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week; for those who are traveling; for the unemployed and for those seeking work; for the incarcerated and for those recently released from prison; for all victims of violence, assault, and crime; for all refugees and migrants, especially those sheltering in our neighborhood; for those struggling with depression, anxiety, or addiction; for those whom we serve in our outreach programs, for our neighbors in the Times Square neighborhood, for the theater community, and for those living with drought, storm, punishing heat, flood, fire, or earthquake.

We pray for those for whom prayers have been asked for Aston, Jonah, Cara, Barbara, Carl, Robert, Hemmi, Camrin, Shane, Nolyn, Natalie, Chelsea, Jennifer, Barry, Frank, Simon, Richard, Charles, Emily, Mary, Eleanor, Eugene, Steven, Quincy, Gigi, Claudia, June, Joyce, Sharon, Bruce, Robert, Carlos, Christopher, José, Brian, Susan, Carmen, Antony, Manuel, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and John Derek; Keith, religious; Robby, Allan, and Stephen, priests; and Michael, bishop.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Trevor Mills and of those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, November 26—Florence Holman (1949); Ronald Cox (1997); X. Martin (2013). May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE

Trevor Mills, a longtime friend of Saint Mary’s, died at the Richmond University Medical Center on the Eve of Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 22, 2023, after a brief illness. Trevor was a lifelong resident of Staten Island. He was a retired educator and had a deep love for his native borough, its people, its schools, and its civic institutions. He was a member of Christ Church, New Brighton, but often worshiped with us here at Saint Mary’s. He had a distinctively deep, gravely voice, which he used to express his strong opinions about any number of topics and issues. He had a strong faith and a firm belief in intercessory prayer. All the members of the clergy are used to being approached by Trevor, asking them to add a name to the parish prayer list. The request was usually accompanied by a story about the person and his or her infirmities, trials, or tribulations. He worked for many years with Father Matt’s grandmother, and Father Matt enjoyed sharing stories about her and Staten Island with Trevor at coffee hour. He was a beloved member of the Saint Mary’s family and we will miss him. Funeral plans have not yet been announced. Please keep Trevor, his family and friends, and all who mourn, in your prayers.  

ADVENT QUIET DAY
Saturday, December 2, 10:00 AM–3:00 PM

In our hemisphere, Advent takes place in the darkest season of the year, anticipating the light of God-with-us.
What are the gifts the darkness brings, and how do these gifts help us welcome the light of Christ?

As Advent begins, we invite you to join master musician Ruth Cunningham and the Reverend Tuesday Rupp
for a day of quiet, of healing sounds,
and of meditation as together we explore the gifts of this holy season
in the beauty of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

The Quiet Day will include Mass at 12:10 PM, which will be followed by lunch.
Please RSVP to Father Jay Smith so we can plan for the day, and especially for lunch.
We hope that you will be able to join us!

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Our regular daily liturgical schedule: Monday through Friday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM. On Wednesdays, Holy Hour is also offered at 11:00 AM and an additional Mass is said at 6:00 PM. Thursday’s Mass includes anointing and prayers for healing. On Saturdays, Confessions are heard at 11:00 AM, Mass is celebrated at 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer is prayed at 5:00 PM. On the third Saturday of each month, a Requiem Mass is normally celebrated at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. On Sundays, a Low Mass (Rite One) is celebrated in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM. Solemn Mass is offered at 11:00 AM and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. Evensong and Benediction (E&B) is normally offered on the first Sunday of every month and will next be offered on December 3 and January 7.

Saturday Confessions at 11:00 AM . . . The priest-on-duty can be found in one of the confessionals at the back of the church, near the 46th Street entrance, at 11:00 AM on Saturdays to hear confessions. Once nobody is left waiting, if it is after 11:15 AM, the priest will return to his office. If you arrive later, the sexton will be able to call him if it is not too close to the midday Mass.

Saturday, November 25, James Otis Sargent Huntington, Priest and Monk, 1935, Confessions 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Eve of the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Sunday, November 26, The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King (Year A, Proper 29) Mass 9:00 AM, Adult Formation 9:45 AM, Solemn Mass 11:00 AM (Pledge Cards will be received and blessed at this Mass), Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Tuesday, November 28, Kamehameha, King of Hawaii, 1863, and Emma, Queen, 1885

Wednesday, November 29, Weekday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Holy Hour 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Bible Study 12:45 PM, The Eve of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM + Pre-class Mass 6:00 PM, Anglicanism 101 at 6:30 PM

Thursday, November 30, Saint Andrew the Apostle, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass & Healing Service 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM

Friday, December 1, Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, 1637

Saturday, December 2, Of Our Lady, Quiet Day 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Confessions 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Eve of the First Sunday of Advent, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Saturday, December 2, 2023, 8:00 PM, New York Repertory Orchestra Concert. Program: Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question; Mieczysław Weinberg: Cello Concerto, Matt Goeke, cello; Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 3. Admission is free. A donation of $15.00 is welcome.

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S: NEWS & NOTICES

National Public Radio (NPR) has posted a comprehensive list of organizations that are providing aid in Israel and Gaza. You can read the list and NPR’s analysis by following this link.

Neighbors in Need . . . Our next Drop-by Day is Friday, December 15, 1:00–3:00 PM. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact MaryJane Boland or Father Jay Smith.

Urgent Needs: We need warm-weather jackets and coats in all sizes—though we especially need sizes Large, XL, and XXL—for both men and women. We also like having some jackets and coats for children, toddler to adolescent in ages. We would also gratefully receive new or lightly-used shoes and sneakers in all sizes for men and women.

If you’d like to make a donation of a stuffed animal for a small child, we’d be happy to receive it.

We also depend on cash donations to support this work. Please speak to MaryJane about how to make a donation. You may also call the parish office and speak to Chris Howatt if you would like to set up a recurring donation. We are so grateful to all those who support this ministry with such generosity.

Please join us for a field trip! . . . The Morgan Library and Museum is currently hosting an exhibition entitled, Morgan’s Bibles: Splendor in Scripture. A group from Saint Mary’s will be going to see the exhibition on the afternoon of Saturday, December 9, around 1:00 PM.

One of the museum’s docents will guide the group through the exhibition. There are still four (4) spots left. Please contact Father Sammy if you’d like to join us for this event. He is managing the RSVP system and making arrangements with the Morgan. To read more about Morgan’s Bibles, please visit the Museum website.

Sunday, November 26, the Adult Formation class in Saint Joseph’s Hall, 9:45 AM to 10:40 AM, will be taught by Father Pete Powell, who will continue his series on Isaiah 1-12 (every Sunday in November; December 3 & 10; Sundays in Lent). This Sunday Father Powell will focus on Isaiah 2:5-4:6.

Brown Bag Bible Study and the Catechumenate: Anglicanism 101—These classes will resume on Wednesday, November 29, Bible Study at 12:45 PM and Anglicanism 101 at 6:30 PM, after the evening Mass.

We invite you to help us decorate the church for Christmas.  To make a donation, please contact Chris Howatt or donate online. Once on the donation page of our website, click the “Donate” button to open the form. Inside the form, there is a “Fund” dropdown, where you may direct your donation to the Flower Fund. If you’d like to find out about dates in January that are available for making a donation of flowers on a Sunday or feast day or have other questions about the Flower Guild, please call the Parish Office.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST: CHRIST THE KING, NOVEMBER 26, 2023

Sunday’s organ voluntaries are based upon the chorale Nun danket alle Gott (“Now thank we all our God”). Both prelude and postlude are by German composers, but they are two centuries apart in origin. The chorale itself, now sung internationally and interdenominationally, was authored in 1630 by Martin Rinckart (1586–1649), archdeacon in Eilenburg, Saxony. Johann Crüger (1598–1662) is credited with composing the melody for Rinckart’s words which appeared in the 1647 third edition of his Praxis Pietatis Melica. This text and melody combination, in English translation by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878), has been in Episcopal hymnals since 1871. The prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach is one of his Leipzig Eighteen Great Chorales. Each phrase of the melody is introduced in turn by three accompanying voices before being presented in unornamented form in the soprano register. The postlude, from Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s Choral Improvisationen, Opus 65, is one of the composer’s most popular organ pieces. It is subtitled Marche triomphale and marked Pomposo e con brio. The chorale melody is not stated literally and may not be recognized immediately, but a spirit of exuberance and joy is clearly present in the opening and final sections of this setting.

The musical setting of the Mass on Sunday is the Missa Simile est regnum caelorum of Tomás Luís de Victoria (c. 1548–1611). Victoria is considered the most important Spanish composer of Renaissance polyphony. Born in Avila, the seventh of eleven children, he began his musical education as a choirboy at Avila Cathedral, and began his classical education at San Gil, a Jesuit school for boys founded in 1554. By 1565, Victoria had entered the Jesuit Collegio Germanico in Rome, where he was later engaged to teach music and eventually named maestro di cappella. Victoria knew and may have been instructed by Palestrina (1525–1594) who was maestro di cappella of the nearby Seminario Romano at that time. During his years in Rome Victoria held several positions as singer, organist, and choral master and published many of his compositions. He was ordained priest in 1575 after a three-day diaconate. There are twenty authenticated Mass settings of Victoria in addition to two Requiems. The Missa Simile est regnum is one of Victoria’s twelve parody masses in which he quotes musical ideas from pre-existing musical composition. In this case, Victoria’s musical quotes are from a motet by his friend and contemporary, Franciso Guerrero (1528–1599). Guerrero’s motet on Matthew 20:1–4 likens the Kingdom of God to a landowner justly hiring laborers for his vineyard. Victoria’s Mass skillfully reutilizes distinctive melodic features of Guerrero’s motet, such as the rising perfect fifth which begins most of its movements. With the exception of the Benedictus in three voices, Victoria’s Mass, like Guerrero’s motet, is voiced in four parts. However, the final Agnus Dei spectacularly employs two choirs of four voices each of which sing in strict canon.

Clifford Maxwell (1917–1999), a native of Barbados, grew up in Brooklyn and was very active in the New York community of church musicians for many years. He served various Episcopal and Lutheran congregations in Brooklyn and Manhattan as organist and choirmaster for decades and spent several summers traveling and studying in France and Germany. In retirement he was active as a volunteer in Trinity Parish’s noonday music ministry. He composed his setting of two stanzas from George Hugh Bourne’s powerful hymn, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (307 in The Hymnal 1982) in 1949 while under the tutelage of Harold Friedell at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Manhattan. Maxwell’s setting, sung today during the administration of Communion, is more reflective than triumphal in reflecting musically on the image of the risen enthroned Christ. — DH

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S

The Tallis Scholars 50th Anniversary, While Shepherds Watched
Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM
Celebrating their 50th year this season, the renowned Tallis Scholars make their annual New York City appearance with a unique holiday program that offers a fresh perspective on the Christmas story, examining it through the eyes of the shepherds who came to worship at the manger. Anchored by the Flemish composer Clemens non Papa’s popular Mass Pastores quidnam vidistis? (“Shepherds, what did you see?”), the evening features a selection of works by other notable composers of Renaissance polyphony including Tomàs Luis de Victoria, Pedro de Christo, and Peter Phillips. Tickets may be purchased here.

AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
1000 FIFTH AVENUE AT E. 82ND STREET

Africa & Byzantium. Through March 3, 2024. From the museum website, “Art history has long emphasized the glories of the Byzantine Empire (circa 330–1453), but less known are the profound artistic contributions of North Africa, Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, and other powerful African kingdoms whose pivotal interactions with Byzantium had a lasting impact on the Mediterranean world. Bringing together a range of masterworks—from mosaic, sculpture, pottery, and metalwork to luxury objects, paintings, and religious manuscripts—this exhibition recounts Africa’s central role in international networks of trade and cultural exchange. With artworks rarely or never before seen in public, Africa & Byzantium sheds new light on the staggering artistic achievements of medieval Africa. This long-overdue exhibition highlights how the continent contributed to the development of the premodern world and offers a more complete history of the vibrant multiethnic societies of north and east Africa that shaped the artistic, economic, and cultural life of Byzantium and beyond.” 

COMING UP: MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Sunday, December 3, The First Sunday of Advent

Friday, December 8, The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Patronal Feast)
Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

Sunday, December 17, Third Sunday of Advent
Lessons and Carols & Holy Eucharist 11:00 AM

We need your help to keep holding our services.
Click below, where you can make one-time or recurring donations to support Saint Mary’s.
We are very grateful to all those who make such donations and continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

Saint Mary’s is a vibrant Anglo-Catholic witness in the heart of NYC. With our identity in Christ and a preference for the poor, we are an inclusive, diverse community called to love God and each other for the life of the world.

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.