FROM FATHER PETER POWELL: SHARING GOD’S GRACE

Christian life if lived well should inspire us to be generous. Being generous to me has always meant generously giving from my substance, not my excess, to further the work of the spirit in our world. Barbara and I more than tithe. Not all of that tithe goes to Saint Mary the Virgin, but the largest portion does. More of that tithe goes to churches and church-related activities than to anything else. We don’t give because we’re hoping God will notice and reserve a special place for us in heaven. We give because we know that we lead a Grace-filled life, and we share that Grace by furthering the work of this particular Christian community in this larger secular society. We, this parish, Saint Mary the Virgin, exist to show the world that there is an alternative to a quid pro quo existence and that alternative is unmerited, unearned, undeserved love which sometimes we can model so that others can see it. In a word it is absolute reliance upon Grace. We understand ourselves as in need of this Grace and if we understand that the only way we can live in this Grace is to extend it to others. For most of us, who cannot participate daily in the work of this parish, our pledge stands for us and represents our belief in the Grace that gives meaning to our lives. What you pledge helps us carry the Good News to more people. It helps us to be heralds, pointing to the presence of God’s Grace in the world.

I find my understanding of this Grace is enhanced by my study of the Bible. For me, the Bible is not the key to salvation or to earning my way into the kingdom but instead it illuminates how I can appreciate the Grace I’ve been given and become more confident in living in that Grace and sharing it. In the study of Isaiah 1–12 that begins on Sunday we will see what happens when God’s people fail to understand Grace and instead try to earn a gift. God’s love cannot be bought, but it can be shared. Our mission in Times Square, and beyond now that we stream, is rooted in Grace, and furthered by your pledge.

Saint Mary’s is at a crucial time in being faithful. On the one hand, it is a time of being realistic and making smart financial choices. On the other hand, we must recognize that this is a liminal space. When I’m officiating at the Offices, I notice people coming into the nave and praying, lighting candles, touching the statues, and reacting because they know this is a Holy Space. That is part of our offering to the world.

When I celebrate on weekdays I am impressed by the devotion of people, many of whom come regularly but never on Sundays. They find the Mass as a foundational part of how they live their busy lives in this part of the City.

When I celebrate at the Solemn Mass on Sundays, I am frequently overwhelmed by how amazing it is that I, a graduate of Viriginia Seminary, have the privilege to be the celebrant here with all our traditions and rituals. I was raised in the Diocese of New Jersey, an Anglo-Catholic diocese at the time. For a variety of reasons, I went to Virginia Theological Seminary, which at that time was the Low Church seminary. Over time I found myself longing for my Anglo-Catholic roots and spirituality, and in 2002 I visited Saint Mary’s for the first time. Saint Mary’s was here when I needed it, and I have worked to be here for Saint Mary’s when it needed me.

I imagine you have an origin story for Saint Mary’s too. Pledging is a way to live that story. So, I hope you’ll pledge generously so that Saint Mary the Virgin may continue to show the world that this is a Grace-filled community. God will be here regardless, but others may not know the peace that comes from worshiping here and getting to know you if we don’t support the mission of making Christ known. I hope that you will respond to Grace with Grace and help us make the joy we have in being Christian better known in the world we live in. — Peter R. Powell

Father Powell is an Assisting Priest and a member of the Stewardship Committee at Saint Mary’s. Pledge cards for 2024 were recently mailed, and an online pledge card can be submitted here. Our stewardship campaign officially kicks off this Sunday.

PRAYING FOR THE WORLD AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD

We pray urgently for peace in Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza.

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace, who are yourself our peace and reconciliation, who so often said, “Peace to you,” grant us peace. Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice, and brotherly love. Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace. Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace. May all peoples of the earth become as brothers and sisters. May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all. Amen. —Saint John XXIII

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 Jennifer, Richard, David, Simon, Charles, Charlotte, Meredith, Chelsea, Emily, Frank, Mary, Eleanor, Eugene, Steven, Quincy, Gigi, Claudia, June, Sharon, Bruce, Robert, Carlos, Christopher, Brian, Carmen, Susan, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and John Derek; Keith, Jim, and Jamie, religious; Matthew, Robby, Allan, and Stephen, priests; and Michael, bishop.

We pray for those who were baptized on All Saints’ Day, November 1, Natalie Alexa Perez, Nolyn Jaden Wright, Shane Jon Delgado, Camrin Taylor Delgado, and Jae Hoon Hyun. We pray also for their parents and families.

We pray for the repose of the soul of Levi and of those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, November 5: Mary Elizabeth Bachmann (1897) and Anna Mary Magdaline Schineller (1898).

WE ARE GRATEFUL AND WE THANK YOU

We are grateful to all those—members, friends, board members, volunteers, musicians, clergy spouses, staff members—who worked so hard this week: Board Retreat, Oktoberfest, All Saints’, All Souls’, a Legacy Society Meeting, the Parish Requiems, the Commissioning of the Choir, and Evensong and Benediction. You accomplish so much, and you do it so well. Thank you.

Thank you to Renee Wood and Susanna Randolph for organizing and hosting the reception after the Solemn Mass on All Saints’ Day.

We are grateful to Father Pete Powell who has been working hard here of late: he wrote last week’s Angelus article and this week’s, too. He’s been meeting with the Stewardship Committee, saying Mass and leading the Daily Office. He presented in last week’s Adult Formation and begins his Bible Study this week. Thank you, Father, for all that you do for us.

We are grateful to all those who pitched in to set up for Oktoberfest and those who stuck around to clean up that evening and also on Wednesday after the All Saints’ reception. We were very happy to receive assistance from the newly baptized, Camrin Delgado, Shane Delgado, Nolyn Wright, and Natalie Alexa Perez, all of whom worked hard to help us get things cleaned up.

At Saint Mary’s, we are blessed to have a group of singers—the Choir of Saint Mary’s—whose beautiful voices always sustain and assist our worship. Their artistry inspires us. We are grateful to them for their commitment and their presence.

We are grateful to chorister, Emma Daniels, who is sharing her setting of Psalm 23 with us at Mass on Sunday. In this setting, the psalm text is complemented by a text from the traditional Requiem Mass, Requiem aeternam. Thank you, Emma. And see below in the Music section for more information about Emma’s composition. 

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 AM on Sunday, November 5
You should turn your clocks back one hour.

The New York City Marathon takes place
on Sunday, November 5, beginning at 8:00 AM.
The race begins on Staten Island, and then turns north through Brooklyn and Queens.
Runners then head west across the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, north into the Bronx and back to Manhattan. The finish line is in Central Park near the West 60s.

If you are coming from Brooklyn, Queens, or the East Side,
|you might check and see if there will be transportation issues,
when traveling to Saint Mary’s.

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. Holy Hour is offered on Wednesday at 11:00 AM and 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 November 5 and December 3.

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 as long as it is not too close to the midday Mass.

Saturday, November 4, Parish Requiem II (F–K), Confessions 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Sunday, November 5, 2:00 AM, Daylight Saving Time ends. Clocks are turned back one hour.

Sunday, November 5, The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 26 (Year A, Proper 26, DST Ends), Mass 9:00 AM, Adult Formation 9:45 AM, Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Solemn Evensong & Benediction 5:00 PM. We will be livestreaming Evensong & Benediction this Sunday, though are unable to commit to regularly broadcasting this service.

Monday, November 6, Parish Requiem III (L–N)

Tuesday, November 7, Parish Requiem IV (O–Q)

Wednesday, November 8, Parish Requiem V (R–Z), Morning Prayer 8:00 AM; Holy Hour 11:00 AM; Mass 12:10 PM; Brown Bag Bible Study 12:45 PM; Evening Prayer 5:30 PM + Pre-class Mass 6:00 PM; Class 6:30 PM

Thursday, November 9, Richard Rolle, 1349, Walter Hilton, 1396, and Margery Kempe, c. 1440, mystics, Mass & Healing Service 12:10 PM

Friday, November 10, Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461

Saturday, November 11, Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397, Confessions 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM

Sunday, November 12, The Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Year A, Proper 27 (Charles Simeon, Priest, 1836) Mass 9:00 AM, Class 9:45 AM, Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S: NEWS & NOTICES

Advent Quiet Day with Ruth Cunningham and Tuesday Rupp
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, followed by lunch. Please RSVP to Father Jay Smith so we can plan for the day, and especially for lunch. We hope that you can join us!

Tuesday Rupp is an Episcopal priest and a classically trained singer and music director. She is the co-founder of two women’s vocal ensembles, In Mulieribus and The Julians, both in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Tuesday is blessed to bring her love of music, literature, art, and performance to her role as Rector at Saint Paul’s Church in Woodbury, CT. She has an M. Div. from Yale Divinity School, with certificates from the Institute of Sacred Music and Berkeley Divinity School, an M. Mus. from Portland State University, and a B. Mus. from Boston University.

Ruth Cunningham is a classically trained musician, a sound healing practitioner, and a founding member of Anonymous 4. She combines these skills to improvise music that connects people to the healing and spiritual power of music. She specializes in early-music performance as well as improvisational sacred music from varied spiritual traditions in both liturgical and concert settings.

With Anonymous 4, Ruth performed in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East and made thirteen recordings including David Lang’s Love Fail and Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light.  Ruth’s own CD releases are Light and Shadow: Chants, Prayers and Improvisations and Harpmodes: Journey for Voice and Harp. She has released two CDs of multi-faith chants with colleague Ana Hernandez: Blessed by Light and HARC: Inside Chants. She has also performed and recorded renaissance music with Pomerium and sings regularly with church choirs—including the Choir of Saint Mary’s—around Manhattan.

Ruth received a B. Mus. in Performance of Early Music from the New England Conservatory of Music and taught recorder and renaissance flute at the Amherst Early Music Workshops for sixteen years. She is certified as a cross cultural-music healing practitioner (CCMHP) by the Open Ear Center where she studied with Pat Moffitt Cook. She has also studied vocal improvisation with Rhiannon. For more information: www.ruthcunningham.com.

Sunday, November 5, the Adult Formation class in Saint Joseph’s Hall, 9:45 AM to 10:40 AM, will be taught by Father Pete Powell, who begins his series on Isaiah 1-12 (Sundays in November; December 3; Sundays in Lent). Father Pete writes, “Isaiah tells us exactly what God cares about. Of all of the prophets he is the most clearly liturgical one so he is especially important to us. Worship is important not because God needs it, but because in it we learn how to live as God’s people in community. Our study of Isaiash 1-12 will show how, in the face of skepticism and the pressure to take the expedient course, we are better served by being faithful, in community, and using our worship here to inform us of what that means for each of us and for all of us. Bible study is not looking at ancient texts for interesting but hardly relevant information. It is about looking at how God worked then, so that we can see how God works today. We believe that the God we encounter today is the same God Isaiah prophesied for and we learn that, for better or worse, we are a people similar to the people of those ancient times. It will be an exciting study and I hope you will join us.”

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 Saturday, December 9. One of the museum’s docents will guide the group through the exhibition. There is room for 10 in the group and there are still spots left. Please contact Father Sammy if you’d like to join us for this event. To read more about Morgan’s Bibles, please visit the Museum website.

Please join us for Brown Bag Bible Study—Wednesdays 12:45–1:30 PM. The Class meets in Saint Benedict’s Study and is led by Father Jay Smith. We will meet this coming Wednesday, All Saint’s Day. This week we will read and discuss Mark 1:16ff, Jesus calls disciples and throws a demon out. We will discuss the idea of “call,” of God’s will for us and also ask what Mark wants his community, and us, to think about Jesus from what he does at the beginning of his ministry: submit to baptism, confront Satan, call disciples, do battle with demons? Can we learn who Jesus is by seeing what he does? And what does that have to do with us?

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 November and 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.

Bring a mug, save a tree . . . The new dishwasher for the parish kitchen arrived this week. It worked for Oktoberfest last week and worked all week long. Now that the dishwasher is here, we invite all of our members and friends to donate a mug to the church to be used at Coffee Hour so that we need no longer use paper or plastic. Bring it to the kitchen this Sunday and we’ll take it from there: the goal is to be able to have enough mugs on hand for the use of everyone who joins us on Sunday morning.

Stewardship Campaign 2023–2024 . . . Stewardship packets were mailed recently. We ask you to prayerfully consider how you might give of your time, talent, and treasure to Saint Mary’s during the coming year. To pledge online, please go to the donation page on our website and click on the “2024 Pledge Card.”

Sunday, November 5, is the official “kickoff” date of our annual Stewardship Campaign. We hope you can be with us in church that day as we pray for the future of our parish and join together to support Saint Mary’s. If you have questions about stewardship or making a financial pledge, please speak to a member of the Stewardship Committee: MaryJane Boland, Steven Heffner, Father Peter Powell, Marie Rosseels, or Father Sammy Wood.

Commissioning the Choir of Saint Mary’s . . . On Sunday, November 5, during the Solemn Mass, we will commission and pray for our choristers. Please join us to support and pray for our very talented singers as they begin the choir season. And please come to Coffee Hour so that you can meet some of the members of the Choir of Saint Mary’s.

A Letter from the Bishop of New York . . . Bishop Dietsche wrote to the diocese again about the war in Israel and Gaza. He focused in a particular way on the bombing of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. He makes some useful suggestions about how New York Episcopalians can help. You may read his letter by following this link.

Some additional links with suggestions for aid and assistance:

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: Saint Mary’s Outreach to Our Neighborhood

• Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and Pantry

• The Little Shop of Kindness (Pequeña Tienda de Bondad)

• Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres

• Episcopal Relief & Development

• Jewish Federations of North America

• The Diocese of Jerusalem: The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East

• Charity Navigator

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST,
NOVEMBER 5, 2023

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 New York’s Riverside Church in July 1982. The second movement of Te Deum laudamus, played for the prelude today, 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 musical setting of the Mass this coming Sunday is All Saints Service, also by David Hurd. It was composed in 1986 for All Saints Church, East Sixtieth Street, Manhattan, where Dr. Hurd was director of music from 1985 until 1997. It is the sixth of the fifteen Mass settings he has composed to date, and the earliest and only choral setting of his three which utilize the traditional English (Rite I) Prayer Book Eucharistic texts. The predominant texture of All Saints Service is homophonic, expressed in four to six unaccompanied voices. The setting is relatively concise with much of the text being declaimed clearly, all voices singing the words simultaneously. The overall harmonic envelope of the Mass favors the bright key of F Major, and, while there are few specific musical cross-references between the movements of the Mass, there is a high degree of harmonic and stylistic unity among the movements.

The Communion motet on Sunday was composed by Emma Daniels, a member of the Choir of Saint Mary’s since Fall 2022. Emma is originally from Chicago. She is the music director of Philomusica Concert Choir and a founding member of Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, an organization made up of singers, composers, and conductors who share artistic responsibility and perform new music. Today, she sings, conducts, and composes with C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in NYC, the choir after which Triad was modeled. Emma’s compositions have been performed by Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, Westminster Chapel Choir, Tufts Chamber Singers, and other college, synagogue, and church choirs from Boston to Los Angeles. Emma holds an MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College and a BA in Music from Tufts University. Her setting, which combines the well-known words of Psalm 23 with the opening Latin text of the Requiem Mass Introit, is particularly suitable on this Sunday in the octave of All Saints’ and All Souls’. A pitch of B-flat, alternately in soprano and tenor registers, is the constant anchoring thread through this setting as up to five additional voices provide melodic and harmonic color. Emma writes the following: “This piece unites the English-language Psalm 23 with Latin words of the Requiem Mass (“Requiem aeternam”). Through its combination of disparate texts, including a psalm with liturgical prevalence across different faiths, the piece aims to highlight the universality of the experience of loss and celebration of the journey of life.” — David Hurd

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S

New York Repertory Orchestra, December 2, 2023, 8:00 PM.  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.

Saturday, December 9, 2023, 8:00 PM, The Tallis Scholars 50th Anniversary, While Shepherds Watched. 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. 

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S
Tuesday, November 21, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sung Mass 12:10 PM (Lady Chapel)

Wednesday, November 22, The Eve of Thanksgiving Day
Sung Mass 6:00 PM

Thursday, November 23, Thanksgiving Day
Said Mass 10:00 AM

Saturday, December 2, Quiet Day

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

 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.

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.