FROM FATHER JAY SMITH: AND HEAVEN AND NATURE SING

Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Oxen,” was published in The London Times on Christmas Eve 1915, the second year of the Great War. In April of that year, at the Second Battle of Ypres, the German army had released 200 tons of chlorine gas and 6,000 Allied troops had died within ten minutes. On September 25, 1915, at the Battle of Loos, the British used poison gas for the first time, releasing 140 tons of gas at the beginning of the battle. Around 26,000 German soldiers died during the Battle of Loos.

Hardy was seventy-five when he wrote “The Oxen.” Like many Britons, he supported the war at first but would go on to write poems that influenced a younger generation of poets, poets like Rupert Brooke and Siefgried Sassoon. In Hardy’s work the anonymous foot soldiers in that terrible war were given a voice.

“The Oxen” is not a war poem, but a Christmas poem, though it arrives at Christmas only indirectly, viewing medieval folk traditions through the lens of doubt, tempered by hope and an insistence on the strength and beauty of faith.

“The Oxen” is a short poem, four stanzas of four lines each. It goes like this:

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
“Now they are all on their knees,”
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
“Come; see the oxen kneel,

“In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
Our childhood used to know,”
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.

The first two stanzas evoke the image of men gathered around a fireplace, perhaps in a rural pub. It is midnight and one of the village elders reminds his fellows of an ancient legend, much-believed in former times: on Christmas Eve, the oxen and other farm animals, keeping vigil, always kneel in reverence at the stroke of midnight, inspired by an atavistic memory of the first Christmas, imitating their distant ancestors who had witnessed the birth of the Christ Child so long ago. In this legend, simple farm animals feel the need to worship. In the poem, the men are a “flock” as they sit around the fire. The poem wonders how they will, how they should, respond to the presence of God.

In much of his work, Hardy struggles with a modern world that had brought great change to his native rural England. He cannot let go of what his “childhood used to know.” Hardy was baptized in an Anglican church, but like many nineteenth-century Britons he struggled to reconcile the faith of his childhood with the science of Mr. Darwin. He’s not sure what he believes. He sometimes feels he cannot accept the idea of a sovereign God in a broken world, in a world of cruelty and chlorine gas. (It may be worth mentioning here that Hardy was an outspoken critic of vivisection and any form of cruelty to animals. Darwin had convinced him that humans needed to apply the Golden Rule to their relatives in the animal kingdom.)

In “The Oxen,” Hardy seems determined not to surrender to sentimentality, and yet, in the poem, the gloom of night, the gloom of wartime, the gloom of disenchantment, doubt, and disappointment cannot overcome the instinctive belief that God exists and is present and that the proper response to that presence is to move, not away from it in doubt, but toward it in hope, to worship, to rejoice, and find peace.

“The Oxen” is an odd sort of Christmas poem. It never mentions the Roman census, the journey to Bethlehem, or the lack of suitable lodging. It does not mention Jesus, Joseph, Mary, or the angels, though they are there implicitly, of course. It helps to know the gospel story when you read the poem. Hardy assumes that you do know it, and so he can evoke the story of the Nativity without retelling it, by using this simple, lovely folk tale that hovers somewhere between legend and truth in the poet’s imagination.

There are, of course, no oxen, sheep, or donkeys in Luke’s nativity story, though we picture them there, something Christians have done for a very long time. At the end of the fourth century, a wealthy Christian commissioned a marble sarcophagus that included one of the earliest images of the Nativity: an ox and an ass, joined by two birds, gaze attentively at the newborn Christ Child. Our certainty that the animals are there in the gospel passage has never been just about sentimentality, however. There is in fact that “manger,” mentioned three times in the passage, proof that this King was born not in an ivory palace but in a rough, utilitarian place, where animals ate, drank, and rested after their labors.

The narrator in the poem admits that in a world constricted by the assumptions of modernity, this Christmas legend looks to be a mere “fancy.” But Hardy seems to sense that there is something in the Christmas story that is deeper and truer than any scientific proposition. In the legend of the oxen’s worship on Christmas Eve there lies a startling assumption: neither the natural world nor the heavenly realms require human assent or participation to respond to the presence of God, to reflect God’s beauty, or to offer God praise and adoration.

It is interesting that Hardy gives us the animals and not the shepherds as witnesses to the presence of God in the midnight darkness. There are a number of similar details in the nativity stories in the gospels— John, not-yet-born, leaps in his mother’s womb; the strange star that leads the Magi to the place where God is leading them; the Magis’ gifts, taken from the earth, are natural signs of the Messiah’s supernatural identity; the angels that appear to Mary and Joseph; the divine glory that shines on Christmas night and convinces the shepherds that something utterly new has happened. In all these stories, heaven and nature sing, insisting that Jesus is “something more than a prophet.” He is the Son of God, God’s Word, God’s presence in the flesh, the Incarnate One. And, in this story, the manger is not a mistake. It tells us exactly who Jesus is; and in the legend the oxen do too.

I love that old legend and I love Hardy’s poem. They remind me that in Genesis God lavishes his creative energies for many days on the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that dwell therein. In those stories nature simply obeys. It is humans who rebel. It is humans who compete with God and with each other out of pride and jealousy. But, in the end God responds to human rebellion. He sends a Son whose work it is not so much to judge us nor even to teach us how to follow the rules. He comes to heal the world, to heal us, and to enlist our imperfect help in healing a broken, violent, and devastated world.

And so, when we gaze upon the Christ Child this year, let us remember to also see in him the Son, the Word, the Christ, Alpha and Omega. Let us bow, along with the shepherds, the Magi, the angels, our fellow creatures, and the whole creation as we stand in the presence of God. And let us, along with the apostle, say, “Look, see—new creation!” (Galatians 6:15). — JRS

I am grateful to parishioner, Prof. Allen Reddick, who knows a very great deal about English literature and who is always willing to share what he knows. Thank you, Allen, for always answering my questions with alacrity and thank you for telling me about “The Oxen.” It goes without saying that you bear no responsibility for any waywardness in my interpretations.

PRAYING FOR THE WORLD AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD

We pray for peace in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Mali, and Myanmar. We pray for an end to violence and division in our neighborhood, city and nation.

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 Terry, Elizabeth, Hemmi, Larry, Theodore, Violet, Jessie, Russell, Barbara, Jonah, Cara, Robert, Camrin, Shane, Nolan, Natalie, Jennifer, Frank, Richard, Charles, Tatiana, Emily, Mary, Eleanor, Eugene, Steven, Quincy, Claudia, June, Joyce, Bruce, Robert, Sandy, Christopher, Carlos, José, Patrick, Brian, Susan, Carmen, Antony, Manuel, Kateryna, Michael, Okuli, Liliana, Maria, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and John Derek; Jamie, David, and Curtis, religious; Lind, deacon; Robby, Allan, and Stephen, priests; and Michael, bishop.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Mack Lewis Page and of those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, December 31—Evelyn Maud Mills (1937); Everett Phillips Irwin (1961); Anna Marie Schuman (1985); Frances Bulkley Hirsch (1985). May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Mack Lewis Page was shot and killed early on the morning of Sunday, December 24, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was twenty years old. He was a close friend of Elizabeth Wood, the elder daughter of Father Sammy Wood and Mrs. Renee Wood. Please keep Mack, Elizabeth, their families, and all who mourn in your prayers. 

THIS WEEKEND AT SAINT MARY’S

We recently received updated information from the NYPD and Times Square Alliance about their plans for New Year's Eve. As a result, we have changed our Mass schedule for this coming weekend as follows: 

The First Sunday after Christmas Day

Saturday, December 30
Sung Vigil Mass 5:00 PM

Sunday, December 31
Said Mass 11:00 AM

The Sung Vigil Mass will be livestreamed. The Said Mass will not be livestreamed.

We strongly encourage parishioners to attend the Sung Vigil Mass on Saturday evening rather than coming to Times Square on Sunday. If you do come on Sunday, please make sure to read these instructions very carefully:

• You must enter our block at 6th Avenue and 46th Street and arrive between 10:30 and 10:45 AM.

• Print or bring an electronic copy of the parish email sent on December 27, the email announcement for this newsletter, or the newsletter itself, to show the NYPD.

• If you are coming from the West Side, the closest open cross streets will be 38th Street and 59th Street. It will not be possible to cross through Times Square.

WE THANK YOU

We are grateful to all those who have fulfilled their pledges this month and to those who have made additional donations to support our various ministries as the end of the year approaches.

We are grateful to the members of all the Guilds, to our musicians, to the members of the staff, and to all the members, friends, and visitors of the parish, who worked so hard last week to prepare for Christmas. Your work, your ministry, your service at this time of year is a sacrificial gift. We are moved and encouraged by your generosity. 

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S 

The Eve of the Epiphany
Friday, January 5
Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM
A reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows the Solemn Mass.

The Presentation of
Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Friday, February 2
Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM
A reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows the Solemn Mass.

COMING UP AT THE CATHEDRAL

 The Installation of the Right Reverend Matthew Heyd
as the XVII Bishop of New York
Saturday, February 10, 2024, 11:00 AM
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

STEWARDSHIP UPDATE

We are only about $50,000 short of our $450,000 goal!

If you haven’t already, please take a moment and fill out your pledge card
and mail it to the parish office or put it in the collection basket.
You can also make your pledge online.

We invite you to help us make our goal—and even more!

We are grateful to all those who continue to support the ministry of Saint Mary’s.

Pledge commitments in 2023 are critical to plan accurately for 2024.

LIFE 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 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. During Christmas Week and on the Epiphany—on Saturdays, December 30 and January 6—confessions are heard only by appointment.

Saturday, December 30, Weekday of Christmas, Confessions are only heard by appointment during Christmastide. Mass 12:10 PM; Sung Vigil Mass for Sunday at the High Altar 5:00 PM. The 5:00 PM Mass will be livestreamed.

Sunday, December 31, The First Sunday after Christmas Day (John Wyclif, Priest, 1384), Said Mass 11:00 AM. This Mass will not be livestreamed. Because of preparations in the neighborhood for the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, the Sunday morning schedule has been changed. The church opens at 8:30 AM and closes at the end of Mass. There will be no Coffee Hour, and Evening Prayer will not be said in the church. See above for instructions on gaining entry to 46th Street and the church.

Monday, January 1, The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Federal Holiday Schedule. Mass 10:00 AM in the Lady Chapel. The church is open from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Morning and Evening Prayer are not said in the church. The parish offices are closed.

Tuesday, January 2, Weekday of Christmas, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM

Wednesday, January 3, Weekday of Christmas, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Holy Hour 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM, Mass 6:00 PM. The 12:45 PM and 6:30 PM classes are on Christmas break. They resume next week, on January 10.

Thursday, January 4, Weekday of Christmas, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass & Healing Service 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM

Friday, January 5, Sarah, Theodora, and Syncletica of Egypt, Desert Mothers. Special Devotion on Fridays is not observed during Christmastide. Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM

Friday, January 5, Eve of the Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM, Reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall 7:45–9:00 PM.

Saturday, January 6, The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, On the Epiphany, confessions are heard by appointment only. Mass 12:10 PM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The psalms and readings are those appointed for the Epiphany.

Sunday, January 7, The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Lectionary Year B, Daily Office Year Two), Mass 9:00 AM, Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Evensong & Benediction 5:00 PM. The Adult Formation class will not meet on January 7. Classes resume next week, on Sunday, January 14, at 9:45 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

NEWS & NOTICES

Un-decorating the Church: Volunteers are Needed . . . It’s true that decorating the church is more creative than un-decorating the church, but, still, un-decorating is something that needs to be done, and the Flower Guild knows how to make quick work of it and to have fun at the same time. If you’d like to help them to remove the decorations and the by-then wilted flowers (they’re not wilted yet!), come and join them on Saturday, January 6. Work begins at 9:30 AM. And it’s the Feast of the Epiphany: take a break, come to Mass! The Guild appreciates any help you can give them. Speak to Grace Mudd if you have questions.

Parish Retreat: January 13, 2024, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. In early January, we will be hosting acclaimed scholar and author, Dr. Derek Olsen, for a free Saturday event called “Life, the Universe, and Everything: Finding Holiness through Anglican Prayer.” With Derek’s help, those of us looking for answers to life’s biggest questions will be asking ourselves what resources can the church offer that the secular marketplace does not? And what does this mean for faith communities in the modern world? The post-Covid American context offers a host of ways to make meaning and form communities. Join biblical and liturgical scholar Derek Olsen in exploring how classical Anglican spirituality speaks to our deepest desires and forms a framework for meaning-making and engaging questions about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. The day-long event is free, but registration is appreciated. Click here to register for this event or follow the link on the parish homepage.

Derek Olsen is a biblical scholar and engaged layman in the Episcopal Church. He earned an M.Div. from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, an S.T.M. from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and served as pastoral vicar of a large Lutheran (ELCA) church in the Atlanta suburbs before beginning doctoral work (and being received into the Episcopal Church). He completed a Ph.D. in New Testament in 2011 from Emory University under the direction of Luke Timothy Johnson. His chief areas of interest are the intersection between Scripture and liturgy, the history of biblical interpretation—particularly in the Church Fathers and the Early Medieval West—and liturgical spirituality. He has served on the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music. He is the author of Inwardly Digest: The Prayer Book as Guide to a Spiritual Life (Forward Movement, 2016). Derek will show us how the resources that are very close to home—as close as the Book of Common Prayer in the pew or on the bookshelf—can be used in the ongoing work of conversion and transformation.

Celebrating the Life and Work of Blessed Absalom Jones, Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 10:30 AM, The Holy Eucharist, at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at West 112th Street, Manhattan. The Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche, Bishop of New York, is the celebrant. The Rev. Yejide Peters Pietersen is the preacher. Mother Pietersen is the Associate Dean and Director of Formation at the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. Read more about the life and work of the Reverend Absalom Jones (1746-1818) by following this link.

Adult Formation Classes

The Sunday morning class will not meet on December 31 or January 7.

On Sunday, January 14, Father Jay Smith will resume the series, “Conversion, Transformation & Life in Christ.” On three Sundays—January 14, 21, and 28, 9:45 AM to 10:40 AM—the class will be discussing the Rule of Saint Benedict and Benedictine spirituality as a resource for developing a “rule of life,” and for living that rule, with the help of the grace of God, who is ever merciful and compassionate. On Sunday, February 4, Father Jay will welcome Brother Ephrem Arcement, OHC, to Saint Mary’s. Brother Ephrem will lead the class at 9:45 AM that morning, and he will preach at the Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM. Brother Ephrem entered monastic life in 2010. He was for a time a monk of Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D. in spirituality from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, and has taught courses in Scripture and spirituality at Saint Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. He came to the Order of the Holy Cross, and to the Episcopal Church, several years ago and is now the Guest Brother at the monastery in West Park. He was recently received as a priest of the Episcopal Church by the Bishop of New York. His first book, Intimacy in Prayer: Wisdom from Bernard of Clairvaux, appeared in 2013. A second book, In the School of Prophets: The Formation of Thomas Merton's Prophetic Spirituality, was published in 2015. Then, on Sunday, February 11, Father Jay will lead the class in a summary discussion of this ancient way of life that has done so much to shape Western Christian spirituality, Anglican prayer and worship, and Western European culture.

Father Powell’s series on Isaiah 1–12 will resume on the First Sunday in Lent, February 18, and will continue on all the Sundays in Lent, including Palm Sunday.

Catechumenate: Anglicanism 101—The class resumes on Wednesday, January 10, at 6:30 PM, following Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM and the evening Mass at 6:00 PM. If you are an adult and are interested in being confirmed this spring, you are most welcome to join the class as we begin the second semester. No prior preparation is required.

Confirmation Preparation for Young People 13-18: Beginning on Sunday, January 14, at 9:45 AM, Father Sammy will be leading a confirmation class for young people. The class will meet on Sunday mornings, January 14 to May 5, except on the Last Sunday after Epiphany (February 11), Palm Sunday (March 24), or Easter Day (March 31). If you are interested in the class, please speak to Father Sammy.

Brown Bag Bible Study will not meet on Wednesday, January 3. The class will resume on Wednesday, January 10, at 12:45 PM following the noonday Mass.

Blessing the Chalk and Asking God’s Blessing on Your Home . . . It has long been customary in some places for priests to bless homes at Epiphany. It is, however, not practical to do that in larger parishes or in urban parishes like Saint Mary’s, where members live throughout the metropolitan area. But there is another way of blessing homes at Epiphany that begins in church and does not require the priest to go from house to house. This custom involves chalk that is blessed by the priest and taken home by individuals and families to mark the doors of their own homes. Chalking the door has biblical roots in the Old Testament where the Israelites marked their doors with the blood of a sacrificed lamb—the Passover offering—so the angel of death would “pass over” and they would be saved (Exodus 12:13–28).  The Christian practice of blessing the home during this season is a way of asking for God’s protection during the coming year. This tradition not only places God symbolically at the entrance of our homes, but it also places us under God’s protection. 

The simple ritual works like this: using the chalk blessed during Mass, one writes the following numbers and letters on the lintel above the front door of one’s house or on the door itself—20 + G + M + B + 24—the numbers referring to the New Year and the crosses to Christ. The letters G (or C), M, and B stand for the legendary names of the Magi— G(C)aspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—or alternatively for the Latin blessing Christus mansionem benedicat (“May Christ bless this house”). After making the inscription, a short prayer is offered:

Leader:  The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Let us pray. 

O Lord, holy Father, Almighty, everlasting God, we beseech you to hear us and vouchsafe to send your holy Angel from heaven to guard and cherish, protect, and visit, and evermore defend all who dwell in this home. I call upon your Saints—Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—to protect my family, friends, and all who enter here from every harm and danger, and I place this mark over my door to remain as a reminder to us that my home is truly the house of the Lord. O God, make the door of my house the gateway to your eternal Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“Sacramentals” like holy water and chalk can be “sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments [and] signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them [we] are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1667) Join us this year on January 5, the Eve of the Epiphany, when we will bless chalk during the 6:00 PM Solemn Mass to be used to hallow all our homes throughout our parish and our city. The chalk will be available at the back of the Church, so please take some home with you. May God make all our homes oases of hospitality and peace where Christ is made present to our neighbors and friends! — SW 

Donating Flowers for Altar and Shrines . . . To make a flower 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.

Neighbors in Need . . . 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. 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. Our next Drop-by will take place on Friday, January 19, 1:30 to 3:00 PM. Please speak to Father Jay Smith or MaryJane Boland, if you are interested in volunteering.

Father Matt Jacobson will be away from the parish from January 1 until January 25.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SUNG MASS ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY,
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 5:00 PM

The organ prelude on Saturday evening is the third movement of David Hurd’s Te Deum Laudamus, titled The Humbling. The four-movement work was composed in 1981 for Larry King, who was at that time organist and Director of Music at Trinity Church, Wall Street. The Humbling begins with an extended flute solo, after which the plainsong melody for Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, non horruisti Virginis uterum (“When you became man to set us free you did not shun the Virgin’s womb”) is heard. In the final section of this movement, the original solo melody returns, but now with added harmony, and against the melody of the plainsong hymn, Divinum mysterium (“Of the Father’s love begotten”) sounding in long tones in the tenor register. Divinum mysterium will be sung as the Post-Communion hymn at this Mass.

The musical setting of the Mass at the Vigil Mass on Saturday 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 include renaissance characteristics but also bear evidence of the emerging baroque styles in approach to harmony and functional bass. His Missa Octavi Toni is a setting for four voices and, while polyphonic in construction, may well be more tonal than modal in harmonic conception. It disposes the liturgical text clearly and efficiently.

The Communion motet on Saturday evening is a setting of the first five verses of the Gospel according to Saint John. This beginning of the fourth Gospel is often read during the Christmas season, and the Prayer Book lectionary prescribes it as the Gospel proclamation for the third Mass of Christmas Day as well as, today, the first Sunday after Christmas. The setting of this text, sung as the Communion motet this morning, is by Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521) who is considered one of the most important and influential composers of the High Renaissance. Josquin’s compositions, from Franco-Flemish roots, provided a major bridge from the works of the generation of Guillaume Dufay and Johannes Ockeghem to the renaissance period-defining work of Palestrina, his contemporaries, and his pupils. In this motet by Josquin, one finds the focused text setting and motivic imitation which were gradually becoming more characteristic of choral composition at that time. 

The postlude is the setting from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orgelbüchlein (“Little Organ Book”) of the Christmas chorale, In dir ist Freude (“In you is joy”), BWV 615. The chorale melody is stated in the midst of energetic accompanying scales and passage work on the keyboard which the pedals punctuate with a distinctive recurring motive and, occasionally, bits of the melody.

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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.