DID YOU KNOW?
BUDGET TIME AT SAINT MARY’S

The third week of January, the Board of Trustees adopted the 2023 parish budget, a document developed each year by the treasurer, the parish administrator, our bookkeeping firm, and other trustees and members of staff. This document anticipates our income and outlines funding for staff, operations, physical plant, and mission programs (music, hospitality, education, outreach, etc.)

Our 2023 budget starts with three main income numbers:

• pledges from our stewardship appeal

• estimates of other income—plate, donations associated with major feasts, and other incidental income like shrines and use-of-space fees from organizations like AA or music groups

• expected income from investments

This year, our pledge number is lower than previous years. We hope to receive more pledges as the beginning of the year unfolds, especially from folks we usually hear from but who haven’t pledged yet, but for now we need to budget with what we know, which looks to be about $377,000, up slightly from our 2022 pledge income.

The actual non-pledge income (shrines, plate, feast-day donations, use-of-space fees, etc.) from the past two years averaged $399,000, so we adopted this forecast as our 2023 budget. Shrine and plate collections increased in 2022 over 2021 as in-person attendance and foot traffic returned, as did use-of-space fees. Special feast day offerings, however, declined in 2022.

Finally, income from our investment account is budgeted for by using the general non-profit rule that an organization should plan on spending 5% of its investment principle on operations. We look at our investment accounts on Dec 31st each year and factor 5% of that amount into our operating plan for the next year. This year, our end-of-year balance at the Diocesan Investment Trust (DIT) was just under $3 million, meaning that our budget will include $150,000 in funds that we will draw from our long-term investments.

All told, this means we have a projected income of approximately $925,000. Our operating expenses for 2023 are forecast to be significantly higher than that. Personnel costs alone will be more than $700,000; building costs will be approximately $350,000; administration and programs will cost another $175,000; and our apportioned share due to the Diocese of New York will be a little over $250,000.

We’re looking at a budget shortfall of well over half-a-million dollars. And if you read the previous article about our endowments and investment portfolio, you’ll know that our savings can’t sustain that trajectory for long.

Carrying out our mission as effectively as we all desire will require greater support in pledges. Your pledge translates directly into our serving all who depend upon Saint Mary’s. — The Board of Trustees

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

We give thanks to God for giving us life; for showing us the beauty of the universe, for the warmth and tenderness of the world of nature, and for the goodness of God even in times of darkness when goodness, beauty, and grace are hidden from our eyes.

We pray for the people of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and those who work and study at the Covenant School. We pray for the repose of the souls of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Mike Hill, and Katherine Koonce, who were murdered this week at the Covenant School in Nashville.

We pray for the sick and for all those who asked us for our prayers. We pray for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this week; for those who are traveling; for those seeking work; for the incarcerated; for those living with drought, storm, frigid weather, flood, fire, and earthquake, and those preparing for Holy Baptism.

We pray for all who are in pain and trouble and all who suffer from injustice and oppression of any kind. We recall with sorrow the pain and suffering of enslaved people, and we pray for their descendants. We ask that we may all continue to work for compassion, justice, truth and love in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity.

We pray especially this week for the people of Ukraine, South Sudan, Türkiye, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria; and we also pray for Susan and Karl, who are gravely ill, and for Margaret, Michael, Zulie, Catherine, Pat, Liduvina, José, Carmen, Patrick, Bethel, Lauren, Theo, Michael, Opal, Debbie, Carlos, Christopher, Harka, Greta, Quincy, Ava Grace, Willard, Gigi, Phyllis, Jim, Bob, Ilde Luz, Sharon, Lina, Charlotte, Bruce, Barbara, Robert, Abe, Gypsy, Margaret and Sammy, Rick, and Allan, priests.

We also pray:

For the people of Saint Mary’s that we may persevere in our observance of Lent;
For the work of the Saint Mary’s Search Committee and the members of the Board of Trustees of Saint Mary’s;
For the Chemin Neuf Community and the Community at the Crossing;
For the Community of Saint John Baptist;
For the Episcopal Service Corps and the New York Service & Justice Collaborative fellows;
For all those suffering from COVID-19 and for all those recovering from COVID-19;
For those killed and injured in the mass shootings in the United States in 2023;
For all refugees and those seeking asylum;
For the work of Neighbors in Need and for its guests;
For those without food, shelter, or work; and for those seeking work;
For those troubled by depression, anxiety, or addiction;
For all those visiting Saint Mary’s and our neighborhood this week;
For the safety of LGBTQ+ people in Uganda, the United States of America, and throughout the world;
For the safety and welfare of our nation, city, and neighborhood.

A COLLECT FOR HOLY WEEK

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A COLLECT FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., ON TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

FROM THE FLOWER GUILD, WITH A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

We have a particular need for volunteers during the coming week at the following times (please note that we say “around” below it is because deliveries can be a bit unpredictable, but delays are usually minimal).

Saturday, April 1 starting at 10:00 AM for palm stripping and assisting with the parish work day (many things will be happening, not just with flower stuff).

Monday, April 3 starting around 9:00 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall to get all flowering branches prepped and into water.

Tuesday, April 4 and Wednesday, April 5 starting around 9:00 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall to get all our flowers prepped and into water.

Saturday, April 8 starting at 9:30 AM and continuing through the day for final preparations done for Easter, moving things around, clean-up Saint Joseph’s Hall. Any and all help would be great.

Sunday, April 16 at 1:00 PM (after the Solemn Mass and Coffee Hour) to do the dismantling of all the Easter decorations.

Interested in making flower arrangements?

We’d love to have your help if you're interested in creating floral arrangements and can help train and assist you if you’re new to flower arranging at Saint Mary’s. Days for arranging for Easter are Tuesday, April 4 (but only for flowering branch pieces), Wednesday and Thursday (our focus then is setting up the Altar of Repose), and then Friday (all day) and Saturday (morning only, at the latest) to complete everything for Easter.

Want to do something? Can you help?

Please email Brendon Hunter at brendonjhunter@gmail.com or text/call at 646-580-3727. While you’re always welcome to just show up, advance notice of when you plan to come greatly assists us in our workflow and having things ready for you to do upon arrival.

If you have already been in touch with Grace or Marie, wonderful, thank you, and no need to inform me as well.

What’s needed when you show up?

Just yourself! We have all the materials and tools, including clippers, aprons, and gloves. Wear comfortable clothes and be aware that sometimes things can get messy.

Snacks and beverages, including coffee, tea, and water, will be available for volunteers throughout these workdays.

All of us on the Flower Guild are immensely grateful for your gifts that come together to make this happen, thank you!

Donations for Easter Flowers that make the beautiful decorations at Easter possible are welcome from friends and members of Saint Mary's. Please go online to Saint Mary's donation page, click on “Give Now,” and to the right of the amount entered select “Flowers” from the Fund menu. Checks can be mailed to the parish and please note “Easter Flowers” on the memo line. At the church, Easter flower donation envelopes are available at the entrances that can be left in any shrine box or in the offering basket.

Thank you for helping make the beauty of Holy Week and festivities of Easter come to life at Saint Mary’s.

Decorating the church and arranging Easter flowers (as is the case with Christmas) is an eight-day-long production for the Flower Guild and we couldn’t do it without you!

THE REPARATIONS COMMISSION OF THE DIOCESE OF NEW YORK

On Saturday, March 25, 2023, the Bishop of New York presided at a Service of Apology at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine for the participation and complicity of the diocese and its members in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and in that trade’s continuing aftermath and consequences. The service bulletin may be accessed here. A video of the service is available here. For more information about the work of the Reparations Commission, please visit the Commission website.

AIDS WALK 2023: SUNDAY, MAY 21

We’ve gotten off to a great start with eight members on the team and over $30,000 raised! Thank you to those who have already supported us. We are currently ranked second overall in fundraising, but there is a lot of time until May 21. Help us keep the momentum going!

To join or to contribute, visit our page on the AIDS WALK website. Additional detail about our team’s history can also be found on the parish website. Our team captains—MaryJane Boland, Clark Mitchell, and Father Matt Jacobson—welcome your questions. 

BEING HOSPITABLE, WELCOMING OUR GUESTS

Hospitality is an important ministry at Saint Mary’s, since it is our privilege to welcome guests from near and far almost every Sunday morning. Coffee Hour and other receptions are an important part of that ministry, but the cost of hosting such events continues to rise.

We are seeking your help. We invite the members and friends to volunteer to “host” a Coffee Hour or reception. That can be done in one of two ways: you can make a cash donation, or you can provide food and beverages for the event. If you make a cash donation, the suggested amount is $100.00. If you would like to do this, please contact the Parish Office or speak to Father Jay Smith.

In order to prevent duplications, and therefore waste, if you plan to bring food for a Coffee Hour, please let us know a week ahead of time. That way we can work with Marcos Orengo, our weekend sexton, to prepare for that day’s event.

We hope that this will not be taken as an invitation to compete. That is not desirable and is likely to discourage some who would otherwise like to help. We hope to keep things fairly simple—something look forward to, but neither brunch, lunch, or supper.

We are grateful to all those who already make donations that are a great help to and for this ministry.

“All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ (Matt 25:35).”— The Rule of Saint Benedict

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Friday, March 31, Stations of the Cross 5:30 PM, following Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. This is the final service of Stations of the Cross this Lent. We will not walk Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

Saturday, April 1, Flower Guild and Altar Guild Workday begins at 10:00 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

April 2, Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, Blessing of Palms, Procession in the Church, and Solemn Mass 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer in the Church at 5:00 PM. There will not be a coffee hour after Solemn Mass on Palm Sunday.

Monday, April 3, and Tuesday, April 4: Monday and Tuesday in Holy Week. Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM.

April 5, Wednesday in Holy Week, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Holy Hour 11:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM.

April 6, Maundy Thursday, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM, Watch before the Blessed Sacrament until Midnight.

April 7, Good Friday, Liturgy of the Day 12:30 PM.

Saturday, April 8, Holy Saturday Liturgy, 9:00 AM and The Great Vigil of Easter, 7:00 PM.

Sunday, April 9, Easter Day, Said Mass with Hymns 9:00 AM; Procession and Solemn Mass 11:00 AM.

AROUND THE PARISH

Bring a bell to church! On Maundy Thursday, April 6, at 6:00 PM, as Gloria in excelsis is sung, bells will resound throughout the church. Please bring a bell and join in the joyful noise. And do the same two days later, at the Great Vigil of Easter, when bells are rung at the end of the vigil prophecies, when the lights come on and the candles are lit.

Parishioner Grace Mudd has taught at the High School for Arts and Business (HSAB) in Corona, Queens, since 2005. We learned this week that Grace was recently appointed Assistant Principal for Organization at HSAB. She will be responsible for preparing the school’s budget, and for logistics, teacher’s time and attendance. She will also supervise the guidance department and the student attendance team. Congratulations, Grace!

Father Peter Powell concludes his series of classes on New Testament Letters in the Pauline Tradition on Sunday, April 2. His class has been well attended this year and many Saint Marians have enjoyed the class and have learned much. We are grateful to Father Peter for again giving of his time and expertise. Thank you so much, Father.

Saint Mary’s Book Club. On Sunday, April 23, at 1:00 PM, Father Jay Smith will lead a discussion of Pat Barker’s 1993 novel, Regeneration. The book is set in England during the Great War, and is focused on Siegfried Sassoon, poet and war hero, who has spoken out against the war and, as a result, been committed to an institution for “rest and rehabilitation.” The novel portrays the relationship between Sassoon and a psychiatrist, who has been assigned the morally ambiguous task of returning Sassoon and other young men, shattered in mind, body, and spirit to the front. The novel is well written and explores the difficult interplay between nationalism, patriotism, virility, psychiatry, and modern technological warfare. In some sense, World War I “changed everything” in the Western world. Barker puts a human face on those changes.

We’d love to have you join the discussion in April. We are a small group, but we have lots of ideas and opinions. Come share your opinions with us! — JRS

ABOUT THE MUSIC ON PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2023

The prelude on Sunday morning is a setting of the chorale Valet will ich dir geben by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The melody upon which this chorale prelude is based is that to which the Palm Sunday processional hymn “All glory laud and honor” is most often sung, found in The Hymnal 1982 at #154. The same melody is also associated with the Advent hymn “Blest be the King whose coming” (#74 in The Hymnal 1982). Bach’s setting of this melody, however, is one of two from his miscellaneous chorales on Valet will ich dir geben (“Farewell, I gladly bid thee”), a text which expresses the soul’s delight in departing from this flawed world into the joys of heaven. The second of these two settings, played on Sunday, is an exuberant fantasia in 24/16 meter with the melody in the long notes in the bass register.

The Palm Sunday liturgy begins with music expressing the festivity and excitement of the occasion. The antiphon Hosanna to the Son of David traditionally introduces the liturgy. This antiphon has received many splendid choral settings over the centuries. On Palm Sunday morning, as the ministers enter, it will be sung to a setting by Thomas Weelkes (c. 1576–1623). Weelkes was probably from Southern England. He was organist at Winchester College in 1598 and, shortly thereafter, at Chichester Cathedral, and received the Bachelor of Music degree of Oxford University in 1602. He is known especially for his nearly one hundred surviving madrigals in five and six parts which excel in tone painting, lively rhythm, and formal structure. He composed extensively also for viols and keyboard instruments. His church music includes ten Anglican services and over forty verse and full anthems, many of which, unfortunately, do not survive in complete form. His setting of Hosanna to the Son of David in six parts is surely one of his most often performed full anthems. This setting is both exuberant and serious as it juxtaposes chordal writing and intense imitative counterpoint, all set in a minor tonality. Undoubtedly, Weelkes, in his Hosannas, also foreshadows the turn of events and betrayal soon to occur.

As palms are distributed through the church, another traditional antiphon is sung, interspersed with verses from Psalm 24. Then follows the procession during which the hymns All Glory laud and honor and Ride on! ride on in majesty are sung. The first of these hymns dates from the tenth century and comes to us in a classic translation by John Mason Neale (1818–1866). The musical setting of this translated medieval text is a standard seventeenth-century German chorale. The second processional hymn is of nineteenth-century origin. It is paired with music by the Canadian composer Graham George (1912–1993), first published in The Hymnal 1940, which brilliantly illuminates the words. This second processional hymn’s final stanza properly foreshadows the change in tone as the liturgy shifts away from shouts of exultation and angles toward the singing of the Passion and reflection on the death of Jesus.

The settings of the Mass—Sanctus and Agnus Dei—are from Missa in die Tribulationis by McNeil Robinson (1943–2015). Robinson was an internationally celebrated organist, composer, improvisateur, and teacher. He headed the organ department at the Manhattan School of Music for many years as well as serving religious institutions. In 1965, while still a student at The Juilliard School he began long and well-remembered associations both with the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and with Park Avenue Synagogue. While he remained organist at Park Avenue Synagogue until retiring in 2012, he left Saint Mary’s in 1982 and subsequently served at Park Avenue Christian Church and at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church until failing health necessitated his retirement. Robinson’s remarkable reputation as organist, improviser, and composer became established during his years at Saint Mary’s. He composed Missa in die Tribulationis in 1980 for use on Palm Sunday at Saint Mary’s. Robinson skillfully used chromaticism, dissonance, and contrasts in textures, dynamics, and rhythmic elements in crafting a modern setting tailored for the singular complexity of Palm Sunday and its liturgy.

The whole business of Latin church music in post-Reformation England needed to be a somewhat clandestine matter to protect those involved from the possibility of arrest. Nonetheless, William Byrd (c. 1540–1623), by dint of his musical genius and political savvy, was able to compose and publish richly both for the Protestant English church of his time and for the Catholic liturgy of his conviction. The first volume of Byrd’s Cantiones Sacrae, published in 1589, included his five-voice setting of Civitas sancti tui, which is the second part of the motet Ne irascaris Domine. This second part of Byrd’s motet, with text taken from Isaiah 64:10, will be sung during the administration of Communion on Palm Sunday. — David Hurd

NEIGHBORS IN NEED

For the next several months, Neighbors in Need is blessed with help from five young people working with the Diocese of New York’s branch of Episcopal Service Corps, the New York Service & Justice Collaborative. We expect that they will help with sorting and hanging clothes as well as carrying them up from the basement to set up for our drop-by days. Even so, we would welcome your inquiry about volunteering.

We held our monthly Drop-by Event last week, on March 17, during which we distributed clothing and personal items to around forty-five people. Next month the Drop-by takes place in Easter Week, on Friday, April 21.

Our biggest needs now are clothing, especially shoes (sneakers or athletic shoes and other sturdy shoes), men’s and women’s pants and tops, and coats—for winter and for warmer weather. And, of course, donations help us to purchase toiletries and underwear.

Please contact us at neighbors@stmvnyc.org for more information about volunteering or about the goals, work, and methods of Neighbors in Need.

ADULT EDUCATION
Sunday, April 2, New Testament Letters in the Pauline Tradition: The series concludes

This coming Sunday we continue our examination of the writings from the time the New Testament was formed. Imagine you’re a first-century Christian. Paul has died. The Second Coming has not occurred. Is your faith pointless? The New Testament takes shape and the church is formed in part to answer these questions. We know the Gospels reach their present form after 60 CE. What about the Epistles? How do the followers of Paul understand their faith in light of Paul’s death? How do the followers of Paul understand their faith after the Jewish Revolution and the destruction of the Temple? How do they make sense of worshiping a Jewish Savior when essentially no Jews are Christian? In other words, how do they remain faithful?

We continue to seek answers to those questions, and others, as we continue our discussion of Ephesians—and we’ll be looking at Ephesians 5 and 6 during this coming Sunday, April 2, 9:30–10:30 AM. This will be our final class and the conclusion of this series. — Father Peter Ross Powell

Adult Education picks up again on Sunday, April 23, with our final portion of the series on the Holy Eucharist led by Father Matt.

LIVING LENT, PREPARING FOR EASTER

An electronic copy of the booklet, The Shape of the Lent, can be downloaded here. In it you’ll find suggestions for keeping a Holy Lent and an invitation for us to observe Lent together, as a community.

HOLY WEEK
April 2 - 8

The Psalm of the Week is Psalm 22.
Sunday: John 12.1-8, 12-26
Monday: John 12.27-50
Tuesday: John 13.1-30; 16.16-24
Wednesday: John 14
Maundy Thursday: John 17
Good Friday: John 18.1-19.30
Holy Saturday: John 19.31-42
Easter Day: John 20.1-18

Fast: Food or Meals
Pick a type of food (like meat or carbs or even all “solids”) and fast from it for the week, or pick a meal to skip entirely on a daily basis. If you skip meals, spend the time you would have spent preparing and eating food to pray, read the Bible or some spiritual classic, or serve others.

Reading: The Passion of Jesus
Our journey through salvation history slows to a crawl as we walk through the last week of Jesus’ life. In Holy Week, we experience the most solemn moments of the liturgical year, but our solemnity is transformed into jubilee as we enter into the fifty-day season of Easter. Take time to refocus and examine your life this week. Be fully present in this final week as salvation history reaches its culmination and fulfillment.

Book of Common Prayer Online
Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version
Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version
Common English Bible

On Friday, March 31, we will say Evening Prayer in the church, and then walk Stations of the Cross.

AN INVITATION FROM FATHER STEPHEN MORRIS

Are you interested in one of the devotional societies of the Episcopal Church? These societies, guilds, and confraternities include the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, the Guild of All Souls, the Society of Mary, the Society of King Charles the Martyr, and the Saint Vincent’s Guild. Related to these societies are the various groups of friends, third orders, and associates of our Episcopal religious orders. These societies were once robust and flourishing in our diocese but many of them have fallen on hard times in recent years. If you are interested in any of these societies or are a member without a local chapter or ward, please come to share a celebration of Easter joy together at the Church of the Good Shepherd (240 East 31 Street, New York City) for Holy Eucharist at noon on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Please email Father Stephen Morris to indicate that you are coming, just to be sure we have enough coffee and rolls for everyone. If you can’t come, please e-mail to indicate your interest in any future events and we’ll add you to our mailing list.

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.