FROM FATHER WOOD: BEAUTY CAN SAVE THE WORLD

“Beauty will save the world.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot

I was reminded the other day listening to my friend Fr. Wesley’s podcast, the first in a three-episode arc about the need for a New Renaissance. I was reminded again this week when our Morning Prayer readings included Wisdom 13:3, calling God “the author of beauty.” I was reminded when MaryJane and Daniel took me birding for the first time on Tuesday, and I saw Yellow-throated Warblers and a Scarlet Tanager “up close” through borrowed binoculars. I was reminded standing slack-jawed in the Sistine Chapel a few weeks ago, and I’m reminded every time I walk through our nave, stare up at the mural behind our high altar, and listen to our choir (and you!) sing on a Sunday. 

When everything around us seems ugly, when all seems dark—Beauty can save the world. 

True beauty has an evangelistic quality about it. It has the capacity to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that goodness and truth simply cannot to a mistrustful, post-modern world that questions the concept of truth itself and where the Church has too often forfeited her standing to speak about goodness. As Dr. William Newton wrote in the journal Consortio in 2013: “Beauty . . . is the bridge able to span the gulf that has opened up between modern cultures and the saving message of Jesus Christ.”

This dovetails nicely with our parish mission, because life at Saint Mary’s has always been about worshiping God “in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 96:9). At last Sunday’s Annual Meeting, you listed beauty, liturgy, music, and pageantry among the unique contributions our parish makes to the world around us. And whether it’s a concert—a Paul Jacobs organ recital, the New York Repertory Orchestra, ensembles like Vox Luminis, the Tallis Scholars, or New York Polyphony—a show on the walls of the Gallery at Saint Mary’s in Saint Joseph’s Hall, or “Offerings,” an evening of performance art curated by NYU art student Ro Miller, part of Saint Mary’s calling is to foster beauty wherever we see it springing up in the heart of New York City. 

This Sunday at coffee hour, Saint Mary’s will welcome Roland Biermann, an internationally acclaimed German artist living and working in London. Biermann’s new solo exhibition of two single works will be on display May 14-June 30 in Saint Joseph’s Chapel (also known as “the wedding chapel”), a creative new way to leverage our space for the flourishing of our neighbors. Fusing contemporary issues with religion and mythology, the Rheingold photographs show a black and gold plastic bag floating in used engine oil. Shot outdoors in stormy weather, the surface of the oil reflects grey skies and dark clouds. Merging photography with non-permanent sculpture, the works can be seen as an allegory for greed and the hunger for power, leading to crime and destruction. Created with the waste of consumer society, the negative side-effects of capitalism come to mind, as well as human sinfulness and the darker side of our nature. The golden walls of our chapel at Saint Mary’s present a poignant stage for the dystopian beauty of Biermann’s work. I hope you’ll join us on Sunday to welcome Roland and see these remarkable works. A reception for the general public follows Evening Prayer on Sunday afternoon at 5:30 PM in Saint Joseph’s Hall. 

On Monday, I had coffee with a former parishioner of Saint Mary’s who told me that the first time he visited our church, the usher handed him a bulletin at the door and said “Welcome to the longest-running show on Broadway.” He came in; he loved it; he stayed. “At its best,” writes Philip Graham Ryken, “art is able to . . . satisfy our deep longing for beauty and communicate profound spiritual, intellectual, and emotional truth about the world that God has made of this glory.” That’s the evangelistic power of beauty, and it’s part of the mission of Saint Mary’s. Come and see. — SW

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

We pray for the sick, for those in any need or trouble, 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 the unemployed and for those seeking work; for the incarcerated; and for those living with drought, storm, frigid weather, flood, fire, and earthquake.

We pray for the members of the Board of Trustees of this parish and for the members of the Search Committee.

We pray for all who are in pain and trouble and all who suffer from injustice and oppression of any kind. We pray, too, that God may forgive us for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.

We pray for peace throughout the world, and especially for the people of Ukraine, Sudan, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen, and Myanmar.

We pray for reconciliation among the churches and people of the Anglican Communion.

We pray for Chelsey, Penny, Pat, Erica, Frank, Anthony, Mark, Liz, Keith, Mickey, Brent, Carl, Phoebe, Thomas, Chuck, Alexandra, Trevor, Paris, James, Jennifer, Susan, Sylvia, Harka, Bethel, Gigi, Julie, Carole, Suzanne, Sharon, Liduvina, José, James, Carmen, Lauren, Isla, Theo, Karl, Margaret, Carlos, Christopher, Greta, Quincy, Ava Grace, Willard, Phyllis, Jim, Charlotte, Abe, Gypsy, Hardy, Randy, Margaret, and Allan, PRIEST.

A prayer for the Anglican Communion

Gracious God, we give thee thanks for the gift of the world-wide Anglican Communion of churches: for the experience of belonging to all the ages, for the gift of thoughtful prayer that thou hast taught us, and for the task of reverent study to which thou dost call us. We thank thee for the love of worship which thou hast stirred up in our hearts, and for the love of justice which thou hast implanted in our wills. Remind us that thou art with us in times of trouble as in times of joy; nurture in us thankful hearts when we stand together, and send thy holy wisdom into our disagreements. In dispute, may be we gentle and loving; in unity, may we be humble; in poverty, nourish us with hope; in wealth, help us become responsible and generous. Inflame us with prophetic vision so that our fellowship may bear the likeness of the incoming kingdom proclaimed for all by Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Spring
by Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ (1844–1899)

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –        
   When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;        
   Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush        
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring        
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
   The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush        
   The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush        
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.        

What is all this juice and all this joy?        
   A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,        
   Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,        
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,        
   Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.        

Source: Gerard Manley Hopkins: Poems and Prose (Penguin Classics, 1985); accessed on the website of the Poetry Foundation, May 9, 2023.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Our regular daily liturgical schedule, Monday through Friday, is Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. Holy Hour is offered on Wednesday at 11:00 AM and Thursday’s Mass includes a Healing Service. On Saturdays, Mass is celebrated at 12:10 PM and Evening Prayer is prayed at 5:00 PM. On Sundays, Solemn Mass is offered at 11:00 AM and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM.

Commemorations during the Week of May 14, 2023:
Said Mass at 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel

Monday, May 15, Pachomius of Tabenissi, Monastic, 348
Friday, May 19, Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
Saturday, May 20, Alcuin, Deacon and Abbot of Tours, May 19, 804

Saint Pachomius of Tabenissi (348) is one of several recent additions to our calendar. He’s considered the founder of cenobitic monasticism, a monasticism in which monks live together in community rather than as individual hermits. Born a pagan, he was drawn to Christianity by the kindness shown to him by Christians who visited him when he was imprisoned as part of a forced military conscription. After being released, he was baptized and began to live as an ascetic, focusing on a life of prayer and care for the poor. Over time, people were drawn to Pachomius, and a community was built up around him. He’s also considered the author of the first formal monastic rule of life. We will commemorate him for the first time at the parish at the 12:10 PM Mass on Monday, May 15. Father Conrado will celebrate.

READ THESE! NEWS, NOTICES AND REQUESTS FOR HELP

Don’t forget to make a donation—large or small—to AIDS Walk 2023. See below for more information.

Thank you to all who stayed for the Annual Meeting last Sunday and participated so enthusiastically and helpfully to the discussion. There is more discussion to come. But, in the meantime, if you have questions or have something to add to this discussion that you think would be helpful, please speak to Father Sammy; to our treasurer, Steven Heffner; or to the co-chairs of the Search Committee, Mark Risinger and Mary Robison.

Friday, May 12, 5:30 PM, The Centering Prayer Group meets in Saint Benedict’s Study.

The Adult Education Forum continues this Sunday, May 14, at 9:30 AM in the parish hall. During these last few weeks before summer break, Father Matt has been looking at the Eucharist from the perspective of several fourth-century texts that record Easter Week addresses to the newly baptized. This coming Sunday, he’ll finish the series with more writings from Saint Ambrose of Milan. All are welcome! This will be the final class of the 2022-2023 Adult Education season. Thank you to all who attended the classes, and thank you to all who taught!

Thursday, May 18, Ascension Day. Organ Recital at 5:30 PM. Unfortunately, Mickey Thomas Terry is no longer able to be our recitalist. The organ recital instead will be played by Theodore Cheng, a doctoral student at Juilliard, who will play Ralph Vaughan Williams: Hymn-tune Prelude on Bryn Calfaria; Robert Schumann: 6 Studies in Canonic Form, for Pedal Piano, Op. 56 No. 3-4; and Max Reger: Chorale fantasy on "Wie schön leucht' uns der Morgenstern", Op. 40 No. 1. Procession and Solemn Mass follows the recital at 6:00 PM. Father Sammy Wood will preach at the Solemn Mass.

Neighbors in Need: This month’s distribution event will take place on Friday, May 19. 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 next winter as well as jackets, t-shirts, polo shirts, and women’s tops suitable for spring and summer. And, of course, donations help us to purchase toiletries and underwear. Please contact us at neighbors@stmvnyc.org for more information about volunteering, making a donation, or about the goals, work, and methods of Neighbors in Need.

AIDS Walk 2023: Sunday, May 21: Thanks to your support, we raised around six thousand dollars this week for a total of $51,408, and our team has grown to 25 members. With the Walk just a week away, please help us to reach our goal of $60,000. To join or to contribute to the Team, 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.

Donations for altar flowers may be made for Sunday, June 4, Trinity Sunday; and for Sunday, June 18 and Sunday, June 25. There are many available dates in July and August. To inquire about available dates and to arrange a donation for the altar flowers for a Sunday or a particular feast day, please contact Chris Howatt. For questions about flowers or the Flower Guild, please speak with Brendon Hunter.

Parishioner Jennifer Stevens is a licensed lay Eucharistic minister and, along with Marie Rosseels, assists our clergy in bringing Holy Communion to homebound and hospitalized parishioners. Jennifer recently completed an additional diocesan course on lay pastoral care and there will be a graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 17, at 7:00 PM. Jennifer would be happy for anyone from the parish to join her at the online ceremony. If you are interested, please send an email to Fr. Matt for the Zoom details. Congratulations, Jennifer, and thanks for your help with this important ministry!

Coming Up: Saturday, May 20, 11:00 AM, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, the Ordination and Consecration of the Reverend Matthew F. Heyd as Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of New York . . . On Saturday, May 20, at 5:30 PM, the members of the AIDS Walk Team will gather in the Lady Chapel for a Vigil Mass. Father Matt Jacobson will celebrate. This will allow them to participate fully in the Walk the following day, Sunday, May 21 . . . Sunday, May 28, The Day of Pentecost, Procession and Solemn Mass at 11:00 AM . . . Monday, May 29, Memorial Day. Federal Holiday Schedule. The church opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 12:00 PM. Mass is celebrated in the Lady Chapel at 10:00 AM. The parish offices are closed. Morning and Evening Prayer are not said in the church . . . Wednesday, May 31, The Visitation, Mass in the Lady Chapel at 12:10 PM; Sung Mass in the Church at 6:00 PM . . . Sunday, June 4, Trinity Sunday, Solemn Mass and Te Deum 11:00 AM . . . Sunday, June 11, The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ: Corpus Christi, Solemn Mass and Procession to Times Square with the Blessed Sacrament 11:00 AM.

Father Jay Smith will be away on retreat between May 9 and May 14.

Father Matthew Jacobson will be away from the parish on vacation from Monday, June 12, until Thursday, July 6.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, MAY 14, 2023

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

The anthem sung during the Communion at the Solemn Mass on Sunday is a recent composition from David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s. This setting of Song of Songs 2:2–4,9–13 was commissioned by Robert R. and Mary Wolcott Davis, on behalf of Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green, New Castle, Delaware, in honor of Jack Warren Burnam, for his many years of dedicated service as organist and choirmaster. It was first sung at an Evensong on October 30, 2022, during which Mr. Burnam’s many years of distinguished music ministry and his service to Immanuel Church were celebrated. The anthem is scored for choir of mixed voices and organ.

The organ voluntaries on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 14, are the opening and closing sections of the Toccata in C of J. S. Bach (1685–1750), commonly referred to as Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue. Baroque keyboard toccatas were typically multi-sectional pieces. With Bach’s Toccata in C, the form is so enlarged that the principal sections effectively become stand-alone movements. The opening sections, which comprise today’s Prelude, include a single-voice flourish on the keyboard, a pedal solo, and a fully developed concerto-style movement. The final section, played for the Postlude, is a spirited fugue with an extended and playful theme in gigue rhythm. — David Hurd

DR. HURD COMPOSITION TO BE FEATURED AT THE ORDINATION & CONSECRATION OF THE BISHOP COADJUTOR

In a recent online post by the Diocese of New York, The Music Committee for the Consecration noted that it “is excited to celebrate the rich musical heritage of the life of the Diocese. Among many exciting musical offerings, the service will include ‘Processional for Easter’ composed by David Hurd (b. 1950), legendary New York-born composer, organist, educator and church musician. For nearly 40 years he was on the faculty of General Seminary; currently he is the Organist [and Music Director] at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York City. The work, scored for choir, organ, brass quartet, and timpani, will be sung at the Communion, and includes congregational refrain.

Over 150 singers comprise The Diocesan Choir for this celebration, including the Cathedral Choirs, and singers from parishes throughout the Diocese! ‘Processional for Easter’ will also include The Cathedral Brass, who will join with Daniel Ficarri, Associate Music Director and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Kent Tritle, Director of Cathedral Music, will conduct. Join us on May 20th as we experience Easter yet again, not only through Hurd’s ‘Processional for Easter’, but through the celebration of our vibrant common life. As our Bishop Coadjutor-Elect Matthew Heyd has often reminded us, we are an Easter People!”

AT THE MET FIFTH AVENUE, 82nd Street. Gallery 955, Galleries 960-962. Until July 16, 2023. Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter. From the Met’s website: “This exhibition offers an unprecedented look at the life and artistic achievements of seventeenth-century Afro-Hispanic painter Juan de Pareja (c. 1608–1670). Largely known today as the subject of The Met’s iconic portrait by Diego Velázquez, Pareja—who was born in Antequera, Spain—was enslaved in Velázquez’s studio for over two decades before becoming an artist in his own right. This presentation is the first to tell his story and examine the ways in which enslaved artisanal labor and a multiracial society are inextricably linked with the art and material culture of Spain’s “Golden Age.” Representations of Spain’s Black and Morisco populations in works by Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Velázquez join works that chart the ubiquity of enslaved labor across media, from sculpture to silver. The Met’s portrait, executed by Velázquez in Rome in 1650, is contextualized by his other portraits from this period and the original document whereby Pareja was freed upon return to Madrid. The exhibition culminates in the first gathering of Pareja’s rarely seen paintings, some of enormous scale, which engage with the canons of Western art while reverberating throughout the African diaspora. Harlem Renaissance collector and scholar Arturo Schomburg was vital to the recovery of Pareja’s work and serves as a thread connecting seventeenth-century Spain with twentieth-century New York, providing a lens through which to view the multiple histories that have been written about Pareja.”

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.