FROM GRACE MUDD: ON SERVING AT THE ALTAR SINCE CHILDHOOD

It doesn’t take long knowing me to understand that I say, “I could do that!” pretty frequently. Sometimes practical limits come up, but I’ve always been interested in the deep dive with anything I do, and church was never an exception. In the parish where I was raised, kids could start serving as acolytes at age 10 and that’s exactly what I did.

Almost from the start, it was a transformative experience. I grew up in the front pew because that’s where my mother (whose mother was a church organist and needed to keep an eye on her progeny) had grown up and that gave me a good view of everything going on despite being small. But actually being up by the altar meant that I saw more details, not least because I had to sit still and focus so as not to distract the congregation. My brother joined up a couple years later when he was of age and the two of us enjoyed working together to encourage the other acolytes to stay on point and keep things running smoothly.

The other big change, though, came when there was a call for parishes throughout the area to send acolytes for the shared Easter Vigil. I had no idea what that was, but I signed up and one of my parents consented to take me. I was blown away. The darkness and light, the quiet and the blaring organ, everything about the sudden shift from Holy Week to Easter moved me in a way for which I was entirely unprepared. I wasn’t allowed to be confirmed for another few years, but that was when I knew I was in for the long haul and of my own accord. I also knew that I definitely wanted to be a thurifer!

When I went to college in Philadelphia, I stumbled into Saint Mark’s, Locust Street. It took me a couple years to figure out whom to talk to about becoming an acolyte, but when I did, I jumped in with both feet and within a year finally got to learn how to swing a thurible. Having grown up semi-low-church, serving as an acolyte gave me a crash course in Anglo-Catholicism. Serving deepened my prayer life and prayers in the sacristy helped me find the language to describe what drew me in week after week: “I will go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness.”

I’ve been doing this a long time now. Serving in this way is a children’s ministry in many places and when I was a child, I had no idea that I was embarking on such a long journey, but I suppose that’s true for many things in a life of faith. I wonder sometimes if I will still be able to sling a thurible or carry a processional cross the rest of my life, but I hope so. I’d like to think I could do that. — Grace Mudd

Grace Mudd has been a member of Saint Mary’s since 2007 and has served the parish in a number of ways. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees and an active member of the Flower Guild. Grace not only swings a thurible, but she is also a member of the Sacristy Leadership Team, which means that she often serves as master of ceremonies at Solemn Masses as well as trains and mentors new acolytes. She is an assistant principal at the High School for Arts and Business in Queens, New York. Grace’s interests include knitting, scuba diving, and working on her Spanish. She can often be found lugging her cello around the city and performs with the New York Repertory Orchestra, which holds its concerts at Saint Mary’s. Grace and her husband, Jason Mudd, who is also an assistant principal and a member of the parish, live in Queens with their cats.

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

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 refugees and migrants; 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 amid violence, or with drought, storm, punishing heat, flood, fire, or earthquake. We keep the people of Hawaii in our prayers this week following the devastating fires on the island of Maui.

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

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

We pray for those for whom prayers have been asked: Mary Barbara, Richard, John, Humberto, Joan, Frank, Steven, Carl, Blaise, Brent, Marie, John Derek, Tristan, Ingrid, Janet, Claudia, Joyce, June, Cooki, Lydia, Sharon, Bruce, Robert, Carlos, Christopher, José, Carmen, Jean, Theo, Susan, William James, Ingrid, Liduvina, Brendon, Charlotte, Keith, Jennifer, Harka, Suzanne, Quincy, Gigi, Ava Grace, Phyllis, Jim, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, and Margaret; for Jamie and Michael, religious; Lind, deacon; and Allan and Stephen, priests.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Greta Rosseels, George Coyne, and Gwendolyn Beale Eyland.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Greta Rosseels, the sister of parishioner Marie Rosseels, died peacefully on Wednesday while in hospice care near her home in Belgium after a long illness. She was the widow of Achiel Neefs, to whom she was married for fifty-one years. She is survived by her two sons, Bert and Marc, her daughters-in-law, three grandchildren, eight brothers and sisters, and many nephews and nieces. Please keep Greta, Marie, Bert, Marc, their family and friends, and all who mourn in your prayers.

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 anointing and prayers for healing. On Saturdays, 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 celebrated at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. On Sundays, Solemn Mass is offered at 11:00 AM and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. Evensong and Benediction will be offered next on the first Sunday in October.

Friday, August 11, 5:30–6:45 PM, The Centering Prayer Group meets in Saint Benedict’s Study.

Saturday, August 12, Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer, 1910

Sunday, August 13, 9:30–10:30 AM, The Centering Prayer Group meets in the Livestream Control Room, which is located just outside the Sacristy.

Sunday, August 13, The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 14 (Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, 1667), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM. A cantor will assist the congregation’s worship at the Solemn Mass. The readings are Jonah 2:1–9, Psalm 29:3–11, Romans 9:1–5, and Matthew 14:22–36. Father Sammy Wood will preach. The cantor is Daniel Santiago Castellanos.

Monday, August 14, Jonathan M. Daniels, Seminarian & Witness for Civil Rights, 1965

Monday, August 14, The Eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Tuesday, August 15, The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Said Mass in the Lady Chapel 12:10 PM, Procession and Solemn Mass 6:00 PM. The guest preacher at the Solemn Mass is the Reverend Dr. Norman Whitmire, Jr. A reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows the Mass.

Friday, August 18, 1:00–3:00 PM: Neighbors in Need: Drop-by Distribution of Clothing and Hygiene Items

Friday, August 18, 5:30–6:45 PM, The Centering Prayer Group meets in Saint Benedict’s Study.

Saturday, August 19, Monthly Requiem in the Mercy Chapel at 12:10 PM

Sunday, August 20, The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 15 (Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1153), Solemn Mass 11:00 AM. A cantor will assist the congregation’s worship at the Solemn Mass. The readings are Isaiah 56:1–8; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13–15, 29–32; and Matthew 15:21–28. Father Matthew Jacobson will preach.

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S: NEWS & NOTICES

Searching for a New Rector: Next Steps . . . On Tuesday, August 1, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees sent a letter to the friends and members of Saint Mary’s. Writing on behalf of the entire Board, Dr. Charles Morgan, vice president; Ms. Mary Robison, secretary; and Mr. Steven Heffner, treasurer, informed the parish community that the Board, with the permission of our bishops, had decided to suspend the search for a new rector temporarily in order to focus on asset management, parish growth, and stewardship, all with the goal of strengthening the parish’s financial situation before resuming the search and calling a new rector. In order to provide the necessary leadership and stability during this process, the Board has invited Father Sammy Wood—again, with the permission of the Bishop of New York—to serve as priest-in-charge for a period of three years. Father Wood also wrote a letter to the parish recently with some of his thoughts on the next three years.

Over the past year, the Board has worked hard to be more attentive to and transparent about parish finances and the progress of the search for a new rector. The Board, continuing in that vein, is hosting two listening sessions in the next six weeks to provide opportunities for members of the community to ask questions and share their thoughts about the recent developments in the search process. The Board sees these sessions as opportunities for friends and members of the parish respectfully to discuss their ideas, hopes, and concerns about Saint Mary’s and its future.

Both sessions will take place in Saint Joseph’s Hall, after the Sunday Solemn Mass. The first session will take place on Sunday, August 20. The second session will take place on Sunday, September 24. We hope that you will be able to be at Saint Mary’s for one or both of these sessions. In the meantime, please pray for the members of the Board, for Father Sammy and his family, for the clergy team and their spouses, for the members of the staff, and for the entire parish community as we seek God’s guidance together in the days to come.

On Tuesday, August 15, we will celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There will be a said Mass in the Lady Chapel at 12:10 PM and a Solemn Mass in the church at 6:00 PM. Our guest preacher at the Solemn Mass will be the Reverend Dr. Norman Whitmire, Jr. Father Whitmire is the rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Woodhaven, New York. You may read more about Father Whitmire, his life, education, ministry, and path to ordination on his parish’s website. There will be a reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall at the end of Mass. All are invited.

At the Cathedral . . . On Sunday, September 24, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the inaugural cohort of the Community at the Crossing will be received and vested at the 10:30 AM Mass. This ecumenical group of young adults will spend a year together in an intentional religious community on the cathedral grounds. Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew have all expressed their support for this important initiative by our diocese. The Archbishop of Canterbury will be the preacher at the liturgy, and all are invited. Please RSVP here by September 8. Father Matt serves on an advisory board for the program and will be attending on behalf of the parish clergy.

Neighbors in Need, Saint Mary’s Primary Outreach Program: The next Drop-by Distribution of Clothing and Hygiene Items will take place on Friday, August 18, 1:30–3:00 PM. Lightly used, sensible shoes and sneakers for both men and women are a particular need just now. Cash donations are always welcome: donations online or by check should include the notation “Neighbors in Need.” We are very grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry. For more information about the work of Neighbors in Need or if you are interested in volunteering, please speak to MaryJane Boland, Marie Rosseels, or Father Jay Smith.

The Saint Mary’s Book Club. . . The first book of the new season is Barbara Brown Taylor’s “Leaving Church.” Taylor is an Episcopal priest, author, and acclaimed preacher who has written movingly about her hopes, her struggles, and her not-always-easy journey in faith. From the book’s back cover, “Taylor describes a rich spiritual journey in which God has given her more questions than answers. As she becomes part of the flock instead of the shepherd, she describes her poignant and sincere struggle to regain her footing in the world without her defining collar. Taylor’s realization that this may in fact be God’s surprising path for her leads her to a refreshing search to find Him in new places. Leaving Church will remind even the most skeptical among us that life is about both disappointment and hope—and ultimately, renewal.” The book is available in paperback and hard cover in the usual places. Discussion of the book was planned for Sunday, September 24. However, the second listening session on the search for a new rector is to take place that day. New date and time will be announced shortly. In the meantime, start reading! — JRS

Donations for altar flowers. If you would like to make a donation to cover the cost of flowers to be placed on the high altar and at the shrines on an upcoming Sunday or holy day, there are many available dates coming up August 27, every Sunday in September and many Sundays in October. The suggested donation is $250. To reserve a date and make your donation for the altar flowers, please contact Chris Howatt. If you’d like to explore other dates or have questions about the flowers or the Flower Guild, please contact Brendon Hunter.

Father Sammy Wood will be away from the parish August 14–18. He and his wife Renee will be with their son Patrick as he travels south to begin his first year at university.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, AUGUST 13, 2023

The organ voluntaries on Sunday constitute the third installment of a series begun last month of the eight “Little” Preludes and Fugues, traditionally attributed to J. S. Bach (1685–1750). While long promulgated as works of the great master, these pieces are now widely believed to have been composed by one of his pupils, very likely Johann Tobias Krebs (1690–1762), or Krebs’s son, Johann Ludwig (1713–1780). Of these eight preludes and fugues, four are in major keys of C, F, G, and B-flat, and the remaining four are in their relative minors of A, D, E, and G. The standard ordering of these eight pieces begins with BWV 553 in C Major and progresses up the scale to BWV 560 in B-flat. This morning’s prelude will be BWV 556 in F Major, and the postlude will be BWV 554 in the relative minor key of D. BWV 556, for the prelude, may be the least likely of the eight Preludes and Fugues to have been composed by Sebastian Bach. The prelude especially is stylistically much more suggestive of post-baroque classical composition. Its accompanying fugue has a similar harmonic and textural simplicity as it continues in the bright spirit of F Major. BWV 554, numbered second in the collection and played for the postlude, has an A-B-A-shaped prelude, as did BWV 556. The fugue, with its angular theme, is modest in length and follows logically after the prelude.

The musical setting of the Mass on the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost is New Plainsong by David Hurd. This setting was composed in 1978 at the request of the Standing Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church as the revision of The Hymnal 1940 was gaining momentum. The Commission desired a setting which would be for the “Contemporary” Eucharistic texts what John Merbecke’s 1550 setting had been for the “Traditional” English words. As such, New Plainsong is chant-like and almost entirely syllabic, that is, only one note is sung per syllable. Modest keyboard accompaniment is provided but its movements may also be sung unaccompanied. New Plainsong subsequently has been published in The Hymnal 1982 and in worship resources of several other denominations. A revised edition of New Plainsong issued in 2018 also accommodates newer Roman Catholic usage.

The cantor on Sunday is Daniel Santiago Castellanos. During the Communion he will sing Liebt, ihr Christen, in der Tat, the twelfth of fourteen movements of Cantata 76 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach’s Cantata 76, Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes (“The heavens are telling the glory of God”), draws texts from many places after beginning with a clear reference to Psalm 19. This cantata was composed in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Trinity and first performed on June 6, 1723. The cantata was designed in two symmetrical halves which were to be performed before and after the sermon. In the first half, Bach uses a trumpet to represent the glory of God. In the second half, where the alto aria on Sunday is found, the subtler sounds of oboe d’amore and viola da gamba support a focus on brotherly devotion.

More about our cantor: Daniel Santiago Castellanos is a composer, tenor, and pianist based in New Jersey. His piece for mezzo-soprano and piano, Death is nothing at all, won first prize at the 2019 NYC songSLAM competition. Ensembles that have performed his music include the Semiosis Quartet, JACK Quartet, The Orchestra Now (TŌN), Da Capo Ensemble, and The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. He received two bachelor’s degrees from Bard College Conservatory of Music and received a master’s degree in music composition from Mannes School of Music in May 2023. Daniel has been a member of the Choir of Saint Mary’s since the fall of 2018. Daniel’s newly composed Missa Brevis received its premiere performance here at Saint Mary’s on the Day of Pentecost, May 28, 2023. For more information visit his website.  

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S

Monday, September 4, Labor Day, Federal Holiday Schedule

Friday, September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday, September 14, Holy Cross Day

Thursday, September 21, Saint Matthew the Apostle

Friday, September 29, Saint Michael & All Angels

Sunday, October 1, Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost,
Beginning of Program Year & Return of the Choir of Saint Mary’s

AT THE RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART, 150 WEST 17TH STREET, NEAR SEVENTH AVENUE

Death Is Not The End. Until January 14, 2024. From the museum’s website: “Death Is Not the End is a cross-cultural exhibition that explores notions of death and afterlife through the art of Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity. During a time of great global turmoil, loss, and uncertainty, the exhibition invites contemplation of the universal human condition of impermanence and the desire to continue to exist. The exhibition features prints, oil paintings, bone ornaments, thangka paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and ritual items, and brings together fifty-eight objects spanning 12 centuries from the Rubin Museum’s collection alongside artworks on loan from private collections and major institutions  including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morgan Library and Museum, Museum aan de Stroom in Antwerp, Wellcome Collection in London, Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, San Antonio Museum of Art, among others. The exhibition is organized around three major themes: the Human Condition, or the shared understanding of our mortality in this world; States In-Between, or the concepts of limbo, purgatory, and bardo; and (After)life, focusing on resurrection, ideas of transformation, and heaven.”

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.