FATHER SAMMY WOOD: THE RETURN OF RITE ONE

The Book of Common Prayer is a remarkably adaptable resource, with no fewer than six (!) eucharistic prayers which a parish may use to celebrate the Holy Communion. Here at Saint Mary’s, our most familiar choices are Prayers A and B from Rite Two, and we typically switch between them a couple of times a year. We also use Prayer D during Eastertide. These prayers are, and will continue to be, the standard prayers at our flagship Solemn High Mass at 11:00 AM on Sunday. These six prayers, and others like them from across the world, allow us to find unity in our diverse Anglican Communion, helping make our prayer “common.” In Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs and Practices, Scott Gunn and Melody Shobe write: “Our liturgy—the words and actions of worship—is not about ‘each man for himself,’ or about how ‘I like to pray’ or even how the priest likes to pray. Instead, we are keeping a tradition of worship that stretches through time and is shaped by a tradition of prayer that has been passed down from generation to generation . . . and through space to all the other members of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide body bound by a shared history and shared worship.”

On Sundays this fall, we are bringing back a Low Mass using Rite One for a change. Rite One liturgies reflect the language and piety of the Elizabethan era and the first Prayer Book, the Book of Common Prayer 1549, as well as the influence of the best of modern liturgical scholarship. Rite One also contains elements (the “Comfortable Words” sometimes used after absolution, the magisterial Prayer for the Whole State of Christ’s Church, the Prayer of Humble Access before Communion) not found in Rite Two. These are treasures of our inheritance, artifacts carefully crafted and handed down to us through the centuries.

But why use them still today? For one reason, these unfamiliar words are “intentionally discontinuous” from contemporary culture, an immediate reminder of Isaiah’s ancient critique: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord (Isaiah 55:8). Traditional language is a sign we are stepping out of the regular frame of reference of our everyday world. The unfamiliarity of these words slows us down, to be sure, and they connect us to the larger church because we are praying words our spiritual ancestors used hundreds of years ago, giving us, to quote biblical scholar and Episcopal layman Derek Olsen (who will lead our Parish Retreat over a weekend this winter!), “a concrete notion of baptismal ecclesiology”—we pray like (and with) Christians baptized before we were ever born. As Brian Cummings encapsulates W. H. Auden’s thought regarding the Book of Common Prayer: “Contemporaneity, Auden suggests, is not the criterion for an authentic language of prayer. It consists instead in a language which is felt to be shared across the ages.” The rich language of Rite One bears faithful witness to the breadth of our Anglican theology of the Eucharist, as well.

But another argument for using these forms today is simply this: Beauty. Beauty is an indispensable part of our worship because it is a fundamental attribute of our God. Shakespeare and the King James Bible are deep in our vernacular, as are many of Thomas Cranmer’s phrases preserved for us in Rite One. And sometimes in art we find distasteful at first—from Rachmaninoff to Radiohead—we later discover something we missed. That is the potential of language to be objectively beautiful and move us in ways we hadn’t thought possible. — SW

The Sunday morning Rite I Mass will be at 9:00 AM in the Lady Chapel, with the first Mass taking place on October 1, 2023. Beginning that Sunday, the Adult Formation program will start at 9:45 AM, instead of 9:30 AM, to give parishioners the flexibility to attend either Sunday Mass as well as the class.

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 victims of violence, assault, and crime; 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 with drought, storm, punishing heat, flood, fire, or earthquake. We are asked to remember in our prayers this week the people of Maui, Morocco, and Libya in the aftermath of the devastating natural disasters in those places.

We pray for those for whom prayers have been asked: For Reha and the Slusky-Sterbin Family, April, Luis, Liduvina, Maggie, Mary, Eleanor, Eugene, Flannery, Patrick, Kait, Richard, Aston, Joe, Tristan, Mary Lou, Mary Barbara, Emily, Frank, Steven, Emily, Ingrid, Janet, Claudia, Joyce, June, Cooki, Sharon, Bruce, Robert, Carlos, Christopher, José, Brian, Susan, Carmen, Brendon, Charlotte, Jennifer, Harka, Suzanne, Quincy, Abe, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, John Derek, and Margaret; for Lain, Jamie, and Keith, religious; Lind, deacon; Carl, Allan and Stephen, priests; and Michael, bishop.

We pray for the repose of the souls of Dickie Kibler, Hank Powell, and those whose year’s mind falls on September 24, Mary Van Dyne (1902); Henry Owens (1906); Fabian Mayers (1960). 

COME TO OUR SECOND LISTENING SESSION

Sunday, September 24, 2023, 12:45 PM

Please join us to pray, to share, to listen,
and to consider the movement of the Spirit
here at Saint Mary’s both now and in the future. 

These are some of the questions, we invite you to consider:

What do you dream about God doing at Saint Mary’s in the next decade? 

What are your hopes for the near- and long-term future of Saint Mary’s? What are your fears? What makes you anxious?

What questions arise for you from the Board’s recent decision to suspend the rector search?

What are you personally willing to commit to this project of ours?

AND WE THANK YOU

We are thankful to our many able and committed volunteers who came to work the monthly distribution effort, Neighbors in Need.

We are grateful to all the members of the Saint Mary’s Choir, who served as cantors this summer. Thank you for your support and your artistry during the warm summer months.

We are very grateful to our neighbors at the Coffee Bar in the Actors Equity Building, our friends at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, and those who prepared food and beverages for the Ladies’ Tea on Sunday. We are grateful to you all for your very generous support of our hospitality efforts.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S

Our regular daily liturgical schedule through and including Saturday, September 30: Monday through Friday, 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.

Summer Schedule comes to an end. Our regular daily liturgical schedule begins on Sunday, October 1: Monday through Friday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM. Holy Hour is offered on Wednesday at 11:00 AM and Thursday’s Mass includes anointing and prayers for healing. On Saturdays, Confessions are heard at 11:00 AM, Mass is celebrated at 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer is prayed at 5:00 PM. On the third Saturday of each month, a Requiem Mass is celebrated at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. On Sundays, A Said 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 be offered on October 1, November 5, and December 3.

Friday, September 22, 5:30–6:45 PM, The Centering Prayer Group meets in Saint Benedict’s Study.

Sunday, September 24, 9:30–10:30 AM, Adult Formation Class: “Conversion, Transformation & Life in Christ.” This week: “He is not a tame lion”: Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark & the Call to “Come and Follow”/What Is Gained and What is Lost When You Actually Decide to Follow in Early Christianity: Justin Martyr and the Desert Fathers. Read more about formation at Saint Mary’s here.

Sunday, September 24, The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 20. Readings: Jonah 3:10–4:11; Psalm 145:1–8; Philippians 1:21–27; and Matthew 20:1–16. Father Sammy Wood is the preacher. Joy Tamayo is the cantor.

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. Father Matt, who serves on an advisory board for the program, will be attending on behalf of the parish clergy, along with several interested parishioners. They plan to sit together, so please let Father Matt know if you are attending to join the group.

Monday, September 25, Sergius, Abbot of Holy Trinity, Moscow, 1392

Tuesday, September 26, Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, 1626

Friday, September 29, Saint Michael & All Angels. Mass 12:10 PM. Sung Mass 6:00 PM, Father Wood, celebrant & Father Smith, preacher.

Saturday, September 30, Jerome, Priest and Monk of Bethlehem, 420

Sunday, October 1, The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Proper 21 (Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, c. 530) 

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S: NEWS & NOTICES

 Maui, Morocco, Libya & Midtown Manhattan
Some links with suggestions for aid and assistance:

• Global Citizen

• CBS News

• Charity Navigator

• Neighbors in Need at Saint Mary’s

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

Website updates . . . Have a look at the newly designed Christian Formation portion of the parish website. There is information about classes, quiet days, and a parish retreat in January. More details about the spring semester will be posted soon. We also updated the sermon page and will be posting videos of the sermons after each Solemn Mass. Older sermons can be read by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.

Remaining Dates to Donate the Altar Flowers in 2023 are Sundays, October 22 and 29; All Saints’ Day, November 1; Sundays, November 5, 12, and 19; and Advent III on Sunday, December 17. The suggested donation is $250. We are also always happy to receive donations for flowers at Christmas. To make a donation, please contact Chris Howatt. If you’d like to check about other dates available or have questions about the flowers or the Flower Guild, please speak with Brendon Hunter.

Father Sammy Wood will be away from the parish this week, September 26–28, attending a clergy conference. He will return to the parish on Friday, September 29, and will serve as celebrant at the Sung Mass that evening, the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST,
SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

The name of Healey Willan (1880–1968) is well known to Episcopalians because of his Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena, composed in 1928, which appeared in The Hymnal 1940 and was retained in The Hymnal 1982. This setting, which we will sing on Sunday morning, has been sung widely throughout the Episcopal Church, as well as in other denominations, for decades. Willan’s career and reputation, however, went far beyond composing this beloved Mass. He composed more than eight hundred works including operas, symphonies and other music for orchestra and band, chamber music, and music for piano and organ, in addition to a great quantity of choral music. His liturgical music includes fourteen choral Masses, occasional motets, canticles, and hymn settings. Willan was born in England and began his career as an organist in London parish churches. He joined the faculty at Toronto University in 1914, later becoming Professor of Music there. In 1921 he was named organist at Toronto’s Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, a position he retained until his death. Said to have described himself as “English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction; Scotch by absorption,” Willan was a champion of historic liturgical chant and the aesthetic of Renaissance church music. He incorporated these influences and mingled them with an appreciation of the rich harmonic palette of the late nineteenth-century masters. Through his compositions and choral direction, he significantly set the standard for North American Anglo-Catholic church music in his time. In 1956, Willan became the first non-English church musician to be awarded the Lambeth Doctorate, Mus.D. Cantuar.

During the Communion on Sunday, soprano Joy Tamayo will sing The Lord is my Light, a setting of a portion of Psalm 27 by Frances Allitsen (1848–1912). Allitsen was born in London but moved with her family at an early age to the relative isolation of a small village. Her first love was literature, but her interests gravitated toward music despite lack of encouragement from her family. Initially, she performed as a mezzo-soprano but, over time, refocused her energies toward vocal coaching and composing. Her compositional gifts were first recognized by Thomas Henry Weist Hill, principal of the Guildhall School of Music, who expressed regret that she had waited so late to begin serious musical study.  Nonetheless, she was a diligent and determined student while supporting herself by teaching. She published more than fifty songs and also composed orchestral and piano music, performed to acclaim in her time. Her setting of The Lord is my Light, dating from 1897, is probably her best-known composition.

More about Sunday’s cantor: As an artist, Joy Tamayo expresses herself as a performer, a writer, and an educator. She is a graduate of both the University of the Philippines and the Crane School of Music. Fates have determined that most of her life be within the orbit of whatever representative of the Stage, whether a barangay singing competition at the foot of an active volcano or a medieval church in Europe. Her New York art life has continued this penchant for the all-venues approach to performance. Highlights include the premiere of Chaitanya Sangco’s Subway Atmos (for soprano, cello, piano, chorus, and electronics) at Opera America; the Calf in Kento Iwasaki’s portable opera Beloved Prey at Flushing Town Hall; Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble; lead soprano for Pete Wyer’s opera Spring Street which premiered online at jeeni.com. For collaborative works, Joy Tamayo performed for Tino Seghal’s This You, a 2016 Public Art Fund’s exhibit called The Language of Things at City Hall Park; a recording with C4 Ensemble of Jonathan David's Blue Planet Blues/The Time Is Come, commissioned by Zsuzsanna Ardo for an art installation at Skopje, Northern Macedonia; and chorus for National Sawdust’s project with composer Sxip Shirey’s The Gauntlet at Rockefeller Center. As one half of the duo an outskirt, she is pursuing the stage with the most eyes on it. She wrote, danced, and performed the opera Mga Stasyon as part of the 2021 Exponential Festival. She was composer and vocalist for Tanika I. Williams’s film Sanctuary which was featured at the BAMcinemaFest 2021 Shorts Program. Joy was born and raised in the Philippines.  

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S

Sunday, October 1, Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Beginning of Program Year 2023–2024 & Return of the Choir of Saint Mary’s! 

Sunday, October 1, 5:00 PM, Evensong & Benediction

Sunday, October 8, 4:00 PM, Blessing of the Animals

Monday, October 9, Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day
Federal Holiday Schedule: Mass at 10:00 AM, No Daily Office

Wednesday, November 1, All Saints’ Day
Mass 12:10 PM, Organ Recital 5:30 PM, Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

Thursday, November 2, All Souls’ Day
Mass 12:10 PM, Sung Mass 6:00 PM

Sunday, November 5, Daylight Saving Time Ends

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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.

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.