FROM FATHER WOOD: THE GOTHIC DANCE

On Sunday last, we celebrated the Feast of Christ the King. It was a wonderful day of worship at Saint Mary’s, one of the most resplendent I can remember during my time here. I often get lost in our prayer in this place, especially on days like that, swept up and a bit overwhelmed by the music, the smoke, the pageantry, and especially the realization that we are all, as a parish family, pouring out our hearts to the “Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in [his] well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”[1] When God is the king we are worshiping, he is worthy of all the pomp and circumstance we’re capable of.

Whether you’ve noticed or not, we have been involved in something I’ve been calling “the Liturgy Project” for several months now. Phase One of that project began on the Feast of Corpus Christi, when we instituted the practice of honoring Jesus’ words of institution in the Eucharistic Prayer with elevations, genuflections, incense swings, and bells. As I wrote in The Angelus back in May, the Mass is:

. . . the “still point of the turning world.” Whatever language we use, the Mass is the most important thing we do at Saint Mary’s because it is the most perfect act of worship of which we are capable. And that is precisely why we put everything we have into worshiping God with abandon and all the excellence we can muster.

We Anglo-Catholics insist upon the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist—we are convinced that Christ is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament in which we are invited to behold and taste the sweetness of God. This conviction prompted former Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey to describe the act of consecrating bread and wine during the Eucharist as “one of the most stupendous things that ever happens in the physical world.” We mark those moments with especial reverence and cloud them in solemn beauty because they herald the mystery of God’s continuing Incarnation. To use Sir John Betjeman’s words:

No love that in a family dwells,
No caroling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this simple Truth compare —
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
— “Christmas” from A Few Late Chrysanthemums (1954)

At the tolling of the tower bell, God descends on West 46th Street. The king has arrived; let the pomp commence!

Phase Two happened in the early fall, around the beginning of our program year, and was likely unnoticed by most of our family at Saint Mary’s. This was the “Sacristy Stage,” primarily changes to how the altar party prepares for worship (particular prayers we pray together in the sacristy in the moments immediately before Mass) and how the party enters the worship space (forming up at the foot of the altar to genuflect as a group rather than as individuals).

The last phase, which we’ve been straining toward these many months, finally arrives this coming Sunday as we enter Advent and begin a new church year. This is the “Gothic Dance” phase, and I suspect it will be the most visible of the phases of change. The first change is just a minor one—a slightly different tone for the opening acclamation on regular Sundays. But the more visible changes are spaced throughout the remainder of the Mass, and to experience them helps appreciate them. Come on Sunday and notice the choreography of the three “sacred ministers”—the Celebrant who prays the Prayer of Consecration, the Deacon who chants the Gospel, the Subdeacon (this used to be a separate order but is now a particular liturgical function) who reads the Epistle. Our beloved church building was designed specifically for a liturgy like this, and it cries out for movement and depth. The addition of a subdeacon also places a layperson alongside the clergy at the altar for the most sacred moments of the Mass. These changes accompany experiments with the placement of hymns, moving announcements to the bulletin, and even different vestments.

A couple things to note: First, expect those of us at the front to make mistakes. This is new to almost everyone involved, and it takes some time to get used to new steps. Renee, my wife, is famous in our family for her favorite “change is hard” metaphor: “You have to tear up the old kitchen before you get to enjoy the new one.” So be mindful that there’s some construction work ahead, and try to show grace to everyone as we acclimate. And the second thing to note: I’d love to hear from you! What will your experience of our worship be? Pay special attention to our worship in Advent, and let’s reflect on it together in the new year. You are always so kind to read my words in these pages, so please know I’m just as interested in hearing from you, as well.

One last point. Why make these particular changes at this particular time? As I explained to the servers when we first started rehearsing back in August, our motive is beauty. There’s a famous story that Grand Prince Vladimir (Volodymyr) of Kyiv (d. 1015) sent emissaries to tour the world in search of the True Faith. When they returned, they reported: 

We went to Greece [Constantinople], and the Greeks (including the Emperor himself) led us to the edifices where they worship their God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth there is no such splendor or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We only know that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations. For we cannot forget that beauty.

At Saint Mary’s, our call to be a vibrant Anglo-Catholic witness in the heart of New York City commits us to the worship of God in the beauty of holiness. And having glimpsed a vision of God in that worship, having tasted of his Body and Blood, the implications of the Incarnation fuel our mission and our preference for the poor. We are a community that loves God and each other, to be sure, but we do so for the sake of others, for the life of the world around us. That is central to our identity at Saint Mary’s, and it is our motivation in these liturgical changes and in all things.

In the coming days, I hope you will be nourished and moved by the worship at Saint Mary’s as never before. Please pray for our growing parish family. Pray for your clergy and lay-leaders as we do our very best to follow God’s heart for Saint Mary’s. And pray that God will continue to draw the world to our doors, and when they return home, that they will report “we cannot forget that beauty.”

For God and Saint Mary’s,
Sammy+

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for an end to war, division, violence, and injustice, especially in the Middle East, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, and Darfur.

We pray for the people and clergy of our sister parish, the Church of All Saints, Margaret Street, London, UK.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Molly, Gary, Jane, Renee, Ruth Ann, Michele, Vicki, Georgia, Janet, Zoë, Desarae, David, Ana, Maria, Brett, Barbara, Cedric, Elena, Jacques, Claudia, Suzanne, Stephanie, Amelia, Kenneth, Rolf, Adair, Susanna, Dorian, James, Margaret, Leroy, Steve, Josh, Maddie, Tony, Hattie, Paul, Nettie, Maureen, Chrissy, Tessa, Robert, Duncan, Justin, Audy, Jan, Pat, Marjorie, Sharon, Quincy, June, Barbara, Carlos, José, J.C., Gene, Hardy, Gypsy, Bob, and Liduvina; Laura Katharine, Keith, James, Jim, Barbara-Jean and Eleanor-Francis, religious; and Jay, Jean, Julie, Robby, and Stephen, priests.

For Gary, Keenen, Dafne, Andrew, Tilly, and Dax, who are to be baptized, and for Joachim, who is to be received into the Episcopal Church.

We pray also for the repose of the souls of all those who died this week in places of violence, warfare, and natural disaster; and we pray for the repose of the souls of those whose year’s mind falls on December 1: Anna Julia, Alice, Frances, Caroline, Calvin, George, and Margaret.

On this Worlds AIDS Day, December 1, we pray for all those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses, keeping in our prayers in a special way our departed friends and fellow parishioners.

WE ARE GRATEFUL

We are grateful to Father Sammy and the members of the Board of Trustees who decided that it was important to remain committed to the regular training of parishioners and staff members in the use of our automated external defibrillator and in the skills needed to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A group of parishioners did the training last Sunday afternoon in Saint Joseph’s Hall and we are grateful to all of them for spending several long hours to learn the relevant skills and to earn their certificates. Thank you for your commitment, one and all, and especially to those who trained on Sunday: Ruth Ann Berkowitz, Father Matt Jacobson, Rick Miranda, Grace Mudd, Luis Reyes, Mary Robison, Marie Rosseels, and Dorothy Rowan.

UPCOMING AT SAINT MARY’S

PLEASE JOIN US ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 1,
AT 4:00 PM FOR EVENSONG & BENEDICTION.

What is Evensong & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament? Come on Sunday and find out!
Click here to learn more about E&B and watch a video of a prior service.
E&B is offered on the first Sunday of the month during the program year.

Sunday, December 1
The First Sunday of Advent
Mass 9:00 AM
Adult Formation 9:45 AM
Litany and Solemn Mass 11:00 AM
Evensong & Benediction 4:00 PM

Advent Wreath Making at Coffee Hour

Join us on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1, at Coffee Hour after the 11:00 AM Mass to make an advent wreath for your home. All supplies will be provided. The suggested donation to cover the cost of materials is $30 per wreath.

Saturday, December 7
Volunteer Opportunity at 12:45 PM
Sending Cards to Homebound Parishioners and to Incarcerated People in Need of Christmas Greetings
See details below in News & Notes

Monday, December 9
The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (tr.)
Morning Prayer 8:00 AM
Sung Mass 12:10 PM
Organ Recital 5:30 PM
Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

Saturday, December 14
Monthly Requiem Mass 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel

Saturday, December 14
Advent Quiet Day 9:00 AM–3:00 PM

Christmas Eve, December 24
Christmas Lessons & Carols, 4:00 PM
Music for Choir and Congregation, 9:30 PM
Procession and Solemn Mass, 10:00 PM

Christmas Day, December 25
Solemn Mass and Procession to the Crèche, 11:00 AM

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2025

Stewardship packets went out in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We hope that you’ve given some thought and said a prayer or two in order to decide how you plan to support Saint Mary’s during 2025. In your packet was a pledge card (there is also an online version available). If you have not yet returned that card, we hope that you will do so before the end of the year. The Budget Committee will be meeting soon, and it is helpful for them to know how the Stewardship Campaign is doing. Even if you have pledged and donated regularly in the past, a new pledge card is essential for the Budget Committee to know that they can count on you in 2025!

During the next few weeks, we’ll hear from members of the Stewardship Committee, telling their stories and why they make a pledge each year to Saint Mary’s. Our second offering comes from parishioner Marie Rosseels:

One of my volunteer activities at Saint Mary’s involves the care of liturgical vestments, which includes the storage of historical vestments. The latter, especially, is a labor of love, for which we have unfortunately very few resources. The oldest vestments, which are part of our heritage, have exquisite detail but are too fragile or damaged to be worn as they are. Our storage resources are primitive compared to professional standards. It would be so tempting to make an appeal for funding, but what would be the sense, if we cannot first safeguard the very existence of Saint Mary’s? We must become financially secure to continue our mission. That is why I raise my pledge year-over-year, not just to help cover increased expenses but also to lay a foundation for future generations. Please join me in this effort!

SOME STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN STATISTICS

Where we began at the start of the Campaign:

111 households pledged for 2024. All those households were asked to pledge again. In addition, we wrote to an additional 749 households asking them to pledge, for a total of 860 potential pledgers.

In 2024, $426,350 was pledged (please remember to fulfill your 2024 pledge!). For 2025 we hope to receive pledges amounting to $450,000.

Where we are as of Wednesday, November 27, 2024

We have received 54 pledges, for a total of $304,115. Fifty of those pledgers also pledged for 2024, and 4 people pledged in response to our pledge letter. This means that 45.0% of those who made pledges for 2024 have already pledged for 2025; and we have achieved 67.6% of our $450,000 goal. Please pray that we may achieve—and exceed—that goal!

ADULT FORMATION

Come join us for class on Sunday, December 1 (yes, we’re meeting on the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day), 9:45–10:40 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall, as Father Peter Powell continues his series of classes on The Passion and Resurrection Narratives in the Gospels. This series continues every Sunday through and including December 15. Father Pete says his plan for this coming Sunday, December 1, is to talk about the stories about the events of Palm Sunday as they are told in the four canonical gospels. Please come and join us. No prior experience or knowledge is assumed.

NEWS & NOTES

The EDNY Young Adult Network will be hosting their annual Saint Nick’s Celebration at Saint Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery on Saturday, December 7th at 7:00 PM! The Young Saint Marian’s Group plans to attend this fun, festive gathering for young Episcopalians and invites you to join us. Please email Katherine to RSVP!

Come join us for some loneliness prevention in Advent . . . “I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” You are invited to join some of your fellow Saint Marians on Saturday, December 7, at 12:45 PM, following the noonday Mass, for some communal Christmas “scribing.” The plan is to send messages of hope to 50 people who are incarcerated—all of whom have asked for a card or note during the Christmas season. The event is being organized and led by parishioner Jennifer Stevens, who will bring bagels and materials for the mailing. This gathering is also an opportunity for us to write Christmas cards to some of our fellow parishioners who are homebound or unable to visit us in person. Who knows, maybe we will even be inspired to fold some origami to include for our parishioners? Let’s see what God has in store for us. If you cannot join us on December 7, please pray for our endeavor. You can also help by making donations of cards or stamps. Please contact Jennifer if you plan to come.

We invite you to help us prepare the church for Christmas . . . Volunteers are needed to ready the church for upcoming holy days! We will start with an afternoon of polishing and cleaning after Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 8, in anticipation of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary observed this year on December 9. Work will pick back up again on December 18, continuing daily through December 24. There is a particular need for people of any skill level (no flower arranging happening) to help unpack deliveries on Wednesday, December 18, from morning through afternoon, and on Friday, December 20, in the morning. Additional preparations will take place after Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 22, including a brief origami workshop to make peace cranes and hanging greens in the church! Anyone interested in arranging the crèche, creating flower arrangements, preparing vestments, candles, and the like, or even carrying buckets and pushing a broom is most welcome during the week of December 18-24. Please contact Grace Mudd if you are able to help or have any questions.

Monday, December 9, The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (tr.) . . . Morning Prayer at 8:00 AM; Mass 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel; Organ Recital 5:30 PM; Solemn Mass 6:00 PM. A reception follows the Solemn Mass in Saint Joseph’s Hall. The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is our Patronal Feast Day!

The Organ Recitalist at 5:30 PM on the Feast of the Conception, December 9: Dr. Jordan Prescott . . . Jordan has been hailed as an “organ star” (The Baltimore Sun) whose playing “encompass[es] the church in a wild wind” (The Washington Post), Dr. Prescott has distinguished himself as an organist, conductor, and scholar with a sensitive, versatile, and striking artistry. A highly-sought-after performer, Jordan enjoys an active recital career in such esteemed venues as the Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston), Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue (New York City), the Cathedral of Saint Philip (Atlanta), Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), and the West Point Military Academy Cadet Chapel. He is also regularly featured at regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. Dr. Prescott is organist-choirmaster at Grace and Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore and a member of the music theory faculty at the Peabody Institute from which he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts. His research is regularly published in The American Organist and The Tracker magazines, and, in 2019, he was named one of Diapason magazine’s “20 Under 30” most influential young artists. Jordan has studied in the United States with John Walker, Andrew Scanlon, and Christopher Jacobson and in Paris with Marie-Louise Langlais. Jordan Prescott is represented in North America by Seven Eight Artists. His Saint Mary’s program will include works of Charles Tournemire, Marcel Dupré, Jehan Alain, Jeanne Demessieux, and Kerensa Briggs.

Our Guest Preacher at the Solemn Mass on December 9: Father Steve Rice . . . Father Rice is the rector of Saint Timothy’s Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He studied psychology at Erskine College, where he received his B.A. in 2000. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2004 and the Doctor of Ministry degree from Nashotah House in 2015. He is studying now in a master’s program in theology, mission, and ministry at Saint Stephen’s House, Oxford. Father Rice was ordained deacon and then priest in 2005. He has been the rector of Saint Timothy’s since 2008. He is from Greenwood, South Carolina, and is married with three children.

“Waiting for God Who Waits for Us,” An Advent Quiet Day, led by Father Sammy Wood . . . The Church inhabits time differently from the world around us—or at least we should. And that is never more apparent than in the season of Advent. While Times Square and Fifth Avenue are bustling their way toward Christmas, we are invited to wait for the God who graciously waits for us. Join us at Saint Mary’s for our annual Advent Quiet Day on Saturday, December 14, from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Doors open at 9:00 AM—coffee and tea available. We will begin the day praying Morning Prayer together, then sit for three short reflections led by Father Wood before heading into long periods of reflection and silence. There will be two reflections in the morning, followed by Mass and then lunch. Father Wood will deliver his third and final reflection at around 1:30 PM and the day will conclude with prayer at around 3:00 PM.

Throughout the day we will draw on the writings of people like Paula Gooder—The Spirit of Advent: The Meaning is in the Waiting (Paraclete 2008); James K. A. Smith—How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now (Brazos 2022); and Fleming Rutledge—Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans: 2018). Lunch will be provided, so please RSVP to Father Wood by December 11 so we can have ample food for all of us.

Mark Your Calendar: Parish Retreat . . . If you’re unable to join us for the Advent Quiet Day on December 14—and even if you are—we hope that you will be able to join us on Saturday, January 11, for a Parish Retreat. The theme of the retreat is “The Benedictine Promise”—Benedictine Spirituality and Practice. The retreat, which will take place here at Saint Mary’s, will be co-hosted with our friends from uptown at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Inwood, and will be led by Sister Michelle Heyne of the Order of the Ascension. For more information, please speak to Father Wood.

Preparing for baptism . . . We expect to have several candidates for Father Smith to baptize on January 12, his last Mass before retirement, and Father Sammy Wood is coordinating their preparation. If you are interested in receiving the sacrament of baptism, or having your child baptized, please contact Father Wood.

Coming Soon: 2025 Saint Mary's Calendars . . . The 2025 calendars will be available in the next week or two for a donation to the Flower and Altar Guilds both in-person and on our website. Any questions, please contact Brendon Hunter. 

OUTREACH AT SAINT MARY’S

Neighbors in Need . . . If you would like to volunteer or make a cash donation, please speak to MaryJane Boland. We are also eager to receive donations of new or lightly used sneakers and shoes, in all sizes, for both men and women. The November Drop-by was held on Friday, November 15, when we served 52 people.

This month’s Drop-by will take place on the SECOND Friday of the month, not the third: December 13, not December 20.

We have an urgent need for donations of COATS in all sizes for both men and women. The temperatures are dropping, and we anticipate that there will be a great demand for coats at this month’s Drop-by. Please look in your closets and see if there are some things you are willing to part with. And we thank you for your generosity!

We are looking for a few more good volunteers, who feel called and inspired to give this work a try. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Father Jay about our work and how you might help.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY DECEMBER 1, 2024, THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Sunday’s organ voluntaries are two of the three settings of Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (“Come now, Savior of the Gentiles”) from the Great Eighteen Leipzig Chorales of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The chorale (#54 in The Hymnal 1982) is Martin Luther’s sixteenth-century adaptation of the fourth-century Latin hymn Veni Redemptor gentium attributed to Ambrose of Milan (#55 in The Hymnal 1982). BWV 659, played for the prelude, presents a poignant ornamented version of the chorale melody above a walking bass and two accompanying voices. BWV 660, played for the postlude, is an animated trio featuring an ornamented version of the chorale melody above two quasi-canonic accompanying voices played by the left hand and on the pedals. 

The musical setting of the Mass is based upon the musical settings by John Merbecke (c. 1510–1585) which debuted in The Booke of Common Praier Noted, 1550. Merbecke was a lay-clerk and organist of Saint George’s Windsor in 1541 and, soon thereafter, narrowly escaped mortal peril after being accused of heresy. He is known to have composed little else, but his monophonic settings of the ordinary of the Mass from 1550 were the first known settings of the liturgy in English. In the early twentieth century, their syllabic simplicity endeared them to congregations as they have appeared in the Episcopal hymnals of 1916 and 1940, albeit in a somewhat rhythmically flattened form. The Hymnal 1982 has restored the original rhythms of Merbecke’s chant-derived melodies and has provided an optional newly composed keyboard accompaniment. While Merbecke’s settings originally would have been sung unaccompanied by the clerks, and not by congregations, it is also conceivable that harmony may have occurred, although there is no historic record of this. The form of Merbecke’s Communion chants sung as Sunday’s Mass setting is a speculative four-voice “choralization” by David Hurd of Merbecke’s melodies, composed in the style of his time.

The motet O Heavens, Open from Above, sung during the administration of Communion, was composed in 2004 by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s. It was composed in recognition of the twentieth anniversary of the Reverend William Greenlaw as rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles, Chelsea, New York City. The text is by Genevieve Glen, OSB, of the Abbey of Saint Walburga in Virginia Dale, Colorado. Sister Genevieve is a prolific essayist, poet and hymn author of our time. Her Advent-themed poem, sung on Sunday, takes its inspiration from Isaiah 45:8. The musical setting suggests an urgency of hopefulness.

BIDDING FATHER JAY SMITH FAREWELL

Father Jay Smith will be retiring in early 2025. His last Mass at Saint Mary’s will be on January 12, 2025, the Baptism of Our Lord. Father Smith will be the celebrant and preacher at both Masses that day. We are planning a festive reception following Solemn Mass to celebrate his retirement, at which time we will also present him with gifts from the parish. We will be installing an icon, written by parishioner and iconographer-in-residence Zach Roesemann, in the Lady Chapel dedicated to Father’s long service. We will give him and José a memory box with a collection of letters, pictures, and anecdotes from their long service at Saint Mary’s—lighthearted, serious, funny, whatever is right for you. And, as is traditional for the retirement of a priest, we will send him off with a “purse,” a financial commitment to their new life. How can you help? Contributions for the memory box can be given by December 22 to MaryJane Boland or Grace Mudd (or sent to them online) and questions can go to them too. Contributions for the cost of the icon and for the purse can be made by check or via online donation with a note on the memo line. — Grace Mudd and MaryJane Boland 

THE COMMUNITY AT THE CROSSING AT THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE

Applications are open for the 2025-2026 cohort!

“The Community at the Crossing is an ecumenical program for spiritual formation in the heart of New York City. Our vision is to equip each member to serve Christ in their chosen path by providing the space and formation necessary to establish rhythms of life and to discern God’s call. Members spend a year in prayer and discernment, service and mission, biblical and theological formation, and intentional community, choosing as their sisters and brothers people who are radically different from themselves.”

Membership is open to any Christian between 21-33 years old, from all church backgrounds, and anywhere in the US.

Their events are open to anybody of any age! Join Community members to pray and learn, or engage with them out and about. Stay tuned for some new ways people of all ages can become more deeply involved in the community.

If you know someone who might be appropriate for the program, encourage them to learn more about the Community and discern if they might be called by God to join. Please speak with Father Matt, who serves on the advisory board, if you have any questions.

ANGLICAN HERITAGE PILGRIMAGE: JUNE 9–20, 2025

Father Sammy Wood will be leading a pilgrimage to England in June 2025! For Episcopalians in the Anglican tradition, England holds a place of distinct significance. The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin’s Anglican Heritage Pilgrimage will trace Christianity’s early days in Great Britain, medieval England, and the Reformation as we experience the treasures of our Anglican tradition. Skilled guides will lead our small group through the sacred places that bore witness to Christian saints, Protestant martyrs, and significant events in Anglican church history. Click here for additional details and please speak with Father Sammy if you have any questions.

The deadline for deposits has been extended to January 3! We hope that you will be able to join us!

CONCERTS AT SAINT MARY’S

The New York Repertory Orchestra
Saturday, December 7, 2024, 8:00 PM
J.S. Bach/Webern: Ricercar a 6
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

Admission is free. A $15.00 donation is gratefully received.

The Young New Yorkers Chorus
YNYC Mixed & Treble Ensembles present Holiday Modulations
Friday, December 13, 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 14, 8:00 PM

Witness the combined excellence of both YNYC Ensembles as they sing a program full of wintry, solemn, powerful repertoire about the holidays. Works by Joanna Marsh, Dale Trumbore, Saunder Choi, Zanaida Robles, B.E. Boykin, Joel Thompson, Eric William Barnum, and more! Please note that only Saturday night's performance will be livestreamed. Livestream ticket buyers will receive a link to the livestream via email on the day of the performance. Buy tickets here.

AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street

Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
November 22, 2022–January 8, 2023

The Met continues a longstanding holiday tradition with the presentation of its Christmas tree. The magnificently lit, twenty-foot blue spruce looms over a vivid eighteenth-century Neapolitan Nativity scene, surrounded by an abundant array of lifelike figures with silk-robed angels hovering above. The scene describes in detail the Mediterranean harbor town's multicultural population.

The installation is set in front of the eighteenth-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid in the Museum’s Medieval Sculpture Hall.

Please note: There are no tree-lighting ceremonies scheduled this year.

AT THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Central Park West & 77th Street

Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest
November 22, 2024 - July 13, 2025

Experience crucial moments in the history of LGBTQ+ civil rights captured by famed Village Voice photographer Fred McDarrah in the latter half of the 20th century.

Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest depicts moments in the history of LGBTQ+ civil rights captured by famed Village Voice photographer Fred McDarrah in the latter half of the twentieth century. Featuring more than sixty black-and-white photographs, the images offer unique insights into the triumphs and struggles of LGBTQ+ history, including the Mattachine Society “Sip-In” at Julius’ Bar on 10th Street in 1966, [led by Saint Mary’s parishioner, the late Dick Leitsch], the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, and the annual Pride marches that followed.

McDarrah often captured moments that other photographers didn’t; he was one of the few photographers to capture the Stonewall Uprising. In later years, he followed AIDS marches and ACT UP protests at City Hall and photographed the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Other photos on view capture the vibrancy and culture of Greenwich Village during the latter half of the twentieth century and feature personalities such as James Baldwin, Andy Warhol, Marsha P. Johnson, Susan Sontag, Cecil Beaton, Candy Darling, Tennessee Williams, and Larry Kramer.

We need your help to keep holding our services. 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.

[1] From the Collect for Christ the King, Book of Common Prayer: 185.