FROM ZACHARY ROESEMANN: ABOUT HOLY ICONS

What is an icon?

“Icon” means “image” in Greek. It is the same Greek word used in Genesis 1 (humans are made “in the image [eikon] of God”) and in Colossians by Paul when he speaks of Jesus as being the “image [eikon] of the invisible God.”

“Icon” in the sense of a holy painting has many definitions, but one I like is “a sacred traditional Christian image used for prayer and worship.” This brings in elements essential to understanding the nature of icons—that they are worthy of veneration like other holy things in the church, such as the Cross or the Gospels; that they are deeply traditional, with roots going back to the origins of Christianity; and that they are made for only one purpose: to help guide people to God in prayer and worship.

Icons are also an especially powerful way to illustrate the Incarnation, and the Church has recognized this special role for holy images. Because God became human in Christ, we may paint His likeness to help us remember Him and His love for us. Similarly, icons can help us recall the great cloud of witnesses that surround and support us—indeed, they are vehicles for the presence of the figure depicted. To use the technical language, they actually “partake of the nature of the original,” of Christ, or Mary, or any other saint.

Where does their unusual style come from?

The style of icons dates back to portraits in ancient Egypt and Rome, but most of the basic elements you see in icons are from the Byzantine Empire (331-1453 AD), centered in Constantinople (today’s Istanbul in Turkey).

Icons are not meant to be realistic—they are not supposed to show an accurate portrait as a photograph does, or to present a naturalistic perspective in scenery or architecture. Rather, they are meant to show a “transfigured” person, the “essence” of that person. Similarly, the perspective is meant to symbolize how God views the world: above, below, inside, and outside all at once. Most important, though, the perspective makes the viewer part of the image: you as the viewer are the vanishing point, and the image expands infinitely upward and outward from that point. These differences from what we are accustomed to in Western art can put us off-balance. But that can be good, since it forces us to look at reality with fresh eyes and not take anything for granted.

I thought icons were used only by Eastern Orthodox Christians?

Icons are indeed most strongly associated with, and used by, Eastern Orthodox Christians. In the past few decades, though, non-Orthodox churches, and particularly the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions, have experienced a revival of interest in icons, recognizing them as part of the common heritage of the Church universal. Remember that the Church divided formally between west and east only in 1054 AD, and by then icons had been part of Christian prayer and worship for almost a thousand years.

How are icons different from other religious art?

The main difference is the purpose. All kinds of religious art can be devotional, but icons are traditionally liturgical art—they are to be used in and for worship. The Orthodox use them in regular public liturgies, Western Christians less so. But for all Christians, icons can be valuable vehicles for prayer. Icons are meeting places between God and us and meant to lead the person praying into a deeper relationship with Christ.

Parishioner Zachary Roesemann is a professional full-time iconographer. He works out of studio space in the Saint Mary’s Mission House. You can see Zachary’s work at www.sacredicons.net. Saint Mary’s has recently commissioned him to paint an icon to be placed in our Lady Chapel. We asked him to write about icons since they are unfamiliar to many of us. In this first article, he describes icons and their purpose. In a future issue of The Angelus, he will discuss praying with icons in more detail.

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for peace in the Middle East, in Ukraine, Russia, Mali, Iran, the Red Sea, and Myanmar. We pray for an end to violence and division in our neighborhood, city, and nation.

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 migrants and those seeking asylum, especially those sheltering in our neighborhood; 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 pray for those who are sick or in any special need, especially Willard, Virginia, Mina, Matthew, Celia, Rolf, Sharon, Victor, Murray, Jan, Frank, Charles, Maureen, Elizabeth, Ruth Ann, Barbara, Cindy, Tom, Avdi, Larry, Eleanor, Eugene, Quincy, Claudia, June, Joyce, Robert, Bruce, Christopher, Carlos, Shalim, Susan, José, Carmen, Brian, Antony, Manuel, Liduvina, Patricia, Eustacio, Apple, Janice, Gene, Sandtoyer, Abe, Suzanne, Bob, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and John Derek; Jamie, Jack, Eleanor Francis, and Thomas, religious; Lind, deacon; Rob, Debbi, Robby, Allan, and Stephen, priests; and Andrew and Michael, bishops.

We pray for the repose of the souls of those whose year’s mind is on Sunday, March 10—Clara Van Riper (1916); John Beach (1962); Marion Campbell, Jr. (1989); Virginia Greene (1994).

COMING UP AT SAINT MARY’S

Saint Joseph
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Mass 12:10 PM

The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
March 24, 2024
Procession to Times Square & Solemn Mass 11:00 AM

Maundy Thursday
March 28, 2024, 6:00 PM

Good Friday
March 29, 2024, 12:30 PM

Holy Saturday/Easter Eve
March 30, 2024
Holy Saturday Liturgy 9:00 AM
The Great Vigil of Easter 7:00 PM

Easter Day
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Said Mass with Hymns 9:00 AM
Procession and Solemn Mass 11:00 AM

The Second Sunday of Easter
April 7, 2024
Low Mass (Rite One) 9:00 AM
Solemn Mass 11:00 AM
Evensong & Benediction 5:00 PM

The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (transferred)
Monday, April 8, 2024
Organ Recital 5:30 PM
Solemn Mass 6:00 PM

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S

Daylight saving time begins this coming Sunday, March 10, at 2:00 AM, when clocks spring ahead one hour.

A Lenten “Pilgrimage” on March 17 . . . Saint Mary’s is pleased to offer a special formation offering this Lent that invites us to walk with Jesus over the course of the last few days of his earthly life. Manuel Abu Ali is a Christian tour guide living in Jerusalem—he guided the pilgrimage Father Sammy and Renee led to the Holy Land in 2023. Manuel grew up in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem and has lived his whole life in the Holy City. He has a B.A. in Theology and the History of the Holy Land. He describes his job as “bringing the Bible alive to pilgrims, leading them to walk where Jesus walked in the Holy Land, the ‘Fifth Gospel.’”

Join us after Coffee Hour on Sunday March 17 at 1:30 PM in Saint Joseph's Hall for a live Zoom presentation from Jerusalem. Beginning with the Raising of Lazarus, which led to the plot to kill Jesus (John 11.53), Manuel will use photographs and insightful commentary to guide us as we visit sites of the events from Palm Sunday to the Last Supper, from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Via Dolorosa, culminating in the empty tomb of Easter. This event is free, but donations for Manuel are appreciated. For more information, contact Father Wood (swood@stmvnyc.org). To join remotely via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 850 9295 9799; Passcode: 698757).

We are grateful to all those who pitched in and helped clean the Atrium last Sunday. Thank you, Renee Wood, for organizing the workday and for spearheading the revival of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Sunday Morning Adult Formation Online . . . Blair Burroughs, who can often be found livestreaming Solemn Mass, has volunteered to webcast Father Peter Powell’s Lenten series on Isaiah 1-12 at 9:45 AM on Sundays. The class meets in Saint Joseph’s Hall, though if you can’t make it to the parish, click here to join the March 10 class live via Zoom. Recordings are also available to watch from the classes on February 25 and March 3.

Our regular daily liturgical schedule: Monday through Friday, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM, Mass 12:10 PM, and Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM. On Wednesdays, Holy Hour is also offered at 11:00 AM and an additional Mass is said at 6:00 PM. 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 normally celebrated at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. On Sundays, a Low 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 next be offered on April 7 and May 5. May 5 will be the last offering of E&B until October.

Friday, March 8, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM, Stations of the Cross 6:00 PM, Centering Prayer 6:30 PM

Saturday Confessions at 11:00 AM . . . The priest-on-duty can be found in one of the confessionals at the back of the church, near the 46th Street entrance, at 11:00 AM on Saturdays to hear confessions. Once nobody is left waiting, if it is after 11:15 AM, the priest will return to his office. If you arrive later, the sexton will be able to call him if it is not too close to the midday Mass.

Sunday, March 10, The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Mass (Rite One) in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM, Adult Formation 9:45–10:40 AM, Confirmation Class 9:45–10:30 AM, Solemn Mass (Rite Two) 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM

Wednesday, March 13, Weekday in Lent, Morning Prayer 8:00 AM; Holy Hour 11:00 AM; Mass 12:10 PM; Bible Study 12:45; Evening Prayer 5:30 PM; Mass 6:00 PM. Mass is followed by the adult-formation class—Wednesday Nights in Lent: “Introduction to a Rule of Life.” On Wednesdays in Lent join Father Sammy and others, including our own Brother Thomas Steffensen, as we examine the concept of a Rule of Life as a “trellis” to help us grow toward our God-ordained purpose. The class meets on four consecutive Wednesdays (February 28 and March 6, 13, and 20) from 6:30–7:30 PM in Saint Benedict’s Study right after Evening Prayer at 5:30 PM and the 6:00 PM Mass. All are welcome!

Friday, March 15, Neighbors in Need, 1:30–3:00 PM. Volunteers arrive by 12:45 PM. For more information about volunteering, contact MaryJane Boland. Also on Friday, Evening Prayer 5:30 PM, Stations of the Cross 6:00 PM, Centering Prayer 6:30 PM.

Saturday, March 16, Monthly Requiem Mass 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel. Those coming to the parish from the East side, should note the following about the Saint Patrick’s Day parade:

March 16 is also the day of the Saint Patrick’s Day parade and we’ve received the following details from the NYPD. Beginning at 9:00 AM, 44-48th Streets will be closed to traffic between 6th and Park Avenues.  At 9:45 AM, 44-59th Streets will be closed between 6th and Madison Avenues. Pedestrian crossings will be available at 50th, 51st, 54th, 57th and 59th. The parade begins at 11:00 AM and should be done by 4:00 PM.

Sunday, March 17, The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Mass (Rite One) in the Lady Chapel at 9:00 AM, Adult Formation 9:45–10:40 AM, Confirmation Class 9:45–10:30 AM, Solemn Mass (Rite Two) 11:00 AM, Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. Sister Monica Clare Powell, CSJB, will be our guest preacher at the Solemn Mass.

NEWS & NOTICES

The Observance of a Holy Lent . . . As you think about the shape of your Lenten practices this year, we hope that you will consider the following:

The Saint Mary’s Shape of Lent Booklet . . . The electronic version of this year’s guide to Lent at Saint Mary’s can be downloaded here. Hardcopies are also available at the usher’s table. The booklet contains suggested prayers, readings, and devotions for the parish community during Lent. This is Week 4, March 10–16. The psalm of the week is Psalm 42. The readings for the week are: Monday: Numbers 20.2-13; Tuesday: Psalm 107.1-9; Wednesday: Isaiah 55.1-11; Thursday: John 4.1-26; Friday: Matthew 5.1-16; Saturday: Revelation 7.13-17. Abstinence: Alcohol or Coffee. Reading: Fifth Word—“I thirst.” (John 19.28). The things we hunger and thirst for can become idols, things we desire even more than God. But our souls were made to thirst for God “like the deer pants for streams of water” (Ps. 42.1) Pray that God will reorder our desires, so we thirst most deeply for the “living water” only Jesus gives.

Wednesdays at 12:45: Brown Bag Bible Study. The class meets on Wednesdays, at 12:45 PM, in Saint Benedict’s Study. We have been reading the Gospel of Mark in this class, and during Lent we have jumped ahead to the Passion Narrative in Mark (14:1–16:8). This is the gospel text appointed to be chanted at Mass on Palm Sunday. It is the text that begins our Holy Week journey. The class, which did not meet last week, resumes on March 13.

The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group meets in the Atrium on most Fridays at 6:00 PM, following Evening Prayer. During Lent, they meet on Fridays at 6:30 PM, following Stations of the Cross. Click here or speak to Blair Burroughs for more information about this beautiful and distinctive form of prayer.

Preparing for Holy Week . . . Please see the following from MaryJane Boland about upcoming dates to save for helping with Holy Week preparation. All are welcome and we would love your help.

Saturday, March 16, morning starting at 10:00 AM. We will be veiling the church and polishing many, many things.

Saturday, March 23, after the 10:00 AM rehearsal required for servers the next day, Palm Sunday. For those not serving, let's say 11:00 AM. We will be stripping palms, bringing things up from the basement, polishing many things and an array of other tasks. Big work day!

Holy Week, March 24–30.  This is when the flower people go into high gear. Whether you are skilled at arranging flowers or a broom pusher like me, we can use your help!

Thanks to everyone who will help Saint Mary's!—MaryJane Boland

A MESSAGE FROM THE BISHOP OF NEW YORK

The most important thing we do is to care for each other because it reflects God’s unconditional love.

[There have been Mission Review meetings for clergy and laity around the diocese in recent weeks.] We’ve launched our mission review to help us listen to where the Spirit has called us, share our stories, and set long-term priorities together. The faith landscape in which we’re doing church together has changed from even a couple of years ago.  It can be exhausting for wardens, vestry, and parish clergy.

We can’t be sheltered from these changes. We can care for each other and help gain the grounding and tools we need to navigate.

I believe so deeply in our possibilities for renewal. The mission review will help us to create a map that fits the changed terrain. That’s long-term work together. We want to offer support immediately. The offering from the February 10 installation service (totaling $12,000) will contribute towards vocational development for deacons & priests. This initiative continues an expanding commitment to clergy care. The consecration offering last spring funded thirty-two deacons and priests to go on retreat. We’re also preparing to deploy discretionary funds for additional pastoral support for lay and clergy leaders. We’ll announce after Easter. — The Right Reverend Matthew Heyd, Bishop of New York

OTHER NEWS . . .

We are again collecting non-perishable food items for those in need in our neighborhood, who have access to kitchen facilities. We are looking for canned soups, canned vegetables, tuna fish, and stews, in addition to breakfast cereals, pasta, bottled sauces, peanut butter, jams and jellies, and bottled condiments. Please place these items in the basket at the ushers’ table or take them in a bag to the parish kitchen. Please label the bag “donation” and tell us who the donor is. And we thank you!

Confirmation Preparation for Young People 13–18 . . . Father Sammy is leading a confirmation class for young people on Sundays. The class will meet on Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM in Saint Benedict’s Study, January 14 to May 5. The class will not meet on Palm Sunday (March 24) or Easter Day (March 31). If you are interested in the class, please speak to Father Sammy.

Donating Flowers for Altar and Shrines . . . We are looking for donations for flowers for the many Sundays in Eastertide. In order to make a donation and reserve a date, please contact the parish office. In addition, we always welcome donations to support the ministry of the Flower Guild during Holy Week and at Easter.

Neighbors in Need . . . The March Drop-by will take place on Friday, March 15, 1:30–3:00 PM. Warm-weather clothing is a particular need at the moment. In addition, we have been providing food support to a number of folks in our neighborhood in recent months, including many recent immigrants. We do this through a voucher system. We welcome financial donations so that we may continue this work. You may donate online or with a check—when making the donation please be sure to indicate that your gift is for “Neighbors in Need.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT: MARCH 10, 2024, 11:00 AM

Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707), in the generation before Johann Sebastian Bach, produced an important and impressive catalogue of chorale-based organ pieces which included two distinctive settings of Von Gott will ich nicht lassen. The chorale text, the first phrase of which is interpreted as “I shall not abandon God, for he does not abandon me,” is attributed to Ludwig Helmbold and dated 1563. Buxtehude’s two settings of this chorale are played for the prelude today. BuxWV 220 is a simple and reflective presentation of the chorale melody. On the other hand, BuxWV 221, while compact, has the texture of a fantasia with the chorale melody sometimes clearly sounded out in one of the voices and at other times simply embedded in the counterpoint. The postlude on Sunday is a setting of the same chorale by J. S. Bach. Von Gott will ich nicht lassen, BWV 658, is one of Bach’s eighteen Leipzig Chorales. These “Great Eighteen” were collected and published in the final decade of Bach’s life and represent the summit of chorale-based baroque organ composition. In this case, the chorale melody, from an anonymous 1557 source, is set to be played on the organ pedals in the alto register surrounded by a gentle three-voice lace of manual accompaniment. The ending of this chorale prelude is notably prolonged, and with an additional voice added, as if to tone-paint a steadfast desire to remain and not to leave.

On most occasions, the musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass at Saint Mary’s is the work of a single composer or is derived from a single source. On the Fourth Sunday in Lent, however, the setting is a composite from three different sources.

The Kyrie is from the Missa Brevis of Dieterich Buxtehude. Buxtehude’s fame as organist of the Marienkirche in Lübeck was amplified by his presentation of the pre-Christmas Abendmusiken. He is known to have composed substantial works for voices and instruments, unfortunately now lost, for those legendary annual public concerts at the Marienkirche. Buxtehude’s Missa Brevis, BuxWV 114, is described as in stile antico because, rather than reflecting the emerging musical styles of seventeenth-century Germany, it is fashioned after the imitative vocal polyphony of the Italian high renaissance. The vocal writing is in five voices with two soprano parts. Although it would be appropriate for instruments to double the vocal parts and provide continuo, Buxtehude’s Missa Brevis also can be rendered very effectively by voices alone.

In keeping with the norm for a seventeenth-century Lutheran Mass, Buxtehude composed only Kyrie and Gloria for his Missa Brevis. The Sanctus on Sunday morning, therefore, will be from J. S. Bach’s collected chorales which include a harmonization titled Heilig in one place and Sanctus in another. This setting bears the classification BWV 325 but lacks definitive and complete text underlay for either the implied Latin or the German texts. At the Solemn Mass on Sunday, the choir will sing an adaptation of Bach’s BWV 325 to support the traditional Latin Sanctus et Benedictus texts.

The Agnus Dei setting on Sunday morning is from an English source, Thomas Morley’s 1597 treatise A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music, where it was meant to stand as an example of his principles of composition. Morley’s Agnus Dei appears in the treatise as a motet, rather than as a setting for the Mass, due to its slightly variant text. For our purposes today, Morley’s liturgically irregular text has been conformed to the traditional liturgical Latin words.

The motet sung during the administration of Communion on Sunday is O nata lux by Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585). Tallis was one of the most foundational composers of English church music. His long life and musical career included service under four English monarchs—Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I—with all the shifts in the church’s liturgical and institutional life which these different reigns occasioned. Along with William Byrd (c. 1505–1585), Tallis enjoyed an exclusive license to print and publish music which was granted by Elizabeth I in 1575. He was one of the first musicians to compose for the new Anglican rites of the mid-sixteenth century. The preferred style of the time tended toward less florid liturgical music which favored clear text declamation. Tallis’s motet O nata lux models this restraint and clarity. — David Hurd

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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.