FROM FATHER SMITH: LEARNING TO READ THE SYMBOLS

“[She] I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. [He] Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the young women.” (Song of Songs 2:1–2)

During Eastertide lilies often make their appearance in our homes and in our churches. Saint Mary’s is no exception. The lily is an ancient flower. There are many species and genera of lilies, and of course not all lilies are white. Tulips are actually, it turns out (who knew?), members of the lily family, Liliaceae. Lilies are beautiful and highly fragrant. They are elegant. They stand out. Just like swans, they seem special. For many folks, they possess an aristocratic quality. Perhaps that is why they are often more than just themselves. With some frequency they appear as symbols in literature, art, and architecture. They can be seen in the form of fleurs-de-lis on many flags and coats of arms. (The fleur-de-lis is ubiquitous at Saint Mary’s. It is used here as a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It also refers, I think, to the gothic Sainte Chapelle in France, built by King Saint Louis IX [1214–1270], a church that we know inspired the architects that built Saint Mary’s. (See Krasno, Guide to Saint Mary’s, p. 16)

Edward F. Edinger in his book, The Christian Archetype, writes, “It is the white lily[1], however, that flowered in Christian symbolism, the lily of mercy balancing the flaming sword of judgment. Beginning in the twelfth century, the lily was identified with the purity, innocence, and chastity of the Virgin Mary. The lily depicted in many images of the Annunciation evokes an attitude of receptiveness to [the] ‘other’ uncontaminated by merely personal desires and aspirations.” (p. 26ff) It is somehow symmetrical that the white lily is also an emblem of Saint Joseph. In the Joseph statue in the chapel named for him here at Saint Mary’s, Saint Joseph holds a lily. When you visit the chapel, you should take a closer look not only at the statue of good Saint Joseph, but also at “the colored majolica plaque in the quattrocento style of Luca della Robbia.” (Krasno, Guide to Saint Mary’s, p. 51) The plaque, controversially for some, depicts the marriage (nuptia) of Mary and Joseph. Joseph hands lilies to Mary and they hold the branch together. All this should make us suspect that in Saint Joesph’s Chapel, lilies are “more than just themselves.” They ask us to think and pray about who Mary and Joseph are and what they are doing. On the plaque, Mary is just visibly pregnant. Joseph’s gift of lilies reminds us of the stories at the beginning of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Mary and Joseph are doing God’s will. Their purity comes from God and is something more than social custom or prejudice. And if Edward Edinger is right in his Jungian interpretation, the lilies in the chapel, also remind us that both Mary and Joseph transcend “merely personal desires and aspirations.” They both assent to God’s will, risking much to do so.

Brother Thomas Steffensen, SSF, who is a student at the Jung Institute here in New York, has reminded me that symbols are possessed of a certain elasticity. Symbols usually signify more than just one thing, and indeed the lily is a good example of this. Another, unusual, use of the lily as symbol arises in the Middle Ages: “From the end of the fourteenth century, artists began to combine the iconography of the Annunciation and the Crucifixion by depicting Christ crucified on a lily amid an Annunciation scene. The Lily Crucifixion is a distinctive and beautiful image found almost uniquely in English medieval art. The lily is the symbol of Mary and is often referenced in depictions of the Annunciation and in poetry about the Virgin.”[2] But the lily is sometimes daringly linked with the image of the crucifix to create a particularly dense and powerful symbol.

Professor Peter Davidson, archivist and fellow, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, explains that in the Middle Ages it was believed that God created the world on March 25, a date that also serves as the Feast of the Annunciation, and is therefore exactly nine months before Christmas Day. And, from time to time, Good Friday can also fall on March 25. (John Donne dedicates a poem to this coincidence, “On Annunciation and Passion Falling on the Same Day. 1609.”) In a stained-glass window in one English church, Christ is nailed not to a wooden instrument of torture, but to stems of lilies. This association of Annunciation and Christ’s Passion—and the related link to the creation of the world—turns the use of lilies in the window into a wordless and efficient symbol, says Professor Davidson, a pictorial summary of the whole of salvation history—creation, annunciation, crucifixion, new creation. (Here at Saint Mary’s the Lily Crucifixion is a motif used on the set of vestments worn on Marian holy days.)[3]

Saint Mary’s is rich in symbols. Are you curious about them? Do you like to read them? And if so, how do you find meaning in them? Reading symbols is in some ways different from reading texts. Their meaning is very condensed. That meaning can also, sometimes, be somewhat obscure. Do you like to decode them? If so, can a symbol, an image, an emblem be useful to you? Looking at those lilies in Saint Joseph’s Chapel, do they help you to understand the gospel, or can they even help you to pray? — JRS

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

A Prayer to Mary, Queen of Peace

We ask you, Queen of Peace, to help us respond with the power of truth and love to the new and unsettling challenges of the present moment. Help us also to pass through this difficult period, that disturbs the serenity of so many people, and to work without delay to build every day and everywhere a genuine culture of peace. — Pope John Paul II (2001)

We pray for an end to war and violence, remembering especially the people of Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, the Red Sea, Myanmar, and Yemen. We pray for justice and for an end to violence and division in our neighborhood, city, and nation.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, especially Chris, Carlos, Montserrat, Santiago, Tim, Robert, Hattie, Dorian, Leroy, Jennifer, Susanna, Marianne, Tony, Kevin, Christine, Donald, Richard, Josh, James, Nettie, Chrissy, Jan, Mark, Linda, Pat, Marjorie, Carole, Luis, David, Clark, Virginia, Rolf, Sharon, Quincy, June, José, Manuel, Luis, Liduvina, Robert, Randy, Abe, Suzanne, Giovanna, Gypsy, Hardy, John Derek, Margaret, Rita, and Robert; Barbara Jean and Eleanor-Francis, religious; Ignacio and Lind, deacons; and Robby and Stephen, priests.

We pray for the repose of the souls of David Khouri, Willard Taylor, and those whose year’s mind falls on June 9: Gardner Van Reed (1917); Louise Unsold (1939); Roy Whitson Lay (1952).

PLEASE JOIN US

ON SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 9:45 AM and 12:45 PM
SIGNS OF LIFE

Canon Alissa Newton will lead the adult forum at 9:45, talking about congregational vitality, and development. She will also facilitate a discussion of these issues during a presentation at coffee hour. Come and listen, come and ask questions.

ON SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 12:30 PM
A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION

We invite you to join us during Coffee Hour on Sunday, June 16, for a special event to celebrate Juneteenth, which falls this year on Wednesday, June 19. At our event after the Solemn Mass, we will interview Angeline Butler, parish member and longtime civil rights activist about her background in the movement and her reflections on racism in the United States today. Angeline will be joined by two musicians, Amy Maden, bassist, and Tomas Janzon, guitarist. We will have special Juneteenth themed refreshments—punch and cake! The members of the group will be available for questions after the interview. We begin at 12:30 and end promptly at 2:00 PM. The event will be streamed on Zoom for those who are not able to attend (and the link will be in next week’s issue).
— The Tuesday Night Anti-Racism Discussion Group

FROM THE SAINT THERESE OF LISIEUX FLOWER GUILD

Members of the Flower Guild will be available to arrange flowers for many Sundays this summer. The following Sundays are still available: June 16; July 21 and 28; August 11, 18, and 25. August 15, The Feast of the Assumption, is also available.

The customary donation requested is $250.00. This allows members of the Guild to create arrangements for the high altar and for the shrines. It is also possible to ask them to design arrangements only for the high altar. The requested donation would then be $175.00.

Please contact the Parish Office to reserve a date.

For more information or to discuss volunteering with the Guild, please speak to Brendon Hunter, Grace Mudd, Marie Rosseels, or Brother Thomas Steffensen.

HAVE YOU FILLED OUT YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACT FORM?

If you have not, we urge you to complete the form, which you may download here, and return it to the Parish Office. Since the clergy are often asked to help in a time of need, it is very helpful to have certain information available so we can provide that assistance.

NEWS & NOTICES

June is Pride Month . . . The New York City Pride March will take place on Sunday, June 30. Pre-March Reception: 1:00 PM at the Church of the Transfiguration, 1 East 29th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues . . . Pride March—Information TBA as to where and when the diocesan group will be lining up and when the march will begin . . . There will be a Pride Evensong at the Church of Saint Luke in the Fields on Sunday, June 23, at 4:00 PM, 487 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 . . . Parishioner Don Wright is gathering information about Pride Events. He’s available to answer questions about a number of the Pride events.

Away from Saint Mary’s . . . Saturday, June 8, 11:30 AM, Prayer for the Holy Land, The Church of the Ascension, Fifth Avenue at Tenth Street . . . Sunday, June 9, 4:00 PM, Evensong with Commissioning of the Community at the Crossing, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine . . . Monday, July 1, 10:00 AM, Celebrating the Life & Ministry of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, the Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes, preacher, Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, 1405 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11207 . . . Wings of Heaven: Trinity, Morgan Dix, and the Art of Ecclesiastical Embroidery, June 2–July 2, 2024, Trinity Wall Street and Marianna Klaiman, curators.

Father Matt Jacobson will be away from the parish between the evening of Sunday, June 2, and Monday, July 8.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY, JUNE 9, THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The name of Healey Willan (1880–1968) is well known to Episcopalians because of his Missa de Santa 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.

The Twenty-Third Psalm is probably the best known and most quoted of all the psalms. It fits all occasions and speaks to our understanding of the nature of God and our relationship to God.  It is regularly recited at baptisms, at marriages, and at funerals, and the lectionary prescribes its recitation more than once a year as the Gradual for Sunday Mass. During the administration of Communion, soprano, Emma Daniels, will sing a setting of Psalm 23 by Antonín Dvořák (1841–1901). In March 1894, while Dvořák was living in New York City, he composed a cycle of ten Biblical Songs, Opus 99, of which God is my Shepherd is the fourth. These ten songs all derive their texts from the Psalter and were first published in Czech with English and German translations in 1895. Scored originally quite simply for piano and voice, Dvořák orchestrated only the first five of the songs in a manuscript which was published posthumously in 1914. These Biblical Songs are notable for their simplicity of means and effectiveness of expression. They are often performed as a cycle or in select groupings as well as offered liturgically. Sunday’s organ voluntaries will be improvised. — David Hurd

More about the Cantor on Sunday: Emma Daniels is a conductor, composer, and soprano originally from Chicago. She is the Music Director of Philomusica Concert Choir and a founding member of Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, an organization made up of singers, composers, and conductors who share artistic responsibility and perform new music. Today, she sings, conducts, and composes with C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in NYC, the choir after which Triad was modeled. Emma’s compositions have been performed by Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, Westminster Chapel Choir, Tufts Chamber Singers, and other college, synagogue, and church choirs from Boston to Los Angeles. As a vocalist, she has performed both solo and ensemble work in the Midwest and on the East Coast, including with Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton, CT, Saint James Cathedral Choir of Chicago, Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs, and Hans Zimmer Live US Tour. Emma holds an MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College and a BA in Music from Tufts University. She has been a member of the Choir of Saint Mary’s since 2022.

FROM THE PARISH ARCHIVIST: A NEW HISTORY OF SAINT MARY’S

We are thrilled to announce that we are taking pre-publication orders for the long-awaited history of our parish, researched and written by the Reverend Warren C. Platt, church historian and great friend of Saint Mary’s. This updated history of the parish includes biographies of the rectors through Father Wells, plus an exploration of the parish’s liturgy and its social concerns in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Father Platt conducted extensive research in the parish archives for this work, which will augment Newbury Frost Read’s Story of Saint Mary’s by considering the social history of the parish’s early years, while Read’s 1931 history of the parish focuses mainly on financial and administrative matters. This will be a softcover, professionally printed edition with full-color photographs, available for $29.99.

Please email parish archivist Mary Robison at m.robison3@gmail.com to reserve your copy!

 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] Symbols that are powerful can be used for good and for ill. The phrase “lily white,” was formerly used as a way of asserting the segregationist and racist impulses in American society. Note how that usage harnesses prior symbolic uses of the lily in order to make assertions about the virtuousness of segregation.

[2] Lily Crucifixion, Early 15th Century, St Michael at the Northgate. See https://www.passionandcompassion.org/home-1/12-jesus-entrusts-mary-and-john-to-one-another

[3] I am very grateful to Marianna Garthwaite Kleinman for decoding the somewhat abstract image on the chasuble for me.