FROM ZACHARY ROESEMANN: PRAYING WITH HOLY ICONS

In my first article about holy icons, I described the elements essential to understanding the nature of icons. They are made for only one purpose, which distinguishes them from other forms of Christian art: to help guide people to God in prayer and worship. They are deeply traditional, with roots going back to the origins of Christianity. They are an especially powerful way to illustrate the Incarnation. And the Church teaches that they are vehicles for the presence of the figure depicted: icons actually “partake of the nature of the original”—of Christ, or Mary, or any other holy person. Thus, they are worthy of veneration like other holy things in the church, such as the Cross or the Gospels.

That is why, when you see an icon, it offers you an invitation. Just as you can be in a relationship with another person, so too you can be in relationship with the holy figure in an icon. That person is truly present with you. And you can be present with them through prayer.

Here are some suggestions about how you might pray with an icon:

• Just sit and look at it; let it focus your eyes and mind; pray with your eyes.

• Sit in front of it with your eyes closed while you remain aware of its presence.

• Look at it, then close your eyes and picture it in your mind.

• Let your eyes move slowly around the icon, exploring it; get to know it.

• Focus on a detail or a secondary figure in the image.

 You can also try one of these responses:

• Talk to the presence in the icon.

• Confess to the presence in the icon.

• Venerate the presence in the icon.

• Take comfort from the presence in the icon.

 Don’t forget silence. Standing or sitting in silence, waiting on the Lord, listening—it’s prayer just to look attentively at an icon and let God speak to you. Remember, when we approach an icon we are approaching God. So a sense of awe is a good start.

Icons have a rich, traditional symbolic language. The more familiar you are with this language, the deeper you can let the image draw you into prayer. This process is very much like using lectio divina with a scriptural text. Consider the symbolism in the icon and let your mind work on it.

Meanwhile, let yourself be put off-balance by the strangeness of it. The off-kilter architecture, the unfamiliar perspective, and the pregnant symbolism in icons are meant to be illogical by the world’s standards and open us up to heavenly reality.

We live in an age of diminished attention spans. Through all forms of modern media, we have been socialized in a culture of organized distractions, flitting from one fleeting image to the next. Icons, by contrast, demand instead our sustained, concentrated attention—an openness to another who actively approaches us through the window of the icon. May we be present to greet them in our hearts.

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. At Solemn Mass on the Baptism of Our Lord, January 12, we will bless an icon that he painted, and which will be dedicated to Father Smith’s service at Saint Mary’s. The icon will be installed in the Lady Chapel later in the year. Zach will also be a Guest Artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in January. See below for details!

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH & FOR THE WORLD

We pray for an end to war, division, violence, and injustice, especially in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, and Darfur.

We pray for an end to gun violence in our city and in our nation.

We pray for those murdered and injured in the truck attack in New Orleans.

We pray for the safety and preservation of the Christian communities in the Middle East.

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 Lexi, Aston, Jorge, David, Steve, Tony, Beverly, Claudia, Molly, Gary, Jane, Martin, Murray, Renee, Ruth Ann, Michele, Vicki, Georgia, Janet, Desarae, Rolf, Adair, Susanna, James, Leroy, Josh, Maddie, Nettie, Chrissy, Molly, Robert, Russell, Duncan, Justin, Audy, Jan, Pat, Marjorie, Sharon, Quincy, June, Barbara, Carlos, José, Patrick, Max, Brian, Sarah, Dennis, Daniel, Wayne, Hardy, Gypsy, Margaret, Bob, and Liduvina; Laura Katharine, religious; Lind, deacon; and Jon, Julie, Robby, Sammy, and Stephen, priests.

We pray also for Andrew, Tilly, and Dax, who are to be baptized.

We pray for the repose of the souls of all those who died this week in places of violence, warfare, and natural disaster, and we pray also for the repose of the souls of Jimmy Carter; Jenny Ballard; James Peabody, whose year’s mind is on January 5; and Richard F. Grein, XIV Bishop of New York.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE

The Right Reverend Richard Grein died on October 8, 2024. He was ninety-two years old. A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine on Saturday, January 4, 2025, at 11:00 AM. The Diocese of New York invites the people and clergy of the diocese to this Mass, which will celebrate Bishop Grein’s life and ministry, recalling his enduring contributions to our diocese and to the wider church.

Holy Hour on Wednesdays before the Blessed Sacrament
Wednesday Mornings at 11:00 AM in the Lady Chapel

Healing Mass on Thursdays
At Mass on Thursdays at 12:10 PM, we offer a service of anointing and prayers for healing.

Friday Abstinence
The ordinary Fridays of the year are observed by special acts of discipline and self-denial
in commemoration of the crucifixion of Our Lord.
Friday abstinence is suspended during Christmastide.

Confessions on Saturdays
The priest on duty will be in a confessional near the 46th Street entrance at 11:00 AM.
On January 4, confessions are heard only by appointment.

UPCOMING AT SAINT MARY’S

Saturday, January 4
Christmas Feria
Mass 12:10 PM
Confessions heard only by appointment

Sunday, January 5
The Second Sunday after Christmas Day
Rite I Mass 9:00 AM
Adult Formation 9:45 AM
Solemn Mass 11:00 AM
Evensong & Benediction 4:00 PM
Sermon at both Masses by Dr. Lauren Whitnah, who will also lead Adult Formation

Monday, January 6
The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Morning Prayer 8:00 AM
Sung Mass 12:10 PM
Sermon by Father Stephen Morris
Organ Recital 5:30 PM
Rebecca Ehren, organist,
The Church of the Epiphany, NYC
Procession and Solemn Mass 6:00 PM
Sermon by Father Ben DeHart
Festive Reception follows Solemn Mass.

Sunday, January 12
The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord
Mass 9:00 AM
Adult Formation 9:45 AM
Holy Baptism and Solemn Mass 11:00 AM
Festive Reception following the Solemn Mass:
Farewell to Father Jay Smith and José Vidal 

PLEASE JOIN US FOR EVENSONG & BENEDICTION

Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 4:00 PM
The service will be sung by a quartet of singers from The Choir of Saint Mary’s.
Music at the service will include works by:
Joseph Barnby (1838–1896), Thomas Hunt (c. 1580–1658), and Everett Titcomb (1884–1968).
Learn more about Evensong & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament here!

NEIGHBORS IN NEED YEAR-END REPORT

As 2024 draws to a close, Neighbors in Need would like to thank the many people who have helped us in so many ways. We have 18 people on our regular volunteer list with others who join occasionally. More than 30 people, including some monthly donors, have contributed to the funds from which we purchase toiletries and underwear. Saint Mary’s has shared with us our Maundy Thursday collection, half to Neighbors in Need, half to our AIDS Walk team. At our drop-by day from 1:30 – 3 PM typically on the third Friday of the month, we serve from 40 to 50 people, some unhoused, some simply needy, some regular customers, some occasional, all warmly welcomed. With your donations, Neighbors in Need purchases an array of toiletries from toothpaste to laundry detergent and offers brand-new underwear including socks, tee shirts, boxers, bras, camisoles, gloves and much-needed thermal underwear. We no longer have the many asylum-seeking families that we did in 2022 when we ramped up to serve them and used some of our funds to purchase enough children’s clothing at Old Navy to make our shopper an “Old Navy Icon” for how much she bought. Our clothing room, dependent on the clothing contributions of our friends, offers lightly used coats, shoes and other basic clothing. For 2025, we welcome your prayers, your time, your clothing and financial donations and your belief that Neighbors in Need contributes to Saint Mary’s identity in Christ with a preference for the poor.

The January Drop-by will take place on Friday, January 17. 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!

LIFE AT SAINT MARY’S

Volunteers Needed—Not Glamorous, but Still Fun . . . If you have some free time on Wednesday, January 8, you are cordially invited to join the members of the Flower Guild and their friends as they dismantle the crèche and the decorations in the church—a task called “undecorating”—which may be less creative than decorating but, is nonetheless unavoidable. So, if you’re able to come for an hour or two, you can count on good energy, good stories, much laughter, satisfying labor, and the gratitude of the Flower Guild. Please contact Grace Mudd or Marie Rosseels for more information about timing and schedules. And thank you in advance for your willingness to help!

Seeking Help! . . . We are looking for help in support of our Hospitality Ministry. The costs associated with Coffee Hour, Feast Day Receptions and other events are high and are a constant strain on the budget. You may make a donation online or by mailing a check to the parish office. Remember to write “Hospitality” in the memo line. And, as always, we welcome donations to support the work of the Saint Mary’s Flower Guild. There are many opportunities in the New Year and before Lent to give flowers for the altar and in other parts of the church—January 19 and 26, and all the Sundays in February are available (February 2 is Candlemas). For more information, please contact the parish office. We are grateful to all those who continue to support these ministries.

Mark Your Calendar: Parish Retreat . . . 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, click here for the flyer, or speak to Father Wood. We will offer a Sung Mass at the high altar at 12:10 PM as part of the retreat program. Please RSVP to Father Wood by January 7, so that we can accurately plan for the lunch.

Adult Formation this Sunday! . . . The Sunday morning Adult Formation class resumes on Sunday, January 5, 2025, in Saint Joseph’s Hall at 9:45 AM, when Dr. Lauren Whitnah, Dean of Nashotah House, will teach about Christian formation in the Middle Ages. She holds a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies and Master of Medieval Studies, both from the University of Notre Dame; a Master of Studies in History from the University of Oxford; and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Gordon College. Her academic focus centers on devotion to saints and understandings of sacred place in the High Middle Ages, particularly in northern England and southern Scotland.

On January 12, parishioner Allen Reddick will begin his two-part series (January 12 and 19), “The Catholic Imagination of Flannery O’Connor.” Allen received his B.A. from Sewanee: the University of the South (Allen spends part of each year in Sewanee), his M.A. from Cambridge University, and Ph.D. from Columbia University. From there, he became Assistant, then Associate Professor of English and American Literature and Language at Harvard University from 1985 until 1993. In 1993, he went to the University of Zurich in Switzerland as Full Professor of English Literature. Allen’s research interests are broad, but include book history, the distribution of republican books in England and North America, the Enlightenment encyclopedia and dictionary, and the works of Samuel Johnson. Allen will use his analytical and interpretive skills to discuss Flannery O’Connors’s short stories. On January 19, Allen will be joined by Father Sammy Wood, whose interests in O’Connor are theological. In that class, he will want to spend a few minutes talking about a certain connection between O’Connor and evangelism, drawing from her famous quote from Mystery & Manners:

When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax and use more normal means of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock -- to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures.

Preparing for these classes: Allen writes, “The stories I will be discussing in the Flannery O'Connor classes are ‘Greenleaf’ and ‘Revelation.’ Both are contained in O’Connor’s short story collection, Everything that Rises Must Converge; texts of the stories can also be downloaded from the Internet (“Revelation”; “Greenleaf”). Please read the stories beforehand and bring the texts to class.

News from Zach Roesemann, Saint Mary’s Resident Iconographer . . . We are very excited that Zach will be a Guest Artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in January. He will be doing three different events in conjunction with the Met’s current exhibition “Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350”:

• January 5, 1-4 PM, in the Cuxa Cloister at the Met Cloisters—“How Did They Do That?”, a demonstration and discussion of the painting and gilding techniques used by the 14th-century artists—the very same ones Zach uses to create his icons.

• January 11, 1-4 PM, in the European Sculpture Gallery at the Met Fifth Avenue—“Open Studio”, when Zach will once again discuss and demonstrate medieval painting.

• January 17, 3-3:30 PM at the Met Cloisters—“Met Experts Gallery Talk”, when he will discuss and answer questions about the medieval panel painting in the Met Cloisters collection, The Crucifixion and the Lamentation by the Master of the Codex of Saint George.

The public is warmly invited to all of these events! Learn more about Zach’s studio at Saint Mary’s here.

Bidding Father Jay Smith & José Vidal Farewell . . . Father Jay Smith’s 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. A festive reception following Solemn Mass is planned to celebrate his retirement, at which time we will also present him with gifts from the parish. We invite all the members of the Saint Mary’s community to join us on January 12 to say goodbye to Father Jay and to José; to recall the joys, challenges, and graces we have experienced together during the past seventeen years; and to celebrate our common ministry during that time. We are sure there will be something to eat and to drink, and suspect that there will be some laughter. Come join us.

The Saint Mary’s Library . . . We have started a parish library in Saint Benedict’s Study and have put together an initial wish list on Amazon to help build our collection. Please click click here to view our wish list and donate a book. Check back from time to time to see what we have added to our list. If you have books to donate from your personal collection, please be in touch with Father Sammy before bringing them to the parish as space in our small library is limited.

Siena, the Heart of Tuscany . . . The Metropolitan Museum's acclaimed exhibition Siena: the Rise of Painting runs through January 26, and you can learn more about the city and region through a talk on Siena, the Heart of Tuscany, to be held in St. Joseph's Hall on Friday, January 17, at 5:30 PM. Parishioner Mary Robison's brother-in-law Roberto Bechi, whose family has lived in Siena for hundreds of years, will discuss the history and culture of this beautiful part of the world. Please join us!

FROM THE BISHOP OF NEW YORK

Bishop Matthew Heyd sends out an e-mail to the Diocese early on Monday mornings. This week he writes on hope:

This December my reflection is on the fragile and sacred nature of hope. Recently I’ve read Rebecca Solnit, an American essayist. Nearly twenty years ago she wrote a book called Hope in the Dark. She’s not a theologian—but her work has deep resonance for our lives of faith. Solnit celebrates hope. Her book serves as a testament to the possibility that our lives and the world can transcend loss and trouble that feel unmovable. She writes that hope rests in uncertainty because not knowing what might happen offers space for us to act. But hope asks us to act in faith while not knowing what happens next. Hope is a risk. History tells us, Solnit writes, that hope grows not in the light but in the dark. Her book shares stories about taking risks for hope. Hope rests in uncertainty. We believe it also abides in grace. If we’re willing to take the risk of hope when the world feels stuck—or going backwards—then we can walk step-by-step into a new light.

If you’d like to receive Bishop Heyd’s “Monday Morning Notes,” you may sign up by clicking on this link.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2025, THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY

The organ prelude on Sunday morning is a chorale fantasia on Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (“How brightly shines the Morning Star”) by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707). This chorale, most often associated with the season of Epiphany, is found in two melodic versions in The Hymnal 1982 at 496 and 497. Buxtehude’s fantasia begins by quoting the melody literally although cloaked in varying accompaniments suggestive of a narrative relative to the journey of those following the star. The second variation is more stylistically uniform and in the manner of a gigue.

The setting of the Mass on Sunday is the Short Communion Service by Adrian Batten (1591–1637). Born in Salisbury, Batten was subsequently a chorister and organ scholar at Winchester Cathedral. He moved to London in 1614 to become a lay clerk of Westminster Abbey. He later assumed a similar position at Saint Paul’s Cathedral where he also played the organ. As a music copyist in London, Batten is credited with preserving much significant church music of his time, his copies being the only surviving source. Ironically, much of his own music has been lost. However, Batten’s surviving compositions show him to be a thoroughly skilled composer of liturgical music, even if not especially daring or original. His modest Mass for four voices models the restraint which was typical of Batten’s church music. Maurice Bevan, editor, has produced a liturgically practical edition of Batten’s Communion Service, including a nine-fold Kyrie, Benedictus qui venit, and Agnus Dei, fashioned from music found elsewhere in the Service.

The motet sung during Communion is one of the sixteen movements from the cantata Hodie by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), begun in 1953 and first performed at Worcester Cathedral during the Three Choirs Festival on September 8, 1954, under the composer’s direction. Hodie was Vaughan Williams’ last large-scaled choral work and is scored for chorus, boys’ choir, organ and large orchestra with soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists. The cantata, with text drawn from scripture, The Book of Common Prayer, and various poets, is dedicated to Herbert Howells. The Blessed Son of God, the fifth movement of Hodie, is one of only two which is set for unaccompanied chorus. The text is a translation by Miles Coverdale of a three-stanza hymn by Martin Luther. This movement is often lifted from the larger work and performed separately.

The organ Sortie will be improvised. — David Hurd

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.