FROM FATHER STEPHEN MORRIS: ON THE EASTERN TRADITION OF THE CHURCH AND ANGLICANISM

Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1559-1575), demanded that the library of Canterbury cathedral include the works of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nanzianzus, and John Chrysostom as well as Jerome, Ambrose of Milan, and Augustine. The famous Caroline divines—English theologians such as Richard Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes who taught and preached in association with the monarchs Elizabeth, James, and Charles I—also insisted that the teachings of the Greek-speaking Fathers were normative for the Church of England. The Oxford Movement—which gave birth to Saint Mary the Virgin, Times Square and other similar parishes—reaffirmed the authority of the Greek theological insights for the Anglican Communion.

The famous Anglican reliance on Scripture, Tradition, and Reason has never meant solely Anglican tradition-custom or tradition as simple inertia. Anglican theology “is enriched by tradition more central, universal, and fundamental than itself; in other words by the catholic tradition of the universal Church, Eastern and Western.” (C.P.M. Jones) As Vladimir Lossky describes it, “This living Tradition is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church—and is easier to describe than define.”

The Greek-speaking preachers and teachers described salvation in two ways: our liberation from Death and our growing into the likeness of God. We are raised in solidarity with Christ who harrows hell and pulls us all out of the cold grip of our greatest enemy (1 Cor. 15:26); Christ’s resurrection begins in the garden when he meets Saint Mary Magdalen but will only be complete when the last member of his Body is raised on the Last Day. We are called to subsequently become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and regain our similarity (likeness) with God. 

This partaking of the divine nature is called “theosis.” The genius of the Anglican Communion is to insist that this theosis be worked out and “carried on within the tradition of prayer and faith articulated and developed in the years before the great schism of East and West.” (A. M. Allchin) This involves prayer, fasting, and alms giving—all broadly understood to include reception of Holy Communion, personal prayer, Bible study; self-control, putting the needs and lives of others before our own; and doing justice, making it possible for others to have what they need.

I became Orthodox as an undergraduate at Yale in 1978 and was later ordained a priest of the Orthodox Church in 1984; I was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church in 2022. Becoming Orthodox in 1978 was one kind of homecoming; being received into the Episcopal Church was another kind of homecoming. Both churches proclaim the centrality of Jesus’ Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection for the life of the world and the importance of our participation in the divine life he makes available to us as members of his Body. With him, we give ourselves to the Father for the life of the world and in that giving, discover our own true life as well. — SM

Father Stephen Morris recently joined Saint Mary’s as an assisting priest and has begun celebrating weekday Masses at the parish. Father Morris will be leading a forum over supper on the history of Holy Week observances on Wednesdays in Lent. Please see below in “Around the Parish” for the details about these very interesting talks. To learn more about Father Morris, his bio is now on our website.

PARISH PRAYERS

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

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Zenaida, Duke, Russell, Duncan, Robert, Sally, Ruth Ann, Sandy, Benjamin, Grace, Henry, Caroline, Giovanna, Lexi, Vicki, Georgia, Desarae, David, Steve, Beverly, Claudia, Jose, Maddie, Nettie, Chrissy, Molly, Tony, Sharon, Rick, Rolf, Adair, Jan, June, Carlos, Pat, Liduvina, Quincy, Leroy, Margaret, and Robert; Eleanor, Barbara Jean, Curtis, Laura Katherine, and Keith, religious; Lind, deacon; and Jon, Robby, Jay, and Stephen, priests.

We pray also for the repose of the souls of those who have died, especially Roy Felshin, Susan Smith, and for those whose year’s mind is on February 23: Sophia Clark (1885), Kate Cecelia Brinkerhoff (1908), Samuel Pratt (1922), Marie Lawrence Hunting (1956), Mary Virginia Denworth (1996), and George Everson Dix (1999).

FROM FATHER WOOD: OUR RECENT DISCUSSION ABOUT LITURGY AND QUARTERLY PARISH CONVERSATIONS

Dear Saint Marians,

I'm deeply grateful to everyone who participated in our Parish Conversation about Liturgy on Sunday February 9th. It was illuminating to hear from so many of you, and my colleagues on the panel, Dr. Hurd and Fr. Jacobson, were excellent partners in the conversation, which I pray will continue into the future. The interest and passion for our liturgy demonstrated in that meeting is one reason why Saint Mary's is such a special place.

It occurs to me that we typically get only one Sunday a year, at our Annual Meeting in May, to gather for a conversation as a parish family, so I'm proposing a series of quarterly "Parish Town Hall Meetings" at a Sunday coffee hour to come together and talk about vision, about stewardship, about our worship and prayer, about all aspects of our life together. Watch for information about those Town Halls in the coming months, and in the meantime, thank you for your faithfulness to this parish and for working through challenging things together. As always, it's the honor of a lifetime for me to get to be one of your priests a while.

For God and Saint Mary's,
SW+

AROUND THE PARISH

Collect Last Year’s Palms . . . It’s time to bring back your palms from last year’s Palm Sunday liturgy. The palms will be burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday. There will be a basket to collect palms at the ushers table in the back of the church.

Ash Wednesday . . . The first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, will be March 5. There will be a Said Mass at 8:00 AM, a Sung Mass at 12:10 PM, and a Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM. Ashes will be imposed at all three Masses.

Lenten Quiet Day on March 15 . . . We will offer a Quiet Day on Saturday, March 15, from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Father Matt Jacobson will offer three reflections based on the Stations of the Cross that we pray together each Friday in Lent following Evening Prayer. His reflections will be, in part, informed by the writings of patristic authors. We will attend the midday Mass together, which is then followed by a lunch. All are welcome, but please RSVP to Father Matt to help us plan for the lunch.

Learn about the History of Holy Week over Supper . . . On Wednesdays in Lent (March 12, 19, 26; April 2, 9), Father Stephen Morris will offer a series of talks over supper following the 6:00 PM Mass. He will explore the development of Holy Week observances, beginning with the Gospel accounts and then moving forward to the third and fourth centuries. Subsequent weeks will explore the diary of Egeria, a Spanish nun who went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 380, as well as Syrian liturgical books. Father Morris also plans to look at how these early services evolved among Greek and Russian Christians and among Latin-speaking Christians in medieval Western Europe. We will then see what form Holy Week took in England—pre- and post-Reformation—and on Continental Europe, and how the liturgical movement effected Holy Week, culminating in the 1979 BCP. All are welcome, but please RSVP to Father Sammy to help plan for supper.

Baptisms at Saint Mary’s . . . The Great Vigil of Easter is a liturgy in which baptism is especially traditional. The Day of Pentecost, which follows seven weeks later, is also a day that is particularly appropriate for baptisms. If you are interested in learning more about baptism for either yourself or for your child, please speak with Father Sammy or Father Matt.

Domain Name Change . . . Our website is in the process of being switched over to www.smokymarys.org. Once the changeover is complete, if you point your browser to the old domain name for our homepage or click on an old link to any of our pages, you should automatically be taken to the corresponding page on smokymarys.org.

Neighbors in Need . . . Donations of coats of all sizes for both men and women are especially needed for the winter months. There is also a need for sensible shoes and men’s pants, especially sizes 34-38. A drop-by was held on Friday, February 21. The next drop-by day will be Friday, March 21. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information.

Adult Formation . . . We continue our six-week series focused on evangelism (every Sunday through March 2). This is the second part of the year’s foundation course and is based on videos produced by the Episcopal Church on “Embracing Evangelism.” We are watching the videos together and discussing them. Specifically, we are examining a particularly Anglican definition of evangelism, assessing the need for it, and introducing various methods for sharing the gospel. Led by Father Sammy Wood.

Would you like to donate the altar flowers on a Sunday? . . . Dates in March that are still available are the Annunciation on March 25 and the Fourth Sunday in Lent on March 30. The customary donation is $250. Please call the Parish Office (212-869-5830) or email Chris Howatt for more information and for additional dates beyond March.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Dr. David Hurd at the Riverside Church . . . On Thursday, February 27, Dr. David Hurd will play an organ recital at the Riverside Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side as the concluding program of their King of Instruments Winter Organ Series. The organ at the Riverside Church is the second largest organ in the city and, not unlike the organ at Saint Mary's, is a renowned instrument in a remarkable building. The recital program will be at 7:00 PM and will be livestreamed. Works performed will include those by Felix Mendelssohn, French composers Alexandre Guilmant and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, and by Dr. Hurd. The organ recital will be preceded at 6:30 PM by a recital on the world-famous Laura Spelman Rockefeller Carillon. Further information is available here.

Visit to the Museum of Jewish Heritage . . . The Diocese of New York’s Jewish/Episcopal Dialogue group, part of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Commission, invites you on a special field trip to the Museum of Jewish Heritage on March 6 from 1:00 to 2:30 PM. Visitors will enjoy a guided tour of the museum’s exhibit, The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do. Space is limited to 30 participants, so don’t miss this opportunity to reflect on history and its relevance today. The cost of the visit is fully covered by the Commission. For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact The Rev. Posey Krakowsky.

Saint Matthew Passion at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine . . . On Saturday, March 8, at 7:00 PM, a performance of J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion will unite the Cathedral’s stunning architecture with the musical structure of Bach’s masterwork through the creative placement of the Cathedral’s choirs within the space. The Cathedral Choristers (boys and girls) will be uniquely positioned for their cameo appearances and the Cathedral Chorale will create a sense of vocal surround sound for the exquisite chorales of the Passion. The famous musical demands of the double choir and orchestras will be fulfilled by the excellent Cathedral Choir and Orchestra. Tickets are available here.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT THE SOLEMN MASS ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2025, THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY (SEXAGESIMA)

The organ prelude on Sunday is Introduction and Passacaglia on “Windham” by David Hurd, organist and music director at Saint Mary’s. Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue was commissioned by the 2022 Victoria (Texas) Bach Festival where it was premiered in recital by organist Reneé Anne Louprette. It is based upon Daniel Reed’s shape-note tune Windham (1785) as it appears in The Sacred Harp paired with Issac Watts’ hymn “Broad is the road that leads to death.” The Introduction opens with Reed’s melody and harmonization, somewhat embellished, and includes a canonic variation upon it. The Passacaglia follows which is based upon an eight-measure melody, first stated in the bass register. This ground bass is derived from the first and last phrases of Reed’s hymn tune and undergirds thirteen progressively more complex variations. A brief coda, a variant form of the passage which ends the Introduction and in which the last phrase of Reed’s tune is embedded, is where the prelude will end. The final section, the Fugue, will be played as the postlude. Its theme is a chromatic elaboration of the first phrase of Reed’s hymn tune. It features much hemiola in which rhythms of 3/4 meter are superimposed upon the essential 6/8 meter of the piece. Near the end of the Fugue, the entire hymn melody is stated prominently in cluster chords. 

The setting of the ordinary is the Chichester Mass of William Albright (1944–1998). This setting was commissioned for the ninth centenary of Chichester Cathedral and was first performed there on June 14, 1975. Walter Hussey (1909–1985), who was dean of Chichester Cathedral from 1955–1977, was a noted patron of the arts, and was the impetus behind the commissioning of an impressive list of choral works, beginning in 1943 with Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb which was commissioned while Hussey was vicar of Saint Matthew’s, Northampton. William Albright was born in Gary, Indiana, attended The Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Michigan, where he later served on the faculty. He received a Fulbright scholarship in 1968 to study in Paris with Olivier Messiaen, whose influence combined with many others in fueling Albright’s “poly-stylistic” musical range. The Chichester Mass uses traditional Book of Common Prayer texts. It includes chant-like choral writing reminiscent of Stravinsky as in the Gloria; random as well as highly structured polyphonic elements as in the Sanctus and Benedictus; and cluster harmonies as in the Agnus Dei.

The motet is a setting of Love (III) from George Herbert’s 1633 collection The Temple: Sacred Poems. This musical setting by David Hurd is for unaccompanied choir. It was composed in 1991 for the fortieth anniversary of ordination to the priesthood of The Rev. Charles W. Scott who was then an associate priest at All Saints Church, Manhattan. The music is reflective of the syllabic and chordal style which Thomas Tallis and other early Anglican composers were encouraged to adopt to enhance clarity and maximize intelligibility. At the same time, the six-voice texture and harmonic vocabulary of this setting give Herbert’s seventeenth-century poem a twentieth-century expression. — DH

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 Matt Jacobson, except as noted. Father Matt is also responsible for formatting 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. If you have an idea for an article that you would like to publish in an upcoming issue of The Angelus, Father Matt would be happy to discuss it with you.