FROM THE RECTOR: EASTER GRACES

Our twice-daily worship in the Lady Chapel has brought new attention for the resident clergy and friars to the beauty of its design and rich decoration. Former parishioner Nicholas Krasno, in his A Guide to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin New York City (1999), wrote, “The most important single artistic feature of St. Mary’s is the Lady Chapel (to the right of the high altar), a sumptuous beaux-arts interior with excellent fittings . . . The Lady Chapel is one of the most complete and finest examples of the ‘American Renaissance’ in New York . . . It is complete, perhaps, because it was the conception, and almost entirely the gift, of one remarkable man, Haley Fiske” (page 37). Concerning its present condition, he wrote, “Nor have the years or the elements been too kind to [the muralist and parishioner Elliot Daingerfield’s (1859–1932]] work—The Epiphany is damaged by damp, but being painted on canvas can one day be restored. Fortunately, unlike so many other neglected works by his contemporaries, Daingerfield’s Lady Chapel has been preserved for our more appreciative age: damaged maybe, but intact” (pages 44–47).

FROM THE RECTOR: EASTER 2020

I write on the afternoon of Easter Eve. I’m very thankful that we resident clergy and friars have maintained the Daily Mass and Daily Evening Prayer. We are all taking on work as it comes and adapting as we can. All of us are grateful for the witness of our live-streamed services and the spiritual connection made for an enlarging parish community. We were so honored by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s offer to videotape a sermon for Maundy Thursday for us since he could not be with us as celebrant and preacher. If you haven’t had a chance to view the video, it’s less than fourteen minutes in length. I commend it to you.

FROM THE RECTOR: HOLY WEEK 2020

As I write on Friday afternoon, Father Jay Smith and I have talked through the services for Holy Week and Easter Day in some detail. The resident priests and friars are still healthy. Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue has given us a box of quick-light charcoal—Br. Damien Joseph will be thurifer when needed. All of us can sing. We will do everything that is essential and try to include what is traditional without overwhelming our congregation of five. The daily worship at Saint Mary’s continues.

FROM THE RECTOR: GOING FORWARD

Many readers will know that the resident priests and friars have been maintaining the daily Eucharist and daily Evening Prayer since our doors closed. With the knowledge and help of Br. Damien Joseph, since Tuesday, March 17, we’ve been recording and livestreaming the daily Mass on Facebook using an iPhone. Beginning this Sunday, March 29, the Sunday Mass will also be at 10:00 AM. On Sundays and feast days, we are also recording our Eucharists as videos so that they can be viewed later on our own website—again, with great thanks to Br. Damien. We are preparing for Holy Week and Easter Day. But before I share our thinking, I want to tell you of the concern and work of Saint Mary’s board of trustees.

FROM THE RECTOR: AN UNUSUAL TIME

As I write on Friday evening March 20, we have learned that the governor of New York State has issued Executive Order 202.6, which we interpret to mean that our parish administrator, bookkeeper, and our sextons will no longer be able to come to work for the foreseeable future. Chris, Jay, and I have spent part of the last hour talking about what we need to know and what needs to be done—and what can be done—in their absence. Those of us who live here know when the garbage needs to be put out. I’m good about turning the heat on and off. We know how to sweep, but the sidewalks may not need sweeping or washing quite as frequently in the coming days. We know where the light switches and the fuse boxes are. More will be revealed. We will use every means at our disposal to stay in touch. We will continue to live and pray faithfully and responsibly during this plague that has already affected so many throughout the world.

FROM THE RECTOR: TEMPLATE DAYS

This morning, Friday, March 13, Father Jay Smith and I had a conference call with the Reverend Dr. James Conlin Pace. He was at his desk at the NYU Rory Meyers School of Nursing—he told us that he was alone on his floor for a number of reasons, all related to the current health crisis. I learned from Father Pace that, unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus becomes highly concentrated in the “oropharyngeal” region of an infected person. Jay knew the word; I did not. Basically, “oropharyngeal” means the throat—the pharynx is the cavity that connects the nose and the mouth to the esophagus. We also learned from Jim that the corona virus is also found in high concentrations in the stool of infected persons. These features of the virus are definitely worrying. They explain why contagion seems to occur fairly easily with this virus, and why the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are recommending such stringent sanitary practices. Given the risk of contagion, it becomes ever clearer that, if you are not entirely sure that you are well, you should stay home and seek expert medical advice.

FROM THE RECTOR: HOLY COMMUNION AND COVID-19

In 2010, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was celebrant and preacher here for the Feast of the Annunciation. After Mass she greeted the congregation at the door and spent a very generous amount of time in the parish hall. At one point, I sensed that the time had come for her to sit down. She and I walked to the rectory, and she followed me into the kitchen. We kept talking, but as I began to wash my hands, she did the same thing. It was a moment I remember. Both of us have served in a profession in which we shake many people’s hands. On more than one occasion, I’ve spoken to someone who’s taken my hand while telling me that they are sick. I suspect I’ve caught a cold more than once from such encounters over the years. In New York City, we worship, work, and travel in crowded spaces. Not everybody takes the same precautions or thinks clearly about these issues, and, so, it makes sense to take preventive measures.

FROM THE RECTOR: LOOKING AHEAD

The doors of Saint Mary’s opened at 7:00 AM on Ash Wednesday. People were still coming in when they were closed at 8:00 PM. I want to thank all of our parish volunteers and staff for doing so much and for doing it with a real joy in our ministry of welcome. The Right Reverend Allen K. Shin, bishop suffragan (and former assisting priest and curate here), was celebrant and preacher for the 12:10 Sung Mass. Bishop Shin will be back with us as celebrant and preacher for the Solemn Mass on Wednesday evening, March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.

FROM THE RECTOR: LENT BEGINS THIS WEEK

Until I became rector of Saint Mary’s on February 1, 1999, I didn’t give very much thought to Ash Wednesday other than it being the first day of the Lenten Season. Ash Wednesday in New York City, February 17, 1999, was overwhelming. In 2000, we were prepared for the onslaught. In the city, more people come through the doors of churches on the first day of Lent to receive the imposition of ashes than present themselves for Christmas or Easter—or any other day of the year.

FROM THE RECTOR: AT LAST

The New York City Department of Buildings issued a work permit for the conservation of the West 46th Street façade of the church on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Weekly meetings with our contractor, Milan Restorations; our architects, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. (JHP); and the members of the parish team—trustees MaryJane Boland and Clark Mitchell, office manager Chris Howatt, and myself—resumed last Thursday, February 6. These meetings will take place weekly, with few exceptions, until the project is completed in the spring of 2021.

FROM THE RECTOR: THANK YOU 

In the December 2019 Christmas offering letter, I wrote to members and friends of the parish asking for a special gift to help us to continue to restore the four sets of tambour doors between the church and Saint Joseph’s Hall. (A tambour door, Wikipedia tells us, “is a sliding door made of slats which roll up as the door is opened upwards or sideways,” rather like a rolltop desk.) Three of these doors open into the church. The fourth is the door to a cabinet that houses a collection of non-precious metal crosses. Last fall, Vince Lepre, the founder of Fifty Three Restorations, Inc., and his team began working on one set of doors. His team was able to restore one-half of one of the doors to good working order. The team also figured out how the doors had been designed and how, eventually, they had failed. It is likely that the design is unique to Saint Mary’s. At Christmas, $18,666.73 was given was given for the work, and I am very grateful for the generosity of our donors.

FROM THE RECTOR: PRESENTATION

As I begin to write on Friday, January 31, I am very aware that today I complete twenty-one years of service as rector of Saint Mary’s. On Sunday, January 10, 1999, I officiated for the last time as rector of Trinity Church, Michigan City, Indiana. The service was Solemn Evensong & Benediction. There was a wonderful parish supper in the large parish hall afterwards. The movers had already taken my things out of Trinity’s rectory. I spent my last weekend in Michigan City with very dear friends. On Monday morning, I began the drive to the east. On the way, there was snow. I spent the night in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday morning I reached Saint Mary’s. There was snow on the ground here, but there was also sunshine. I had a couple of weeks to settle in. I became rector on February 1.

FROM THE RECTOR: MERRY CHRISTMAS

Let me begin by expressing the great happiness I felt on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, my twenty-first Christmas at Saint Mary’s. Let me add my great thanks for everyone and everything that made it such a special time for so many. There were lots of smiles. I met faithful people from all over who were amazed by our building, our worship, and our music. During the services I found myself thinking of members and friends of Saint Mary’s who live elsewhere but whose commitment to this parish is strong. I also found myself thinking of people who welcomed me to Saint Mary’s and who are now in the nearer presence of God—I felt relationship and peace, but not loss.

FROM THE RECTOR: CHRISTMAS BEGINS

The twelve days of Christmas begin this week, on Tuesday evening, December 24. That said, there will be some signs of it in the church on this, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Evergreens for Christmas arrived a few days ago. Members of this year’s Flower Guild Christmas Team trimmed and placed the greens in water in Saint Joseph’s Hall. The wonderful smell of the evergreens is a sign for us that Christmas is very near. Some of the work (the crèche) in Saint Joseph’s Chapel is already underway.