FROM FATHER JAY SMITH: AND HEAVEN AND NATURE SING

Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Oxen,” was published in The London Times on Christmas Eve 1915, the second year of the Great War. In April of that year, at the Second Battle of Ypres, the German army had released 200 tons of chlorine gas and 6,000 Allied troops had died within ten minutes. On September 25, 1915, at the Battle of Loos, the British used poison gas for the first time, releasing 140 tons of gas at the beginning of the battle. Around 26,000 German soldiers died during the Battle of Loos.

FROM FATHER SAMMY: THE PARADISE TREE

Trees have long stood for fertility and rebirth in the popular imagination, symbolizing eternal life in cultures from Egypt and Israel to China. Sometime in the Middle Ages, the first Christmas trees appeared in Western Europe—traditionally the modern Christmas tree originated in Germany, perhaps in line with the legend that Martin Luther was walking home on a dark December night when he was moved by the beauty of the starlight through the branches of a fir tree (or perhaps not).

FROM RICHARD MAMMANA: AVE AND THE ARROW, ALL ONLINE IN ONE PLACE

December was the culmination of two significant digitizing efforts related to the history of Saint Mary’s: all known issues of printed parish periodicals The Arrow (1891-1899) and Ave (1932-2004) are now available in searchable, downloadable format free of cost on the Internet Archive (IA).

FROM FATHER SAMMY: A VISION FOR SAINT MARY’S

My son is Patrick.

On his saint’s day back in 2022, soon after we moved to New York, I watched a documentary called St. Patrick: Pilgrimage to Peace. And I heard a line that’s come back to me again and again and again in the months since: 

The imperial world is gone, but nonetheless there’s somebody here in Gaul saying: “Patrick, there’s a big island out there. It needs to be Christianized—that’s your life’s mission.”

FROM JENNIFER STEVENS:
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?

Prison has challenges. Ministry has challenges. So, it will hardly come as a surprise to anyone that Prison Ministry has unique challenges. The main program for which I volunteer as a distance-learning mentor is called Crossroads Prison Ministry. It has done an admirable job of navigating procedural fences for the participants. With God’s help, Crossroads has managed to create a space for fellowship between people in the prison system and people all across the United States who care deeply about them. There are no strangers, only neighbors.

FROM GRACE MUDD:
FRIENDS ACROSS THE POND

Sitting at the crossroads of the world, Saint Mary’s gets a lot of visitors from all over this country and from many other countries, as well. Visitors have often been shown around by the Guild of Saint Martin of Tours or, more recently, been able to follow the audio tour available via QR codes posted around the church. But there are also often less formal tours offered; visitors to Smoky Mary’s are often especially interested in seeing the Smoke Room, and thurifers are frequently called into action to show them around!

FROM THE ANTI-RACISM GROUP: FOUR WORDS OF BLESSING

Over the past three years, our weekly “Conversations on Race” (via Zoom) have evolved into a free-flowing process that always starts and ends with a prayer. These prayers are often unconventional and drawn, by Ingrid Sletten, from a wide variety of sources. We prepare for each meeting by reading in advance from a pre-selected book (usually a chapter per session) that deals with race on a broad spectrum.

FROM FATHER JAY SMITH: WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN BIBLE STUDY THIS WEEK

At the Brown Bag Bible Study on Wednesday, we talked about Mark 1:16–20, The Call of the First Disciples:

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

FROM FATHER PETER POWELL: SHARING GOD’S GRACE

Christian life if lived well should inspire us to be generous. Being generous to me has always meant generously giving from my substance, not my excess, to further the work of the spirit in our world. Barbara and I more than tithe. Not all of that tithe goes to Saint Mary the Virgin, but the largest portion does. More of that tithe goes to churches and church-related activities than to anything else. We don’t give because we’re hoping God will notice and reserve a special place for us in heaven. We give because we know that we lead a Grace-filled life, and we share that Grace by furthering the work of this particular Christian community in this larger secular society.

FROM FATHER PETER POWELL: BEING FAITHFUL

Does the Bible have anything to say to us? I read and hear this condemnation frequently from people who are angry at the church, especially because they see the church as a destructive force. Some of our fellow Christians give them plenty of ammunition to think this way. In many ways it was the same in the time of Isaiah of Jerusalem, roughly 741 BCE to 690 BCE. Yahwism was on the decline and reduced to essentially empty ritual. This is exactly parallel to the way many view the church today.

FROM DR. DAVID HURD:
FEAST DAY RECITALS 2023-2024

The organ at Saint Mary’s, Aeolian-Skinner Opus 891, dates from 1932 with additions in 1942 and 2002. It is a legendary instrument largely due to its high rear-galley installation and the resultingly rich musical voice it has given to the dynamic worship life of Saint Mary’s. Its tonal refinement (in contrast with its strikingly unfinished appearance), and its thrilling engagement of the church’s gracious acoustics, have been brought to life by the remarkable musicians, too many to name, who have performed on it through the years in the liturgy, in recital, and on recordings.

FROM FATHER SAMMY WOOD:
ON ALL SOULS’ DAY

November is sometimes called the Month of Holy Souls, and our observances at Saint Mary’s are rich and deeply textured. I hope you will join us for the sung Requiem Mass at 6:00 PM on All Souls’ Day, November 2, or for one of several said Requiem Masses that follow on each weekday through November 8. The Requiem is a Mass offered for the dead, requiem being the first Latin word in the Introit for All Souls’ Day. 

FROM FATHER JACOBSON: EUCHARISTIC VISITORS AND THE BODY OF CHRIST

Saint Paul tells the community in Corinth that they “are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27) He also explains to them how all the members of the body have been given gifts “for the common good” by the Holy Spirit and that “in the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:7, 13) Paul goes on to paint an image of the Church as a living organism. No one part of the body can do it all on its own, but the members need to work together. If the body was just an eye, it would see, but how would it hear without ears.

FROM DR. DAVID HURD: ANOTHER SEASON OF CHORAL MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S

The Choir of Saint Mary’s has been on summer break for fifteen weeks since Corpus Christi with the exception of the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August when we donned our surplices and sang at the Solemn Mass. During this summer’s choral hiatus, individual members of the choir have sung as cantors for the Sunday Masses, providing support for the congregation’s singing as well as singing portions of chant and vocal solos while the assembly receives Communion.

FATHER SAMMY WOOD: THE RETURN OF RITE ONE

The Book of Common Prayer is a remarkably adaptable resource, with no fewer than six (!) eucharistic prayers which a parish may use to celebrate the Holy Communion. Here at Saint Mary’s, our most familiar choices are Prayers A and B from Rite Two, and we typically switch between them a couple of times a year. We also use Prayer D during Eastertide. These prayers are, and will continue to be, the standard prayers at our flagship Solemn High Mass at 11:00 AM on Sunday.

FROM DR. DAVID HURD: A MOVABLE ORGAN COMING TO THE LADY CHAPEL

The history of pipe organs at Saint Mary’s includes several instruments in several locations. Here is a brief summary of some of that history and its context, and news about a recent development. The original main organ in the present building was a rebuild and enlargement of the 1886 George Jardine instrument from the previous building. The Jardine organ originally had been built with mechanical action, but in the redesign for the new church building, its action was electrified which allowed its two playing consoles to be at a distance from the pipes they controlled.

FROM FATHER SMITH: CONVERSION, AND THEN THE DAY AFTER

Arthur Darby Nock (1902-1963), who taught for many years at Harvard University, published his book, Conversion: The Old and the New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo in 1933. It remained on the syllabus of certain religious-studies programs for decades, especially those programs dedicated to the study of the social and cultural aspects of early Christianity.

FROM BLAIR BURROUGHS: SOMETIMES GOD GIVES YOU A NUDGE

For almost two years, Saint Mary the Virgin has been livestreaming every Solemn Mass on Sunday and the principal feast days. I am grateful to be a part of this new ministry. Over time, week by week, I have gone from being a complete novice to having some confidence in this new way of bringing Saint Mary’s to people all over the world.

FROM MARK RISINGER: A CRITICAL EDITION OF HANDEL’S SEMELE AND AN APPRECIATION FOR BIBLICAL TEXTUAL STUDIES

In the realm of historical research, scholars strive to build arguments and interpretations of evidence based on clear, accurate, and authoritative sources. Anyone who has studied the fascinating history of Biblical transmission, for instance, knows that tracing the development of an ancient book from one epoch to another and one language to another raises many questions.

FROM BRENDON HUNTER:
THE SUBTLE INSPIRATION OF BEAUTY

All of us on the Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Flower Guild at Saint Mary’s are amateurs who have learned from each other and picked up skills over the years—and we have some incredible talent in this parish. It’s very process intensive that involves going to the floral district (centered around 28th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan) very early in the morning to shop at the wholesalers.