A POEM FOR GOOD FRIDAY

The Agonie by George Herbert

Philosophers have measur’d mountains,
Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walk’d with a staffe to heav’n, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.

Who would know Sinne, let him repair
Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skinne, his garments bloudie be.
Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev’ry vein.

Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.

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 Priya, Jose, Angie, Angelina, Ashley, Aubrey, Nicolly, Christopher, Wally, Donald, Harris, Rick, Ronald, Jose, Karen, Kate, Behnam, Duke, Russell, Duncan, Robert, Sally, Sandy, Audy, Orham, Ruth Ann, Henry, Lexi, Vicki, Georgia, Desarae, David, Steve, Beverly, Claudia, Maddie, Nettie, Chrissy, Tony, Sharon, Rick, Adair, Jan, June, Carlos, Pat, Liduvina, Quincy, Leroy, Margaret, and Robert; Suzanne Elizabeth and Laura Katherine, religious; Lind, deacon; and Robby, Jay, and Stephen, priests.

We pray for the repose of the souls of those who have died, and for those whose year’s mind is on April 20: Sarah Ellen Carr (1872), Henry Dennison Keep (1886), John Boo (1894), Josephine Cowan (1900), George Yeager (1928), Jacob Roper (1932), Sydney Victor Callard Scruby (1965), and Florence O'Gorman (1972).

EASTER AT SAINT MARY’S

Easter Eve, April 19
7:00 PM - The Great Vigil of Easter

Easter Day, April 20
9:00 AM - Rite I Mass with Hymns
11:00 AM - Procession & Solemn Mass

AROUND THE PARISH 

Help us prepare for Easter . . .  On Holy Saturday, April 19, we will prepare the church for Easter. Many hands make light work, and coffee and snacks are provided. Volunteer opportunities are available whether you have advanced floral skills or none at all! For more information or to volunteer, contact Grace Mudd.

Celebrating Father Pete and Barbara . . . On Sunday, April 27, the Second Sunday of Easter, we will celebrate Father Pete and Barbara Powell at a festive coffee hour following the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass. Father Pete is retiring from his active role at Saint Mary's after having been part of our parish family since 2002 and teaching Adult Formation classes since 2005. Please join us to celebrate the ministries of these two beloved Saint Marians!

Our guest preacher for the Triduum . . . Father Jürgen Liias was born in Germany in 1948, the son of post-World War II Eastern European refugees. Coming to the United States with his family in 1952, he was taken into the rectory of an Episcopal priest in Boston, whose saintly influence ignited Father Liias’ call to the priesthood. After graduation from Amherst College and the Episcopal Theological School, he served various parishes in the Boston area including the Church of the Advent, one of the very first Anglo-Catholic churches in America, and Christ Church of Hamilton & Wenham, where he mentored our priest-in-charge, Father Sammy Wood. After forty years as an Anglican priest, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church and ordained priest in the Anglican Ordinariate. He serves various churches in Boston and Saugerties, New York, and lives with Gloria, his wife of 55 years, in Melrose, Massachusetts. They have two children and five grandchildren.

Adult Formation . . . Adult Formation is on Easter break and will resume on May 4, when Father Matt Jacobson will lead a discussion on the Acts of the Apostles. Recordings of the prior series, led by Father Powell, are available for viewing online: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 6. Adult Formation meets on Sundays at 9:45 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

AIDS Walk 2025 . . . AIDS Walk this year will be on Sunday, May 18. Last year we finished fourth among all teams in terms of fundraising and raised $52,005. To join our team or contribute, please visit our team page. If you have any questions, please speak to one of the team captains: MaryJane Boland, Clark Mitchell, and Father Matt.

Save the date: Sister Monica Clare on May 25 . . . On Sunday, May 25, Sister Monica Clare, CSJB, will be at Coffee Hour after the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass to present her soon-to-be-published book, A Change of Habit. Sister Monica Clare was in residence at Saint Mary’s for many years and is a good friend of the parish. Click here to learn more about her order, the Community of Saint John Baptist.

Neighbors in Need . . . Donations of casual pants, such as jeans or khakis, are needed, as are sweaters, tops, rain jackets, and other light jackets. Shoes are especially in demand (i.e., sneakers, sandals, and practical shoes, but not high heels). Large sizes, for both men and women, are also helpful. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information.

Hospitality at Saint Mary’s . . . Are you willing to serve on a team to plan Coffee Hours and receptions? We need you! Please get in touch with Father Sammy Wood if you are able to help.

Would you like to donate the altar flowers? . . . Please call the Parish Office (212-869-5830) or email Chris Howatt for more information, available dates, and to reserve a Sunday or feast day. The customary donation is $250.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Faith in the Public Square . . . Wednesday, May 7, 7:00-8:30 PM (via Zoom). This three-session series brings together theologians and leaders to discuss theological questions that are immediate right now. The first discussion in the lineup, titled “Faith formed in Refuge: How exile and refuge influenced the spirituality of the Book of Common Prayer” will explore how the worship and belief of the Church of England, and thus of the Anglican tradition, was formed through dialogue with the Reformation traditions in Europe. A live discussion will follow, led by The Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin, Bishop Suffragan, featuring theologians and leaders from various backgrounds. You can click here to register for this session and future. The speakers on May 7 will be:

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford

Rev. Dr. Euan Cameron, Henry Luce Ill Professor Emeritus of Reformation Church History Union Theological Seminary, New York City

Dr. Polly Ha, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity, Duke Divinity School

From the Margins to the Mainstream . . . The next Dialogues on Divinity offering at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine will be on May 12, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM. The Cathedral will welcome three leaders in interreligious dialogue for a panel entitled “From the Margins to the Center: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Conversation.” The tragic events of October 7th and their aftermath have catapulted the engagement of Judaism and Islam into the center of dialogue with Christianity. Is it still possible to maintain good relations or are the three Abrahamic religions doomed to be locked in a widening gyre of enmity? Can the center hold? The conversation promises to be a meaningful exploration of the intersection of tradition, contemporary challenges, and shared values in a world that increasingly calls for interfaith cooperation. The speakers will be:

Rabbi Dr. Burton Visotzky, scholar of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he serves as director of the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue and as the Louis Stein Director of the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies.

Emre Celik, Executive Director of the Peace Islands Institute New York and a Leadership Fellow at the Interfaith Center of New York.

The Rev. Eva Suarez, Canon for Community Engagement at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

The Dialogues on Divinity series seeks to address vital contemporary issues with a theological lens. It is presented by the Community at the Crossing, an ecumenical community for young adults, in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The series is co-sponsored by Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII). Click here for tickets.

FROM DR. HURD: ABOUT THE MUSIC AT SOLEMN MASS ON EASTER SUNDAY

The organ prelude on Sunday is based upon the well-known Easter hymn O filii et filiae (O sons and daughters). The melody of this hymn is thought to be of fifteenth century French origin. It is found in two different forms in The Hymnal 1982.  At #203, The Hymnal provides a rhythmic form of the tune, in the manner of a carol, with the stanzas most suitable for Easter Day. Several French composers of organ music since the seventeenth century have composed pieces based upon popular carol melodies. Ofertoire pour le jour de Pâques (Offertory for Easter Day) from the First Organ Book of Jean-François Dandrieu (c.1682–1739) is a continuous set of twelve variations on O filii et filiae. Dandrieu was born into a Paris family of artists and musicians, and he gave a harpsichord performance at the royalty court as young as age five. From age eighteen he was organist at the Church of Saint Merri where he was named titular organist five years later. In 1721 he became one of the four organists of the Chapelle Royale of France. His variations on O filii et filiae call forth the characteristic sounds of the French classical organs.

The musical setting of the Mass is Missa Paschalis by Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594). Roland de Lassus, as he was also known, was one of the most prolific and admired European composers of his time. Born at Mons in the Franco-Flemish province of Hainaut, Lassus was well traveled particularly in northern Italy, but was centered in Munich much his adult life. His compositions include about sixty authenticated Mass settings, most of which are elaborate parody works based upon motets–often his own–as well as French chansons, and Italian madrigals from such composers as Gombert, Willaert, Resta, Arcadelt, Rore and Palestrina. Missa Paschalis (1576), however, is one of Lassus’ few Masses based upon chant. Only in the Kyrie (not sung this Sunday) is the cantus firmus plainly stated in long notes in soprano and tenor voices. Following the Kyrie the chant elements are integrated into the polyphonic texture. The present performing edition derives from a 1579 collection of various composers’ works entitled Liber primus Missarum quinque vocum (First Book of Masses for Five Voices). Notable in this Mass setting are several passages where polyphony turns to chordal writing, giving particular emphasis to certain phrases of the text.

Heinrich Isaac (c.1450–1517), a contemporary of Josquin des Prez, was an organist and one of the most prolific Netherlandish composers of his time. He is known to have traveled into Germany, Italy, and Austria during his career which spanned more than three decades. His compositions include Masses, motets, instrumental music, and song in French, German, and Italian. The anthology Choralis Constantinus, published in three volumes between 1550 and 1555 in Nuremberg, contains hundreds of chant-based polyphonic settings for the Proper of the Mass composed by Isaac and his student Ludwig Senfl (c.1486–1543). His setting De Resurrectione Domini is a four-voice rendering of the Communion Proper for Easter Day. This motet alternates duple-meter phrases with more dance-like passages in triple meter.

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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.