From Father Mead: Celebrate the Annunciation at Saint Mary’s
From Father Mead: Celebrate the Annunciation at Saint Mary’s

I write on Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19.  When the sextons saw a white chalice veil set for last night’s evening’s mass for the Eve of Saint Joseph, they called my cell phone to confirm the color: not to confirm that they should change the tabernacle veil to white, but instead to confirm that someone had made a mistake.  Since lesser feasts are not observed at Saint Mary’s during Lent, it’s been purple vestments since Ash Wednesday. 

From Father Smith: When Words Become Word

Those of you who have been around this parish long enough will have heard the Rector refer to Saint Mary’s as a “full-gospel church.”  It’s a phrase that Father Gerth, raised a Baptist in the great commonwealth of Virginia, always uses with a smile on his face – and in his voice.  He knows full well the cultural and denominational connotations of the phrase “full-gospel”; and he also knows that those Christians who emblazon their church signboards with it are seldom, if ever, high-church Anglo-Catholics.

From Father Mead: The Language of Lent

My son Liam, who is not quite two and a half years old yet, is learning to speak English at a rate that I find quite surprising.  For the past few days he has thoroughly enjoyed climbing up on the couch cushions so that he can look out the window in our living room.  Once settled on his perch, he exclaims: “Look at my up here!”. 

From Mr. Kennerley: Come, let us sing unto the Lord!

One may well be surprised that a member of the lay staff at Saint Mary’s is writing this week’s Angelus article: indeed, looking back over the archives of past articles, I think this may be the first time that a Music Director has written one!  I am grateful to my colleagues, the curates, for giving me the opportunity, and I hope that it might offer them some relief during Father Gerth’s sabbatical.  I want to write about singing, and how we might use this distinctly personal gift as part of our Lenten journey towards the glory of Eastertide.

From Father Smith: A Prayer for Lent

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian has traditionally been said at each weekday service during Lent.  The prayer goes like this: “O Lord and Master of my life!  Take from me the spirit of laziness, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.  Give instead to your servant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love.  Yes, O Lord and King!  Let me see my own errors and let me not judge my brothers and sisters.  For you are blessed unto ages of ages.  Amen.”

From Father Mead: Something about the Scriptures

One of the features of daily life at Saint Mary’s is the occasional overlap of lectionaries that are used.  For instance, right now the Gospel according to Mark is being read at Sunday Mass, at Evening Prayer, and at daily Mass.  Because each of these three services follows a different lectionary the Gospel is being read at differing paces, and we are at three different places in the narrative.  This Sunday we continue to read from the first chapter of Mark, and we will crawl through the narrative all year. 

From Father Powell:  Enjoying the Gift

I never intended to become a regular at St. Mary the Virgin.  I knew the church existed and had read about it from time to time but I figured it was a precious anachronism that would never appeal to me.  I was wrong.  From the first Sunday I dropped in, I have been hooked on St. Mary the Virgin and worshiping here, even as infrequently as I do, has deepened my faith.

From Father Smith:  The Holiness of Beauty

One of our parishioners is a “gemologist” and a recent graduate of the Gemological Institute of America.  She recently found work at one of New York’s famous jewelry stores.  (You will recall that Saint Mary’s is only a couple of minutes’ walk from the city’s Diamond District.)  Our parishioner was in class last Sunday morning when we were discussing Revelation 4–5; her observations, when we arrived at Revelation 4:2-3, were very helpful.  The verses go like this, “At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne!  And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.”  

From Father Mead:  What a difference every pledge makes!

My wife, Nicole, was laid off in early November from her job at Redbook magazine.  With another baby on the way (due in May!) and our two-year-old son, Liam, rapidly outgrowing all of his clothes, the loss of her salary has been difficult to deal with, but we are doing our best to budget and prioritize.  The difficulty of finding a new job in this economic climate is increased due to the fact that she is five months pregnant – it’s difficult to hire someone who is going to take a significant amount of time off in just a few months time.  For the time being she is collecting unemployment and seeking freelance work. 

From Father Smith: Mission and Outreach at Saint Mary’s

The newly constituted Mission & Outreach Committee has now met twice, once in December and again last Sunday, and so this may be an opportune time to tell the friends and members of the parish what the Committee has been doing and what its plans are for the future.  First of all, it should be said that the Committee is merely the latest incarnation of an effort that has taken on different forms over the years.  At the moment, we are building on the efforts of my predecessor, Father John Beddingfield and a number of parishioners in recent years. 

From Father Mead: Through the rhythms of times and seasons

This past Tuesday evening the parish community celebrated the Epiphany with a Solemn Mass.   The feast marks a wonderful conclusion to Christmastide while also offering a glorious reminder of the riches of the upcoming liturgical year – the solemn singing of The Proclamation of the Date of Easter at the conclusion of the Solemn Mass.   Because our assisting deacon, Jedediah Fox, was swamped with Canonicals (exit exams required of all Seminary Seniors that for some odd reason are always scheduled at Epiphany), I had the pleasure of singing the Proclamation this year. 

From Father Smith: Christmas without Nostalgia

Last week, on Christmas Eve morning, Father Gerth, Father Mead, Deacon Jed Fox, and I met in the Rectory shortly after Morning Prayer to review plans for the day.  Just before 10:00 AM, somebody realized that one of the local radio stations was about to begin its live broadcast of the Service of Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge.  The Rector went and got his portable radio and quickly tuned it to WNYC.  Moments later the service began with the elegant bidding prayer and, of course, the well-known first hymn, “Once in royal David’s city.” The single soprano voice with which that hymn begins seemed to have a particularly calming effect on all of us on that busy morning.