FROM MARIE ROSSEELS ON RELICS: ART AND DEVOTION

On September 14, in celebration of Holy Cross Day, a relic of the True Cross was displayed for veneration in the Mercy Chapel. The veneration of saints and their relics began in the earliest years of Christianity as a way of honoring martyrs, with evidence of this practice dating back to the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp in AD 156. Initially, relics came from the bodily remains of a saint but by the end of the fourth century, the veneration of relics had grown to include secondary objects such as clothing. In 787, the Second Council of Nicaea decreed that relics should be used to consecrate churches. The peak of the spreading of relics occurred during the Middle Ages.

Relics were often placed in small or larger reliquaries to make the presentation of the relic more tangible to the faithful. These could be artfully polychromed boxes that depicted scenes from the life of the saint, or they could be made with rich materials, such as silver, gold and precious stones. To indicate the nature of the relic, a reliquary could also be designed analogous to the body part it contained, such as an arm or a foot. Over the centuries—and in spite of devastating losses during multiple iconoclastic riots—reliquaries were preserved in churches, monasteries, royal houses, and now also in museums. Even non-believers may appreciate them for their artistic value.

In the late Middle Ages, a unique religious art form emerged in the Low Countries (present-day Benelux countries): Enclosed Gardens. These are richly stocked retable cabinets depicting gardens of paradise. They are embellished with silk flora and fauna, miniature statues, medallions, and stacked with relics and inscriptions. They are also extremely rare. The image above is an example of an Enclosed Garden and shows Saint Elizabeth (with her crown, book and beggar at her feet), Saint Ursula (protecting the eleven thousand virgins under her cloak while holding the three arrows that killed her), and Saint Catherine (with a golden sword in her hands trampling the emperor Maxentius). In between the two medallions above Saint Ursula’s head is a relic labeled “Dit es tghebennte vande xim merteleere” (This comes from the bones of the 11,000 martyrs). It is part of a unique collection of seven Enclosed Gardens in Museum Hof van Busleyden in Mechelen, Belgium. These are all anonymous works that were made for (and possibly with help from) the nuns of an Augustinian order of hospice sisters, as testimonies of devotion. They are works of art in which viewers can lose themselves; devotional images that encourage viewers to look beyond the material and embark on a spiritual journey, much like what one experiences while praying with icons.

I discovered this exceptional collection of devotional art in the summer of 2018 because a just-completed, meticulous multi-year renovation had been covered extensively in the press. The seven Enclosed Gardens of Mechelen are on one floor all by themselves. I was alone when I entered that space, cloaked in subdued light and silence, and I remember it took my breath away. I felt overwhelmed, and uplifted, by the sheer power of all the prayers that had risen up to God around these unique witnesses to the spiritual life of a simple community of religious women. I could almost touch it.

Marie Rosseels has been a member of Saint Mary’s since 2007. She has served three terms on the Board of Trustees and is actively involved in Neighbors-in-Need and several parish guilds.

PARISH PRAYERS

We pray for the people and clergy of our sister parish, the Church of All Saints, Margaret Street, London, and for the Church of the Province of Uganda, in the Anglican cycle of prayer.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Dolores, Violet, Tod, Vanessa, Peter, Bill, Tim, Tyisha, Phoebe, Peter, Pat, Allen, Vanessa, Melvin, Vicki, Bella, Valdez, Helen, Fanny, Brendon, Nadia, Christian, Carol, Giovanna, Mary, Yuri, Priya, Wally, Christine, Ronald, Jose, Ben, Russell, Duncan, Robert, Sandy, Marty, Lexi, Georgia, Desarae, David, Claudia, Nettie, Chrissy, Tony, Rick, Jan, Carlos, Liduvina, Quincy, Leroy, Margaret, and Robert; Victoria, Suzanne Elizabeth, and Laura Katherine, religious; Lind, deacon; and, 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 October 12: Philip Wild (1925), Helen M. Fallon Strothkamp (1933), Fred William Davis (1935), Matilda Elizabeth Turner (1940), and Amy Ira Wilbert King (1950).

AROUND THE PARISH

Guest Preacher on Sunday — The Rev. Dr. D. Dixon Kinser will be our guest preacher this Sunday. He is the nineteenth rector of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, NC. After growing up in Winston-Salem, he attended the University of South Carolina, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, and the School of Theology at Sewanee. He has served parishes in Pittsburgh and Nashville and holds a Doctor of Ministry in disability theology from Duke Divinity School.

Newcomers Reception — Father Sammy and Renee Wood will host a reception in the rectory for newcomers on Sunday, October 12, after Solemn Mass. This is an opportunity for those who are new to the parish to get to know us better and to learn more about Saint Mary’s. Please let Father Wood know if you plan on attending.

Adult Formation — Dr. James Como continues his class on C.S. Lewis at 9:45 AM on Sunday. Please click here for the reading list and here for more details about the 2025-26 program.

Guild of All Souls — The monthly parish Requiem Mass will take place on Saturday, October 11, at 12:10 PM in the Mercy Chapel (rather than the third Saturday of the month, which is Saint Luke’s feast day). The Annual Requiem Mass of the Guild of All Souls will take place on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 11:00 AM at the Church of the Resurrection on 119 East 74th Street. The sermon will be by Fr. Martin Yost, Rector, St. Paul’s, Troy, New York, and Resurrection’s Professional Choir will support the liturgy.

Bible Study starts on October 16 — Thursday evening Bible study in 2025-2026 will be structured in a way that will help prepare us for Mass on Sunday. The sessions will be based on the Sunday lectionary for the upcoming Sunday and generally will be led by the preacher for that day. We will meet over Zoom at 6:00 PM. If interested, please email Fr. Wood for the link.

Saint Marians about Town — Two museum trips are planned for this fall. On Sunday, October 26, after Solemn Mass and the rosary, we will visit the exhibit To the Holy Sepulcher at the Frick. On Sunday, November 30, after Solemn Mass, we will see Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art & Life at the Morgan Library. Please contact Father Wood to RSVP for either visit or with any questions.

Assisi Pilgrimage — Fr. Matt and Br. Thomas, SSF, are leading a pilgrimage to Assisi for Saint Marians and brothers from the Society of Saint Francis. They will gather in Rome on October 17 and travel to Assisi the next day. Please keep them in your prayers!

Rosary Guild — The Rosary Guild next meets after the 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday, October 26, to pray the rosary. All are welcome.

Organ Recital by Bruce Neswick followed by E&B — Evensong & Benediction will next be offered on Sunday, November 2, at 4:00 PM. Come early and enjoy an organ recital by Bruce Neswick at 3:30 PM!

Grant Writer Needed — From time to time, Saint Mary’s becomes aware of grant opportunities, and we are seeking a volunteer to research these opportunities and write persuasive proposals. Key skills include strong research, writing, organizational, communication, and project management abilities, as well as a deep understanding of our parish mission. If you are able to help, please contact Chris Howatt in the parish office.

Interested in being Confirmed? — Please contact Fr. Sammy Wood if you are interested in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation or being received into the Episcopal Church (for those already confirmed in another Christian denomination). Confirmation class begins in early 2026 and will prepare candidates to be confirmed at Bp. Allen Shin’s visit on Pentecost.

Altar Flowers — November 16 is still available for a flower donation. The suggested donation is $250. Please contact Chris Howatt (chowatt@stmvnyc.org or 212/869-5830, ext. 10) to reserve a date and to have the dedication for your flower donation appear in the bulletin.

Neighbors in Need — With winter coming, our priority needs are for practical shoes (no dress shoes or high heels) and jeans and khakis for men and women. We also welcome jackets, sweaters and tops. Soon, coats will be in peak demand. Thanks to generous cash donations, we are able to purchase toiletries and underwear for our guests. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information or send an email to neighbors@stmvnyc.org. The next Drop-by Day takes place on October 17.

KENDYLL HILLEGAS’ KEPT LIKE A SECRET

The parish is proud to host a showing of artist Kendyll Hillegas’s newest work, Kept Like a Secret, in Saint Joseph’s Hall beginning Friday, October 17. This new show explores the relationship between what wants to be noticed, and what cannot be kept, and features 12 new oil paintings with a focus on the quietly persistent images that call for our attention. Kendyll Hillegas is a commercial illustrator and fine artist based in southeastern Pennsylvania. Originally from Southern California, she earned her BFA in Fine Art before establishing herself in commercial illustration, working with notable clients including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, YouTube, A24 Films, and Coca-Cola. Her work for A24 Films was featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and she has collaborated on projects with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and The Rolling Stones. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, October 17, with the artist in attendance from 6:00-8:00 PM.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Dialogues on Divinity: Conflict and the Healing of Hatred — Join the Very Rev. Winnie Varghese in conversation with Hana Bendcowsky and John Munayer, peacemakers and program staff from the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue (Jerusalem), as they discuss their unique, trauma-informed methodology for addressing conflict at its deepest level, based on tools for spiritual counseling. Co-sponsored by the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue. 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). Sunday, October 19, from 1:00 - 2:30 PM at the Cathedral. Click here for tickets.

The 2025 Hobart Lecture — The Diocese of New York’s 2025 Hobart Lecture will feature Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde and Poet Theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama. The lecture will take place at Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue on Wednesday, October 15, at 7:00 PM. Click here for tickets and more details.

PIPES: David Hurd — Saint Mary’s organist and music director, Dr. David Hurd, will be honored with a concert at Trinity Church on November 4 at 6:00 PM. “Trinity organists past and present—Bruce Neswick, Alex Leonardi, and Alcée Chriss III—team with Trinity Choir to spotlight the artistry of another former Trinity organist: the incomparable David Hurd. A leading composer and organist in Episcopal church music for decades, Hurd will direct his own choral works, which blend spiritual depth and bold harmonies.”

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT SOLEMN MASS ON THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Art of Fugue is a collection of nearly twenty pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) called Contrapuncti, all originating from a single theme and ranging from relative simplicity to astonishing complexity. It was collected by the composer’s eldest son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and published in 1751, a year after the elder Bach’s death. J. S. Bach composed much of this music early in the 1740s and made many revisions over time. However, since this monumental and unique opus remained unfinished at the time of Bach’s death, its mysteries continue to excite the imaginations of scholars and musicians. No instrumentation is specified for this work, and it is notated in open score. Instrumental ensembles of various composition have adopted and performed The Art of Fugue, and it lends itself well to performance on the organ. In Contrapunctus I, played for the prelude this morning, Bach lays out and develops the theme on which the entire Art of Fugue is built in elegant four-voice counterpoint.

Sunday’s postlude is based upon the chorale Nun danket alle Gott (“Now thank we all our God”), sung as our Post-Communion hymn. The chorale itself, now internationally and interdenominationally well known, was authored in 1630 by Martin Rinckart (1586–1649), archdeacon in Eilenburg, Saxony. Johann Crüger (1598–1662) is credited with composing the melody for Rinckart’s words which appeared in the 1647 third edition of his Praxis Pietatis Melica. This text and melody combination, in English translation by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878), has been in Episcopal hymnals since 1871. The postlude, from Sigfrid Karg-Elert’s Choral Improvisationen, Opus 65, is one of the composer’s most popular organ pieces. It is subtitled Marche triomphale and marked Pomposo e con brio. The chorale melody is not stated literally and may not be recognized immediately, but a spirit of exuberance and joy is clearly present in the opening and final sections of this setting.

Tomás Luís de Victoria (c.1548–1611), the composer of Sunday’s Mass ordinary, knew and may have been instructed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525–1594) who was maestro di cappella of the Seminario Romano in Rome at the time Victoria was studying at the nearby Jesuit Collegio Germanico. During his years in Rome, Victoria held several positions as singer, organist and choral master, and published many of his compositions. He was ordained priest in 1575.  There are twenty authenticated mass settings of Victoria in addition to two Requiems. Although the Missa Dominicalis, today’s Mass setting, has long been attributed to Victoria, it is considered spurious by some scholars who recognized elements in the music which appear uncharacteristic of Victoria’s style. However, no alternative authorship has been determined. Missa Dominicalis is an alternatim setting, that is, phrases of text are sung in segments which alternate chant with polyphonic writing. In this case, the polyphonic segments are in four voices and are rigorous in their use of chant phrases as cantus firmus. The cantus firmus for the Kyrie (not sung this morning) and the Gloria in excelsis is Mass XI, Orbis Factor, the plainsong designated for Sundays throughout the year. The cantus firmus for the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei is Mass XVIII, the plainsong designated for Weekdays in Advent and Lent, and at Masses of the Dead.

Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625) was baptized on Christmas Day 1583 in Oxford, where his father, William Gibbons, was employed as a town musician. He was a chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, between 1596 and 1598, while his elder brother, Edward (1568-1650), was master of the choristers. King James I appointed Orlando Gibbons a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he served as an organist for the last ten years of his life. He was active as a court musician and served as organist at Westminster Abbey. In his relatively short life, Gibbons composed generously for keyboard, for viols, and for voices in both sacred and secular realms. His sacred works include two service settings, several verse anthems, and several full anthems including Sunday’s Communion motet, Almighty and everlasting God, a setting of the collect formerly attached to the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Although one of the more modest of Gibbons’ compositions for the English service, it is an important early example of the English full anthem and served as a model for the close-following generations of distinguished church music composers that included John Blow and Henry Purcell. 

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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.