FROM FATHER JACOBSON: ON THE TRANSFIGURATION

This past Wednesday, August 6, was the Feast of the Transfiguration, an event recounted by Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke.[1]

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. (Luke 9:28–36)

The feast was first celebrated in the east in the late fourth century and entered western monastic celebrations after the ninth century. It later became universally part of the Latin western calendar in the fifteenth century. [2]

Saint Gregory Nazianzus, writing in the fourth century about the Transfiguration, said that “on the Mountain [Jesus] was bright as lightning, and became more illuminous than the sun, initiating us into the mystery of the future.”[3] Gregory is speaking of the future, but not just the future glory of the Son. Gregory is also speaking of our future. Jesus is initiating us into the mystery.

Just prior, Gregory states that Jesus took on human flesh so that we “might be made God [in] so far as He is made man.”[4] To be clear, he’s not saying that we will be God, though he is saying there is something analogous to the Son becoming human that is awaiting us. The Son was fully God, and yet for us became also fully human.

The analogy isn’t perfect in that we will still be fully human and not fully divine. That said, if we can truly become fully human, reaching our full potential, then there is something about that which is certainly divine.

Remember, we were created in God’s image. The divine is already within us as part of being human. Our journey, as followers of Christ, in a nutshell, can be described as getting back to where we started. Part of that is being with God, like Moses and Elijah standing there with Jesus.

And, part of it is opening ourselves up for God to change us, transform us, little by little, to become more god-like, where god-like is the fullness of our human potential.

The word “transfigure” in its basic sense means to change the appearance of something, generally for the better. If we let ourselves be changed to be more in the image of God, to better reflect the Son as his image, as was always intended in creation, then that means transfiguration is in our future too! — MJ

PARISH PRAYERS

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

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Randall, Sarah, Luis, Phoebe, Peter, Pat, Jennifer, Allen, Vanessa, Melvin, Vicki, Bella, Valdez, Helen, Fanny, Brendon, Nadia, Christian, Carol, Giovanna, Mary, Yuri, Priya, Wally, Donald, Ronald, Jose, Ben, Russell, Duncan, Robert, Sandy, Orham, Marty, Lexi, Georgia, Desarae, David, Claudia, Nettie, Chrissy, Tony, Rick, Jan, June, Carlos, Liduvina, Quincy, Leroy, Margaret, and Robert; 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 August 10: James Hamilton Baggett (1880), Frances Louise Parsons (1896), Ruth Garrow (1898), Helen Louise Morris (1925), Leonora Sheldon Smith (1925), Margaret Grant (1929), Edward Joseph Fath (1930), Frederick Kent Dohrman (1932), Harry Davidson Adger (1964), Lillian May Doughley (1980), and Charles Arthur Schaefer (2014).

AROUND THE PARISH

Parishioner detained by ICE . . . One of our parishioners, an asylum seeker, was detained by ICE this week at his check-in appointment. Given the sensitive nature of his particular situation, we are not publicly disclosing any identifying details about him, and we ask that all Saint Marians do the same. The Diocese has been helping us support this parishioner for some time now and they asked us for a statement about this week that can be shared publicly. It can be read here. Please pray for him and all those who are in search of a better life in this country.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . This coming Friday, August 15, at 6:00 PM, the full choir returns for our Solemn Mass on the Assumption. Father John Shirley will be the preacher. We will also offer Morning Prayer at 8:00 AM and a Sung Mass in the Lady Chapel at 12:10 PM.

Father Wood on vacation . . . Father Sammy Wood began his summer vacation this past week. He returns to the parish on Sunday, August 24.

Facebook and our livestream . . . We apologize to those who watch Solemn Mass on Facebook. We had some technical issues last Sunday and weren’t able to get reconnected to Facebook in time. The problem has been resolved. We were able to broadcast live to our website on the livestream page: https://www.smokymarys.org/livestream. If you notice our liturgy not appearing on Facebook when it should, please go to our website and see if we are able to broadcast there. We also post the bulletin to the livestream page on our website and of course have archived videos of liturgies and sermons there as well. We consider our website to be the primary place to watch our liturgies.

The Rosary Guild . . . Join the rosary guild on Sunday, August 24, after Solemn Mass. The guild meets on the fourth Sunday of each month to pray the rosary together.

Summer donations for Neighbors in Need . . . Thanks to generous cash donations, we are able to purchase toiletries and underwear for our guests. Our clothing room depends on your gifts of lightly-used clothing. Right now, our biggest needs are shoes (sneakers, sandals and other practical shoes, but not high heels), jeans and khakis. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information. Note that the August Drop-by day will be on August 22 and not on the third Friday (August 15) due to the Assumption.

Cookie donations needed for September . . . During the summer months, we have lemonade and cookies at Coffee Hour and are looking for cookie donors. Please get in touch with Father Sammy Wood if you are able to help with a Sunday in September.

Summer Reading . . . Dr. James Como will teach the first block of Adult Formation in the fall, a five-week class on C.S. Lewis. We begin on September 21, though we thought that some might want to use the summer to work through the reading list. Please click here for the reading list and for more details.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Message from Bishops Heyd and Shin on Gaza . . . with our Cathedral we are calling on everyone in the Diocese of New York to act now to relieve suffering in Gaza. We can support World Central Kitchen’s daily offering of meals through this humanitarian catastrophe. We are all made in the image of God. Our care for each other offers a central expression of our Christian faith. Scripture reminds us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Jesus teaches us to feed the hungry. We’re inviting you to sign onto a statement that calls for more aid—and to share online and with friends. Sign here. We’re also inviting you to contribute funds equal to what you spend on one day’s food to the efforts of World Central Kitchen in Gaza. Donate here.

Installation and Institution of the new Dean of the Cathedral . . . Join the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine to celebrate the installation of the 12th Dean, the Very Reverend Winnie Varghese, on Saturday, September 27, at 10:30 AM. You can read here about the dean elect’s vision for the Cathedral.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT HIGH MASS ON THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Sunday’s organ voluntaries continue a series, begun last Sunday, of the eight “Little” Preludes and Fugues traditionally attributed to J. S. Bach (1685–1750). These pieces are now widely believed to have been composed by one of Bach’s pupils, very likely Johann Tobias Krebs (1690–1762), or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780). Of these eight relatively short preludes and fugues, four are in the major keys of C, F, G, and B-flat, and the remaining four are in their relative minors of A, D, E, and G. The standard ordering of these eight pieces begins with BWV 553 in C Major and progresses up the scale to BWV 560 in B-flat. This week’s prelude is BWV 559 in A minor, and the postlude is BWV 553 in the relative Major key of C. BWV 559, for the prelude, is probably the most dramatic of the eight preludes and fugues, displaying elements of the stylus fantasticus (“fantastic style”) of north-German Baroque keyboard music. BWV 553, numbered first in the collection and played for the postlude, is a bright and innocently straightforward piece. Both preludes and fugues have stylistic similarities to the larger works BWV 543 and BWV 545, which are in the same respective keys and are more certainly authentic works of J. S. Bach.

The Mass setting is from Communion Service, Opus 71, composed in 1976 by the Welsh composer, William Mathias (1934–1992). From 1970 to 1988 Mathias was professor and head of the music department at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. Active as a conductor and pianist, he was also the artistic director of the North Wales Music Festival which was held annually at Saint Asaph’s Cathedral. Mathias composed liberally both for instrumental and choral forces, and his church music and organ music are widely performed. Having composed music for many royal occasions, his worldwide esteem surged as a result of his anthem Let the people praise Thee, O God, which he composed for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1985. His Communion Service was composed for unison congregational singing with optional choral features and was one of the early Series 3 settings (parallel to Episcopal Rite II) to gain broad usage among Anglicans. As such, its essential movements, minus their choral elements, were included in The Hymnal 1982. Mathias’ setting may be considered musically to be for Rite II what Healey Willan’s Missa de Sancta Maria Magdelena was for the 1928 rite and continues to be for Rite I; that is: a modern, energetic, organ-accompanied setting for congregations and choirs to sing together.

During the Communion, our cantor, Muir Ingliss, will sing En prière, an art song for voice and piano by Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924). The lyricist for this song, which was composed and published in 1890, was the poet Stéphane Bordèse (1847–1919). The song is dedicated to Madame Leroux-Ribeyre to whom Fauré also dedicated at least one other song. Fauré was born in the south of France, the youngest of six children. He lived with a foster mother until, when he was four years old, his father was appointed director of the École Normale d’Instituteurs at Montgauzy and he returned to live with his family. It was on a harmonium in the chapel there that Fauré’s musical inclinations became apparent. In 1854 he began eleven years of study at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, a school focused on training organists, choir directors, and church musicians. After Niedermeyer’s death in 1961, Fauré studied with Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921), and they remained life-long close friends. Fauré life was far too varied and complex to be easily described or summarized. He held a variety of positions in a turbulent time both in the church and the French musical academy. He was highly regarded as an organist yet wrote no music for organ solo. While his Requiem (1901) is widely beloved, few of the sacred works he is known to have composed are extant. Yet, his secular songs and piano music are standard repertoire. However, in En prière, secular and sacred overlap. Fauré’s lyric melody floats its prayer over a harp-like accompaniment.

Muir Ingliss, a native New Yorker and graduate of Bard College, has been a member of the choir of Saint Mary’s since January of 2022. During the 23/24 season he has appeared as the soloist for NYC choral group C4’s concert centering around the life and works of poet Arthur Rimbaud, as well as in the title role of Don Giovanni with Amore Opera, the Lord Chancellor in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe with Bronx Opera, and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Magnifico. His other recent operatic engagements include Marcello in La Boheme, Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief, Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, Alidoro in Cenerentola, Marco in Gianni Schicchi, Kendall Nesbitt in Lady in the Dark, and Musiklehrer/Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos. Mr. Ingliss is also a frequent soloist in sacred music, having performed Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Faure’s Requiem, and Mozart’s Requiem.

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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.

[1] Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–13, Luke 9:28–36.
[2] Marion J. Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book (HarperCollins, 1995), 70.
[3] Gregory Nazianzus, On the Son, 3.19.
[4] Ibid.