FROM FATHER MATT JACOBSON: ON HOLY CROSS DAY

Since Holy Cross Day, September 14, falls on a Sunday this year, the feast will be transferred to Monday the 15th. Many ancient feasts in the calendar of the Church, including Holy Cross Day, have their roots in the dedication of a church. On September 14, 335, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem—a large church complex built over the site of the Cross and Christ’s tomb—was dedicated.

The origins of the feast and of this church go back even further to the year 326, when St. Helena first traveled there with her son, Constantine the Great. At the time, there was a small Christian community in Jerusalem, but it wasn’t of much importance to the wider Church.

Not only had the Temple in Jerusalem been destroyed in the year 70, but the city was too. It was then rebuilt as a Roman city with a forum on top of what had been the Temple. The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina, in honor of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, a trio of pagan gods who had a temple dedicated to them on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

In the early fourth century, Jerusalem was a small, relatively insignificant, town on the outskirts of the imperial world. It wasn’t all that important to the Roman Empire or even to the Church. Perhaps surprisingly, the Bishop of Jerusalem didn’t hold a particularly prestigious post, serving underneath the neighboring Bishop of Caesarea.

While in Jerusalem, St. Helena found a relic of the True Cross and re-discovered many sites important to Christ’s story. Constantine then had churches built at those sites and the city of Jerusalem began to evolve. Jerusalem was transformed. It became an important pilgrimage city and a point of reference for the wider Church.

Subsequently, many local liturgical practices in Jerusalem spread to the wider Church. The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, the Palm Sunday procession, and the Good Friday veneration of the Cross are all attested to for the first time in fourth-century Jerusalem.

The transformation of the city of Jerusalem in the fourth century can remind us of how transformation is at the heart of Holy Cross Day. The feast day is an invitation for us to be transformed, healed, by the Cross, and this makes me think of a phrase over the doorway at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York: Crux est mundi medicina. The Cross is the medicine of the world. May it heal us! — MDJ

The parish has been praying a novena in preparation for Holy Cross Day (click here for the prayers). There will be a relic of the True Cross available for veneration and devotion in the Mercy Chapel throughout the morning of Sunday, September 14, and Holy Cross Day will be commemorated at Mass on Monday, September 15, at 12:10 PM in the Lady Chapel. 

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 South America, in the Anglican cycle of prayer.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Bill, Tim, Bob, 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; 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 September 14: Margaret Hammond (1898), Margaret Carswell (1917), and Helene Weinstock (1964).

AROUND THE PARISH

Adult Formation begins next Sunday, September 21 . . . Sunday morning Adult Formation returns next Sunday, September 21. Dr. James Como will teach the first block, a five-week class on C.S. Lewis, beginning on September 21 at 9:45 AM. Please click here for the reading list and for more details.

Adult Formation 2025-2026 . . . The 2025-2026 program is now online. Click here for more details about Sunday morning Adult Formation, the inaugural Peter Powell Lecture on Anglo-Catholicism and Mission, Thursday Evening Bible Study, Parish Quiet Days, and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for children.

Starting Spiritual Direction, an online class . . . Ms. Ingrid Sletten will be leading an online course for those who are interested in learning about spiritual direction and are curious if spiritual direction may be right for them. For more details, send Ingrid an email or see her article in last week’s Angelus. The dates and times of the course are Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:00 PM, on October 7, October 21, and November 4.

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 other Christian traditions). Confirmation class begins in early 2026 and will prepare candidates to be confirmed at Bp. Allen Shin’s visit on Pentecost.

Our Lady of Walsingham . . . The 12:10 PM Mass on Wednesday, September 24, Our Lady of Walsingham, will be offered as a Sung Mass in the Lady Chapel.

Program Year begins on Michaelmas . . . Our program year officially begins on the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels when a quartet of the parish choir joins us for High Mass at 6:00 PM on Monday, September 29. A reception follows the evening Mass. The full choir returns at Solemn Mass on October 5, the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost.

Young Saint Marians BYOV Party . . . We had such a great time at our last BYOV (Bring Your Own Vinyl) Party that we're hosting another on Thursday, October 9, at 7:00 PM. Feel free to bring snacks, drinks, and of course your favorite tunes. We'll have a record player, but Spotify/Apple Music works just as well. It’ll be a fabulous night of music, conversation, and friendship, and we can't wait to see you there! The party will be hosted in Astoria, Queens (M/R subway lines, Q101/Q104 bus lines). Please RSVP to youngstmarians@gmail.com for the exact address. All are welcome! Young Saint Marians is a group of young adults associated with The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin who gather together for fun, fellowship, and service!

Donations for Altar Flowers . . . Altar flower donations are available for many Sundays this fall, including September 21 and 28; October 12; November 9, 16, and 23 (Christ the King). 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 . . . 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. The next Drop-by day takes place on September 19.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

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.

PIPES: David Hurd — A tribute to the incomparable composer and organist . . . 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 FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Ordinary of the Mass this Sunday is a composite of three pieces spanning four centuries. The Gloria is a metrical paraphrase translated into English from the German Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr as found in The Hymnal 1982 at #421. Both the German paraphrase and its chorale melody are credited to Nikolaus Decius (c.1490–1541). The present English translation is credited to The Reverend F. Bland Tucker (1895–1984). Father Tucker served on the Commission which produced The Hymnal 1940 and is represented by twenty-six hymn texts in The Hymnal 1982. Like many chorale melodies, Allein Gott exists both in duple and triple rhythmic forms. The stately duple rhythm version was included in The Hymnal 1940 at #303 with a harmonization by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1849). However, the older and more dance-like triple rhythm form, with harmonization by Hieronymous Praetorius (c.1560–1629), was chosen for the metrical Gloria in The Hymnal 1982. The Sanctus is from A Community Mass by Richard Proulx (1937–2010). Organist, composer, and conductor, Richard Proulx was one of the brightest lights in American Roman Catholic church music in the late twentieth century. He was also sought out internationally and ecumenically to compose, to consult, to teach, and to direct music programs. In addition to church music, his works include operas, orchestral music, and film scores. From 1980 to 1994 Richard Proulx directed a distinguished music program at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago during which time the Casavant choir organ and landmark four-manual Flentrop gallery organ were commissioned and installed. Proulx’s A Community Mass was composed in 1970 and quickly became a staple in Roman Catholic congregations. Its sturdy Sanctus, when sung by congregations, carries the text and its liturgical function powerfully. The Agnus Dei is from John Merbecke’s Communion setting originally published in The booke of Common praier Noted of 1550. Merbecke (c.1510–c.1585) was known to have been a lay-clerk and organist at Saint George’s, Windsor in 1541. Apart from an obscure Latin Mass and two motets composed in his earlier years, Merbecke’s lasting musical contribution is his collected plainsong settings of the 1550 Prayer Book, most likely the earliest musical setting of the English Ordinary. Merbecke’s settings for the Mass are scrupulously syllabic and free of melodic fancy but yet melodically graceful. Although his original notation and instruction clearly indicates notes of long and short duration, nineteen and early twentieth century editions of his music made all but final syllables of phrases equally short. The Hymnal 1982 edition has restored the original rhythms to Merbecke’s chant. His Agnus Dei is found at S 157.

Henry Purcell (1659–1695) is the composer of this Sunday’s Communion solo. Purcell, more than any other composer of his time, defined English Baroque musical style in a variety of vocal and instrumental genres that included works for theater, court and church. He was born in London, and his family home was virtually in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, where he became organist in 1679. Standing on the foundation of such composers as Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585), William Byrd (c. 1543–1623) and Orlando Gibbons (c. 1583–1625), copies of whose anthems he made at an early age, Purcell forged a musical language of rich harmony and vivid textual expression. The solo during Communion is Purcell’s We sing to him from Henry Playford’s Harmonia Sacra of 1688. The text is by Nathaniel Ingelo (c.1621–1683). The music begins with a stately opening section for solo voice and continuo in duple meter. This is followed by a more animated section in triple meter where a second vocal part which roughly parallels the bass line may be added.

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.