FROM FATHER SAMMY ON RUSSIAN NESTING DOLLS: AN UPDATE ON OUR THREE-YEAR ARC

You’ll remember, I hope, that we are in the final phase of a three-year arc we began back in 2023 at Saint Mary’s —

First, we embarked on a Year of Formation. In 2023, still figuring out what the post-Covid church would look like, we decided to focus on fundamentals. We built an adult formation program that emphasized conversion, looking in depth at where we are in our own relationships with God. With an eye toward deepening our own conversions, we relaunched programs like a weekly Bible study and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for our youngest members. We added an evening Mass on Wednesday nights that was followed by a confirmation class. We roughed out a full slate of formation offerings for every single Saint Marian, cradle to grave.

Then our next phase was a Year of Invitation. Beginning in the fall of 2024, we turned our focus on building a culture of hospitality and invitation at Saint Mary’s, including hosting a Sunday morning class on the Episcopal Way of Evangelism—“the spiritual practice of seeking, naming, and celebrating Jesus’ loving presence in the stories of all people, and then inviting them to more.” Pope Francis framed our challenge this way:

Evangelization takes place in obedience to the missionary mandate of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28.19-20). In these verses we see how the risen Christ sent his followers to preach the Gospel in every time and place, so that faith in him might spread to every corner of the earth.” (Evangelii Gaudium, ¶ 19.)

We challenged each other to answer that call, to share our faith and invite friends to Saint Mary’s, looking for opportunities to bring along our “plus ones” to Lent and special services. The parish worked hard that year to be as welcoming as we could to all our new guests, and as a result the parish grew significantly as a result.

And finally, last fall we embarked on the final stage of this journey, our Year of Service. Having been formed as disciples of Christ, going out with the message of the gospel, we made it a goal to be “guerrillas of charity” and serve our neighbors in Times Square and across our city. Our signature outreach opportunities—Neighbors in Need and our AIDS Walk team—continue to flourish. Last year I asked a few parishioners to come together as a Mission & Outreach team, and they are almost ready to launch a new initiative by serving through Ecclesia at St. Mark’s in the Bowery, hopefully on a regular basis (watch for more info about that in an upcoming Angelus issue). On Thursday, February 12, we host the inaugural Peter Powell Lecture on Anglo-Catholicism & Mission, and on February 22 we begin a 5-week adult formation course called “Service Stories,” exploring how various Saint Marians are serving in the world.

Now, as calendar year 2026 begins and we start to dream about where God may be leading our parish in the decades to come, I’m so gratified to look back at what we’ve accomplished—we’ve crammed a lot into three years, and I hope you’ve been able to see it!

But our work continues.

The image I keep in my mind is a set of Russian nesting dolls—called matryoshka dolls from a Russian word meaning “little mother,” these iconic wooden figures decrease in size, one fitting inside another. For our purposes, think of formation fitting inside invitation, and invitation inside service—the work of each of our three years continues apace, even though our surrounding focus may have shifted.

So just because it’s our Year of Service, the call continues for us to be formed—If you’re not already doing so, stay after the first Mass or come early for the second on Sunday morning, grab some coffee and cake, and join our adult class at 9:45 AM. Join us for Mass and Fr. Stephen’s talks over supper during Lent. Log onto our weekly Lectionary Bible Study Thursday nights from 6-6:30 PM. Join the Guild of All Souls or volunteer to lead Morning or Evening Prayer at the church. If you are interested in baptism or confirmation, let me know so those processes can begin for you. Explore Spiritual Direction or Centering Prayer, or come pray with the Saint Dominic’s Rosary Guild the fourth Sunday of each month. The work of being conformed to the image of Christ is a lifelong task!

But while you’re letting God shape you, please don’t stop inviting others to explore the faith and experience our parish life alongside you. Bring someone to Evensong and the Powell Lecture next Thursday. Invite a friend to Ash Wednesday or pass along a copy of The Shape of Lent at Saint Mary’s 2026 when we roll it out as a way to take them on our Lenten journey with us. Research shows more than 70% of unchurched people would come to church if someone would just invite them. Our parish has so much to offer, so don’t be shy about asking!

And, finally, get involved in serving at Saint Mary’s. Maybe try your hand at one of our Guilds—try being an usher, arranging flowers, or serving at the altar. Help us put our lovely liturgy online for friends around the world to pray with us. Join our little team making sandwiches for Ecclesia or serving at Neighbors in Need. Put forward your name to serve on the Board of Trustees or another leadership team. Let me know personally if you can help with the vital work of hospitality, helping serve at Coffee Hour, the Powell Lecture next week, or one of our festive receptions.

It’s been an amazing ride these three years, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. So what do you say—come get on board with us!
— SW

PARISH PRAYERS

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

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Elizabeth, Sarah, Tyler, Hamida, Monique, Mary, Kathie, Patrick, Khalid, Sophia, Yue, Cassius, Jimmy, Bridget, Lorelei, Lisa, Sue, Joshua, Irma, Ruth Ann, Rosemary, Holy, Becky, Bill, Elliot, Grady, Chris, Violet, Pat, Allen, Vicki, Brendon, Nadia, Carol, Giovanna, Priya, Kavi, Ronald, Jose, Ben, Russell, Robert, Sandy, Lexi, Georgia, Desarae, David, Tony, 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, especially Nate, Jackie, Howard, and Robert, and for those whose year’s mind is on February 8: Chatelier Cook (1884) and Melissa Suggs (2000).

SIGN UP FOR THE PETER POWELL LECTURE ON ANGLO-CATHOLICISM AND MISSION

The inaugural Peter Powell Lecture on Anglo-Catholicism and Mission will take place on Thursday, February 12, 2026, when we host the Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan, Dean and President and McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies and Pastoral Theology at the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. There will be a Choral Evensong at 5:30 PM followed by a reception and Father McGowan’s lecture, “The Tabernacle and the Streets: Reserving the Eucharist and Feeding the Poor.”

If you are planning to attend, please RSVP here, which will help us prepare properly for the event. All are welcome.

AROUND THE PARISH

Volunteers needed! — If you are coming to the Powell Lecture on Thursday night and are willing to help us roll out the red carpet to welcome our visitors, please let Fr. Sammy know. We can use help to set up, usher, serve at the reception, and clean up after. Hope to see you there!

Phone and Internet — Our phone and internet service has finally been restored by Verizon. Fr. Matt ran a test livestream on Wednesday without any problems and we expect to stream this Sunday’s Solemn Mass as usual. We apologize for this inconvenience. Recordings of the liturgies, while service was down, can be found on our webpage.

Palms for Ashes — There is a basket at the usher’s table for parishioners to drop off palms from last year’s Palm Sunday. The palms will be burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Help serve unhoused and under-resourced New Yorkers on February 15 — On Sunday, February 15 after the 11:00 AM Mass, we will put together bagged lunches for the Ecclesia ministry at Saint Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery. In Saint Joseph’s hall during coffee hour, we will assemble bagged lunches of sandwiches and snacks, and then we will take the train down to the 2:00 PM service at Saint Mark’s! From the Saint Mark’s website: “On Sundays, St. Marks in the Bowery hosts ‘Ecclesia,’ an outdoor church ministry committed to serving unhoused and under-resourced New Yorkers. The ministry offers a 2 PM Eucharist service every Sunday, fellowship, and a bagged lunch to everyone who joins.” Come join us to make lunches, attend the service, or both!

Adult Formation — Adult Formation continues this Sunday with a Foundations Course on the spiritual life taught by Fr. Sammy Wood. Click here for more details about what we have planned for this semester at Adult Formation. We meet in Saint Joseph’s Hall at 9:45 AM, between the two Sunday Masses. All are welcome!

Ash Wednesday — This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 18. There will be a Said Mass at 8:00 AM, a High Mass at 12:10 PM, and a Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM. Ashes will be imposed at all three Masses. Ashes will also be available at other times in the Mercy Chapel, though all Saint Marians are strongly encouraged to receive ashes at one of the Masses.

Lenten Quiet Day with Br. Thomas, SSF — On Saturday, March 7, 2026, Br. Thomas Steffensen, SSF, will lead a Quiet Day at Saint Mary’s. We begin with a light breakfast at 9:30 AM, which is followed by the first reflection at 10:00 AM. Lunch is included, and the day will finish by 3:00 PM. Please RSVP to Fr. Wood.

Supper and Conversation in Lent — On four Wednesday evenings, Fr. Stephen Morris will lead a discussion series over supper entitled, “Why on This Night? The Old Testament and the Easter Vigil.” Creation. Noah. Abraham and Isaac. Exodus. Dry bones. Milk and honey. Hearts of flesh instead of stone. Why do we read these lessons from the Old Testament at the Easter Vigil? What does each lesson say about us? What do they say together as a collection? What do they say about Easter? Why bother with them at all?

February 25: Creation (Genesis 1-2)
March 4: Noah (Genesis 5-7)
March 11: Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22)
March 18: Moses (Exodus 1-15)

Why are these four passages the most important of all on this most important of all nights? How is our life different after hearing them read each year? Mass at 6:00 PM, followed by soup and bread and conversation at 6:30 PM. All are welcome! Please RSVP to Fr. Wood.

Flower donations — Altar flower donations are available for Sunday, February 15, the Annunciation, March 25, and many other dates in 2026. The suggested donation is $250. Please contact Brendon Hunter to reserve a date and have the dedication for your flower donation appear in the bulletin.

Baptisms — We are planning for baptisms at the Easter Vigil on April 4, 2026. If you would like to be baptized, or have your child baptized, at the Easter Vigil or on another date, please contact Fr. Matt Jacobson.

Thursday Bible Study — Thursday evening Bible study in 2025-2026 is based on the Sunday lectionary for the upcoming Sunday and generally will be led by the preacher for that day. We meet over Zoom at 6:00 PM. If interested, please email Fr. Wood for the link.

Neighbors in Need — Our first priority now is warm jackets and coats. We are also in serious need of men’s large winter tops and sweaters. Our additional priority needs are practical shoes (no dress shoes or high heels), jeans and cords, and sweaters and tops. Thanks to a generous gift at our October drop-by, we were able to provide new jeans for every visitor. Thanks to your donations we are also able to purchase toiletries and underwear, especially thermals. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information or send an email to neighbors@stmvnyc.org. Our February Drop-by Day will be Friday, February 27 (and not on the usual third Friday).

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Choral Evensong: Installation of Canon Theologians — You're invited to a special evensong as the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine installs their inaugural Canon Theologians: Gary Dorrien, historian, theologian, and leading scholar on Christian Democratic Socialism, and the Rev. Canon Kelly Brown Douglas, who’s dedicated her life to studying racism as well as how it has defined Black life and informed the U.S. and Episcopal Church. These individuals will infuse the life of the Cathedral community and beyond through lectures and sermons within their areas of scholarly expertise. The service is offered in person and over livestream. The service will begin on February 8 at 4:00 PM. Click here for details.

Absalom Jones Celebration — The Diocese’s 2026 Absalom Jones Celebration takes place on Saturday, February 14, at 10:30 AM at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. This meaningful service will honor the legacy of the Reverend Absalom Jones, the first Black priest ordained in the Episcopal Church, whose groundbreaking ministry paved the way for a more diverse and inclusive priesthood. The celebrant will be The Rt. Rev. Matthew F. Heyd, 17th Bishop of New York, and The Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes 11th Bishop of Newark, will preach. Click here to register or to donate to the Absalom Jones Fund for Episcopal HBCUs.

Holy Habits: 2026 Lenten Meditations — Good friend of the parish, Sister Monica Clare, CSJB, is writing this year’s Lenten meditations for Episcopal Relief & Development. The 2026 meditations offer an invitation to rediscover—or deepen—holy habits of prayer, worship and engagement with Scripture. These “holy habits” provide a path to a life that is given shape, meaning and direction by being rooted in a deeper relationship with God. Click here to subscribe.

All Saints’ Margaret Street Drinks Party on March 20 — From our sister parish in London: You are all warmly invited by your sister parish in London, All Saints’ Margaret Street, to a drinks party to be held on Friday, March 20, 2026, at the House of the Redeemer, New York City, from 6:30 PM onwards to celebrate the American Friends of All Saints’, Margaret Street. We hope this special occasion will be an opportunity for us to connect with parishioners of St. Mary the Virgin, and with American Friends of All Saints’ who live in or near New York. We look forward to being able to thank our American benefactors for their support. Both Fr. Alan and Fr. Peter will be present. It would be wonderful to see any parishioners of St Mary’s who wish to come. This drinks party will be proceeded by a Mass celebrated by Fr. Peter in the Chapel of the House of the Redeemer at 6:00 PM, giving thanks for the life of All Saints’, for any who wish to attend. You can book a free ticket for the event via Eventbrite here: https://americanfriendsdrinks.eventbrite.com.

ABOUT THE MUSIC AT SOLEMN MASS ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

The organ prelude this Sunday is a chorale prelude on Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele (Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). The chorale itself is found in the “Holy Eucharist” section of The Hymnal 1982 at #339 with a harmonization by Johann Cruger (1598–1662) and will be sung as the offertory hymn. This Eucharistic hymn by Johann Franck (1618–1677) appeared as a single stanza in Cruger’s Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien, published in Berlin in 1649. It has been sung widely in English translation by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878) and entered the Episcopal hymnal in 1940 having previously appeared in The English Hymnal, 1906. Bach’s organ setting of the Cruger chorale is an expression of serene spiritual confidence. Found within the “Great Eighteen” Leipzig chorales of Bach’s mature period, this setting features the chorale melody, in an elegantly but simply ornamented form, singing above the bass line and two accompanying voices.

The setting of the Mass is Communion Service by Leonard Raver (1927–1993). Dr. Raver’s musical life in New York City included serving on the faculties of The General Theological Seminary and the Juilliard School, and at various times as parish musician at All Saints Episcopal Church and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Manhattan’s east side. He was organist of the New York Philharmonic from 1977 until 1990. A native of Wenatchee, Washington, his undergraduate studies were at the University of Puget Sound. Graduate studies brought him first to Syracuse University and finally to Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Dr. Raver was an avid champion of contemporary music and especially of new music which incorporated the organ. In his career as a recitalist, he commissioned or premiered major works by distinguished American composers including Ned Rorem, Daniel Pinkham, Vincent Persichetti, William Albright, Gardiner Reed, and David Diamond. The source of Dr. Raver’s unpublished Communion Service is an undated manuscript which probably originated in the late 1960s while he concurrently taught at General Seminary and directed music at All Saints Church. The text is essentially that of the Order of Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer, 1928, and the scoring is for unaccompanied voices in four parts. The performing edition of this setting sung this Sunday was prepared by David Hurd. Notations were made in this edition to reconcile the music with the customary liturgical texts as we now know them. Accordingly, the choir will omit the ritually irregular Amens with which Dr. Raver had ended both his Sanctus and Benedictus. (It is interesting to note that the text of The Book of Common Prayer (1928) did not include Benedictus qui venit but did end Sanctus with Amen.) The text underlay at the end of Agnus Dei has also been altered to resolve another Amen which the standard liturgical text does not include.

The beloved English priest and poet George Herbert (1593–1633) offered his reflection and prayer to Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and Life (John 14) in “The Call” (The Temple, 1633). While the setting of Herbert’s prayer-poem for solo voice from Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)—distilled into many modern hymnals, including our own—is probably best known, Herbert’s poem has also inspired a great many fine choral settings. British organist and composer, Richard Lloyd was a chorister at Lichfield Cathedral, organ scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge, assistant organist at Salisbury Cathedral, and organist and choirmaster at Hereford and later Durham Cathedral. His setting of George Herbert’s famous poem was composed in 1994 in honor of Philip Moore and the Choir of York Minster. It is an attractive strophic setting in four voices, but in which the second stanza is topped with an additional soprano descant.

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We are very grateful to all those who make such donations and continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

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.