FROM PARISH ARCHIVIST MARY ROBISON: SUMMERING AT SAINT MARY’S 100+ YEARS AGO

It’s warm in the pews in the summertime here at Saint Mary’s! The ice cream social last week was fun to help us endure the heat after worship and, in our early years, the church offered beach time for parishioners through its summer homes on Long Island and in Keyport, New Jersey.

These homes provided untold numbers of families and children the chance to enjoy recreation, sea air, and swimming, all in a wholesome and faithful setting. It’s been great fun to explore women’s history and mission work in our early years, and to find out more about Saint Mary’s summer homes, operated by the sisters in residence for Saint Marians to escape the city heat.

During the school year, the sisters nurtured and taught the immigrant children with assistance from the girls and women of the parish. The mission work continued in the summer heat, thanks to the Sisters of the Holy Nativity (in the 20th century) and the Sisters of the Order of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in the late 19th century). 

Even though we don’t nowadays consider Keyport, New Jersey, to be a beach vacation destination, this city on the Raritan Bay is where many families from what is now Midtown Manhattan spent a portion of the summers. It was here that Saint Mary’s operated a second summer home between 1905 and 1944. (The first home was on Long Island and operated in the late 1890s, though there is much less information in the records about it.)

Originally constructed by a steamboat captain for his family around 1853, this building began its existence as a family home called the Bay View House, with an addition partially constructed using materials from the steamboat Troy. The house and land later evolved into a summer resort for fashionable northeasterners and, by the 1890s, nearby land had been purchased for tennis courts, a track for walking and races was installed, and summer occupants were listed by name in the local newspapers.

Later a boarding house and event space, the Bay View House was electrified and refurbished in 1900. The church leased the home between 1905 and 1917, and then Saint Mary’s bought the Bay View House for one dollar.

The property was managed by a series of caretakers in the off-season, and the sisters managed the residence and its visitors in the summers. The church held fundraisers throughout the years to help cover costs, and board minutes from the 1920s report finances of the summer operation.

In October 1932, Father Granville Mercer Williams reported that the property was landscaped with fish pools and bird houses added by the caretaker, and that “each person in the parish who has fulfilled his duties as a Catholic during the preceding year is entitled to a two weeks’ stay at the Summer Home.”

Sleeping arrangements were single-sex and sometimes primitive, as the boys stayed in tents and used outhouses. Visitors could spend several days to a week at the Summer Home and were expected to attend Mass each day in addition to the Daily Office. By the mid-1930s, the church began to limit the length of time the summer home would be open to host guests, and it was recorded that several hundred people would enjoy time there each season.

Some visitors were less welcome than others. In November 1937, Father Williams noted that summer house residents must be Saint Marians: “Apparently in the past, many persons who do not belong to the parish have somehow got themselves invited to spend several weeks at our summer place.” To ensure space for parishioners, “we want our own men and women and boys and girls who are faithful in their religious duties to be asked as guests at our Summer Home.”

The home proved popular enough that curfews were necessary by May 1938: “Inasmuch as a good many things have been provided for the entertainment of our people on our own place, there will be no permissions granted to be absent from the grounds after midnight, on any night . . . it does not seem fair or courteous for a few persons to arouse the family by coming in long after midnight. Week-end guests will please take particular notice of this.”

Fundraisers were held and donations solicited for improvements to the facilities through the 1930s, and when Father Taber arrived in 1939, he wanted to adapt the summer home for use by convalescent parishioners. Writing in the October 1940 Ave, he hoped to extend the season: “Since [the summer house] is always kept open, and part of it heated, it could well serve as a rest home. . . . Surely some of the congregation who need a rest and change of scene from time to time at moderate cost would welcome an opportunity to go to Keyport for a visit.”

Between 1940 and 1943, the church struggled to support the mission by limiting the season it was open, but, by 1943, the church could not afford to operate the house, parts of which were more than 90 years old.

In December 1944, the Board of Trustees decided to sell. “For some few years there has not been sufficient income to properly maintain and run our Summer Home, though we have been holding on to the hope of better days to come. Then came the [September 1944 Great Atlantic] hurricane, with thousands of dollars worth of damage to our Keyport property. . . . Such a decision [to sell] does not of course mean that St. Mary’s will ever relinquish her happy privilege of ministering to the needy. This she will do with every spiritual and temporal blessing placed at her disposal.”

The building was abandoned in the 1970s, burned down in 1981, and condominiums now occupy the site where so many city families enjoyed the summers. — MR

See below for a list of sources used in this article.

PARISH PRAYERS

We pray for our sister parish, the Church of All Saints’, Margaret Street, London, and for the Church of the Province of West Africa in the Anglican cycle of prayer.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Lenny, Laura, Dorian, Pat, Jay, Rita, Courtney, Dennis, Burks, Steven, Theodore, Kofi, Blaise, Jon, Jeff, Derick, Phil, Laura, Sue, Emilie, Sharon, Monique, Cassius, Lisa, Ruth Ann, Rosemary, Holly, Becky, Bill, Grady, Violet, Pat, Allen, Giovanna, Ronald, Jose, Ben, Russell, Robert, Sandy, Desarae, David, Tony, Jan, Carlos, Quincy, Leroy, and Margaret; James, Victoria, 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 Gildo, Montserrat, Rashid, and Christine, and for those whose year’s mind is on August 23: Charles Ambrose Coburn (1918), Cornelia Colgate Hatfield (1920), and Harold McCleave Brown (1929).

AROUND THE PARISH

Ordination of Mtr. Elis — Our curate, Mtr. Elis Lui, was ordained to the diaconate in February and will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, September 12, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The liturgy begins at 10:30 AM. Fr. Sammy and Fr. Matt will be attending her ordination, and we warmly welcome all Saint Marians to join us!

Requiem Mass for Robert Picken — There will be a Requiem Mass in the Lady Chapel at Saint Mary’s on Tuesday, August 25, at 10:30 AM, for parishioner Robert Picken. Fr. Peter R. Powell will be the preacher. The Committal will follow immediately in the Mercy Chapel.

CPR/AED Training — To continue to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) at the parish, we need to have members of our community certified. Certifications from our last CPR/AED training session are expiring in November 2026 and we are now planning our next training session. If we have enough interest, we will be able to hold the session in the parish hall on a Sunday afternoon, likely in November. In addition to clergy and staff, altar servers, ushers, and members of our parish with a medical background who attend regularly on Sundays are especially good candidates for this training. Please email Rick Miranda in the parish office if interested in participating.

Property Committee Forming — The Board of Trustees is actively working to assemble a Property Committee to advise them, manage projects, and interact with vendors. If you have experience in these areas, please contact Fr. Sammy.

Cookies are a Call to Community — During the summer months, we simplify Coffee Hour a bit to “Cookies and Lemonade,” though there is still coffee too! We are looking for volunteers to help support this ministry. Please let Fr. Sammy know if you would like to bring the cookies and lemonade for a summer Sunday and check out this Substack post he’s shared entitled “Cookies are a call to community.”

Neighbors in Need: What do we need? — We always need practical shoes in all adult sizes. We need jeans, especially in men’s sizes 32-36—but also women’s sizes and pants other than jeans. And, as you may be thinking of a new winter coat, we would love to have your old coat! We accept all kinds of casual clothing: jackets, pants, tops and shoes, but we do not need professional clothing or children’s clothing. Thanks to many wonderful cash donations, we are able to purchase toiletries and underwear. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information or email neighbors@stmvnyc.org. The next Drop-by day will be Friday, September 18.

WEEKDAY MASS COMMEMORATIONS

Monday, August 24 — Saint Bartholomew the Apostle
Tuesday, August 25 — Louis, King of France, 1270
Wednesday, August 26 — Feria
Thursday, August 27 — Henry Winter Syle, 1890, and Thomas Gallaudet, 1902, Priests
Friday, August 28 — Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 430
Saturday, August 29 — The Beheading of John the Baptist

Click here for detailed monthly calendars.

MONTHLY LITURGIES

Parish Requiem — We offer a monthly Requiem Mass in the Mercy Chapel as part of our chapter of the Guild of All Souls. This Mass is typically celebrated on the third Saturday of the month unless a major feast falls on that day. All are welcome. Our next parish Requiem Mass will be on Saturday, September 19, at 12:10 PM.

Rosary Guild — Our Rosary Guild meets in the Lady Chapel after Solemn Mass (and a brief stop at Coffee Hour) on the fourth Sunday of the month to pray the rosary. All are welcome, including those who are curious, but have never prayed the rosary before! The Rosary Guild meets this Sunday, August 23.

Evensong & Benediction — During the program year, we offer Evensong & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in lieu of Evening Prayer at 4:00 PM on the first Sunday of the month. E&B will next be offered on Sunday, October 4.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Episcopal Relief & Development — Given the recent devastating earthquake in Colombia, we want to remind our community that Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) is an organization that we continue to recommend for financially supporting disaster relief efforts globally. ERD also has an ongoing partnership with Fundación Trinity, an agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Colombia, and they work together to help expand economic opportunities for women and other vulnerable communities in Colombia.

Get to know our Cathedral — The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine offers a variety of guided tours such as the Vertical Tour and the Gardens & Grounds Tour. Click here for more details about their tours and to RSVP. Of course, another great way to get to know our Cathedral is to come to Mtr. Elis’s ordination on Saturday, September 12, at 10:30 AM!

Camino de Santiago de Compostela 2027 — Fr. John Beddingfield, former curate at Saint Mary’s, invites you to join Holy Trinity and Friends from May 24, 2027 to June 3, 2027 for a pilgrimage to the city of Santiago de Compostela, the burial place of St. James the Apostle. This will be a 10-night pilgrimage along the final 127km / 79 miles of the Portuguese Way, beginning in Porto, crossing into Galicia via Valença do Minho and Tui, and finishing in Santiago de Compostela, with time for worship, shared meals and rich encounters with local history and culture. For those who choose, we’ll walk eight consecutive days (Days 2–8), with one full rest and exploration day in Santiago at the end. A private coach accompanies you each day, giving you flexibility—so that if someone needs to take a rest or walk less, one can shorten a stage or ride if needed. More information and registration can be found here. Also, feel free to contact Fr. Beddingfield.

Deacon Formation Program: Inquirers Zoom — Are you interested in exploring ordination to the diaconate? Are you already in discernment for the diaconate? Register for this Inquirers Zoom on Monday, September 14, at 7:00 PM. Archdeacon Denise LaVetty will explain how the program works, what’s required of you, and other important details to help you discern how this ministry might be where God is calling you. You must register to receive the Zoom link. Register by emailing archdeacon@dioceseny.org.

Vocations Day: Listening Hearts Retreat — On Saturday, September 26, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Saint Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, the Diocese will offer an intentional gathering to help those who are beginning to discern a call to lay or ordained leadership in the life of the Church. Seekers will hear from the Canon for Lay & Clergy Formation, the Archdeacon for Diaconal Formation, and members of the Commission on Ministry about the ministry of the Laity and Clergy, the expectations of the Commission on Ministry for those seeking ordination, and clear and practical next steps. There will be prayer, a plenary session, breakout groups, and lunch. Break out groups will include sessions exploring the priesthood, the diaconate, and discerning lay leadership for your community’s needs. Seekers are encouraged to attend with their clergy person, and the expectation is that participants will be present the whole day. Lunch will be served. Registration is required (click here).

ABOUT THE MUSIC ON THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Sunday’s organ voluntaries conclude a series, begun three weeks ago, of the eight “Little” Preludes and Fugues, traditionally attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). These pieces are now widely believed to have been composed by one of his pupils, possibly Johann Tobias Krebs (1690–1762), or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780). Of these eight preludes and fugues, four are in 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 will be BWV 558 in G minor, and the postlude will be BWV 560 in the relative major key of B-flat. BWV 558, for the prelude, begins with a clear harmonic plan, almost suggestive of a chaconne, simply and directly stated. Its accompanying fugue has a charmingly delicate quality. BWV 560, the last of the collection and played for the postlude, is probably the most extraverted of the eight preludes and fugues. Its prelude includes a distinctive pedal solo, and its fugue is angular and emphatic.

The setting of the Mass is based upon the musical settings by John Merbecke (c.1510–1585) which first appeared in The Booke of Common Praier Noted, 1550. Merbecke was a lay-clerk and organist of Saint George’s Windsor in 1541, and soon thereafter he narrowly escaped mortal peril after being accused of heresy. He is known to have composed little else, but his monophonic settings of the ordinary of the Mass from 1550 were the first known musical settings of the liturgy in English. In the early twentieth century, their syllabic simplicity endeared them to congregations, and as such they have appeared in the Episcopal hymnals of 1916 and 1940, albeit in a somewhat rhythmically flattened form. The Hymnal 1982 has restored the original rhythms of Merbecke’s chant-inspired melodies and has provided an optional newly composed keyboard accompaniment. While Merbecke’s settings originally would have been sung unaccompanied by the clerks, and not by congregations, it is also conceivable that harmony may have occurred, although there is no historic record of this. The form of Merbecke’s communion chants sung as today’s Mass setting is a four-voice “choralization” by David Hurd of Merbecke’s melodies. This arrangement, originally composed in 1982 and edited more recently, presents Merbecke’s melodies in harmonic textures resembling other choral works of his time.

The Communion motet is Richard de Castre’s Prayer to Jesus as set by Sir Richard Runciman Terry (1864–1938). Richard de Castre was vicar of Saint Stephen’s Norwich, around 1420. The Middle English devotional poem attributed to him was preserved in a Lambeth manuscript from about 1430. Sir Richard Terry’s setting of this text, often characterized as a carol, was composed in 1923. Terry was a major force in British twentieth century church music, and his influence spread far beyond Westminster Cathedral, London, where he directed music with distinction from 1901 until 1924. His championing of the singing of chant and of the Latin and English Tudor choral repertoire through his work as a teacher, choral master, and editor provided impetus for new compositions including the notable Latin Masses of Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams. He was recognized with the Mus.D. honoris causa at Durham in 1911 and was knighted in 1922 for his distinguished musical contributions.

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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 parish volunteer, Clint Best. Mother Elis Lui also assists with editing the newsletter. 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.

Sources for “Summering at Saint Mary’s 100+ years ago”

Read, Newbury Frost. The Story of St. Mary’s: The Society of the Free Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York City, 1868-1931.  New York: Published for the Board of Trustees, 1938. [https://anglicanhistory.org/usa/misc/read_story1931/]

Regan, Timothy E. Keyport. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 1995.

Taber, Greig. Ave IX:77 (October 1940) 97.

Taber, Greig. Ave XII: 9 (December 1944) 132.

Williams, Granville Mercer, SSJE. Ave I:7 (October 1932) 98.

Williams, Granville Mercer, SSJE. Ave VI:52 (November 1937) 132.

Ave can be found on Saint Mary’s archives page.