FROM THE RECTOR: AN UNUSUAL TIME

As I write on Friday evening March 20, we have learned that the governor of New York State has issued Executive Order 202.6, which we interpret to mean that our parish administrator, bookkeeper, and our sextons will no longer be able to come to work for the foreseeable future. Chris, Jay, and I have spent part of the last hour talking about what we need to know and what needs to be done—and what can be done—in their absence. Those of us who live here know when the garbage needs to be put out. I’m good about turning the heat on and off. We know how to sweep, but the sidewalks may not need sweeping or washing quite as frequently in the coming days. We know where the light switches and the fuse boxes are. More will be revealed. We will use every means at our disposal to stay in touch. We will continue to live and pray faithfully and responsibly during this plague that has already affected so many throughout the world.

FROM THE RECTOR: TEMPLATE DAYS

This morning, Friday, March 13, Father Jay Smith and I had a conference call with the Reverend Dr. James Conlin Pace. He was at his desk at the NYU Rory Meyers School of Nursing—he told us that he was alone on his floor for a number of reasons, all related to the current health crisis. I learned from Father Pace that, unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus becomes highly concentrated in the “oropharyngeal” region of an infected person. Jay knew the word; I did not. Basically, “oropharyngeal” means the throat—the pharynx is the cavity that connects the nose and the mouth to the esophagus. We also learned from Jim that the corona virus is also found in high concentrations in the stool of infected persons. These features of the virus are definitely worrying. They explain why contagion seems to occur fairly easily with this virus, and why the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are recommending such stringent sanitary practices. Given the risk of contagion, it becomes ever clearer that, if you are not entirely sure that you are well, you should stay home and seek expert medical advice.

FROM THE RECTOR: HOLY COMMUNION AND COVID-19

In 2010, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was celebrant and preacher here for the Feast of the Annunciation. After Mass she greeted the congregation at the door and spent a very generous amount of time in the parish hall. At one point, I sensed that the time had come for her to sit down. She and I walked to the rectory, and she followed me into the kitchen. We kept talking, but as I began to wash my hands, she did the same thing. It was a moment I remember. Both of us have served in a profession in which we shake many people’s hands. On more than one occasion, I’ve spoken to someone who’s taken my hand while telling me that they are sick. I suspect I’ve caught a cold more than once from such encounters over the years. In New York City, we worship, work, and travel in crowded spaces. Not everybody takes the same precautions or thinks clearly about these issues, and, so, it makes sense to take preventive measures.

FROM THE RECTOR: LOOKING AHEAD

The doors of Saint Mary’s opened at 7:00 AM on Ash Wednesday. People were still coming in when they were closed at 8:00 PM. I want to thank all of our parish volunteers and staff for doing so much and for doing it with a real joy in our ministry of welcome. The Right Reverend Allen K. Shin, bishop suffragan (and former assisting priest and curate here), was celebrant and preacher for the 12:10 Sung Mass. Bishop Shin will be back with us as celebrant and preacher for the Solemn Mass on Wednesday evening, March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.

FROM THE RECTOR: LENT BEGINS THIS WEEK

Until I became rector of Saint Mary’s on February 1, 1999, I didn’t give very much thought to Ash Wednesday other than it being the first day of the Lenten Season. Ash Wednesday in New York City, February 17, 1999, was overwhelming. In 2000, we were prepared for the onslaught. In the city, more people come through the doors of churches on the first day of Lent to receive the imposition of ashes than present themselves for Christmas or Easter—or any other day of the year.

FROM THE RECTOR: AT LAST

The New York City Department of Buildings issued a work permit for the conservation of the West 46th Street façade of the church on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Weekly meetings with our contractor, Milan Restorations; our architects, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Inc. (JHP); and the members of the parish team—trustees MaryJane Boland and Clark Mitchell, office manager Chris Howatt, and myself—resumed last Thursday, February 6. These meetings will take place weekly, with few exceptions, until the project is completed in the spring of 2021.

FROM THE RECTOR: THANK YOU 

In the December 2019 Christmas offering letter, I wrote to members and friends of the parish asking for a special gift to help us to continue to restore the four sets of tambour doors between the church and Saint Joseph’s Hall. (A tambour door, Wikipedia tells us, “is a sliding door made of slats which roll up as the door is opened upwards or sideways,” rather like a rolltop desk.) Three of these doors open into the church. The fourth is the door to a cabinet that houses a collection of non-precious metal crosses. Last fall, Vince Lepre, the founder of Fifty Three Restorations, Inc., and his team began working on one set of doors. His team was able to restore one-half of one of the doors to good working order. The team also figured out how the doors had been designed and how, eventually, they had failed. It is likely that the design is unique to Saint Mary’s. At Christmas, $18,666.73 was given was given for the work, and I am very grateful for the generosity of our donors.

FROM THE RECTOR: PRESENTATION

As I begin to write on Friday, January 31, I am very aware that today I complete twenty-one years of service as rector of Saint Mary’s. On Sunday, January 10, 1999, I officiated for the last time as rector of Trinity Church, Michigan City, Indiana. The service was Solemn Evensong & Benediction. There was a wonderful parish supper in the large parish hall afterwards. The movers had already taken my things out of Trinity’s rectory. I spent my last weekend in Michigan City with very dear friends. On Monday morning, I began the drive to the east. On the way, there was snow. I spent the night in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday morning I reached Saint Mary’s. There was snow on the ground here, but there was also sunshine. I had a couple of weeks to settle in. I became rector on February 1.

FROM THE RECTOR: PREPAREDNESS

On Thursday, January 23, Board of Trustees Member Brendon Hunter and I attended an "Active Shooter Preparedness & Stop the Bleeding Training for Congregations" sponsored by New York Disaster Interfaith Services. Brendon and I haven't had time to debrief, as it were, but we will. Saint Mary's is a half-block from Times Square. Most any hour of the day there is a significant police presence in our neighborhood, not to mention the eyes and ears of the Times Square Alliance Public Safety Officers, who patrol our area 24-hours a day, seven days a week. There have been other opportunities for me to attend workshops like this. Given the continuing reality of active shooter incidents, I thought I should go. I very glad Brendon was there, too. The vast majority of these shooters are single males acting alone, some terrorists, others not.

FROM THE RECTOR: FAMILY HISTORY

When one begins working in Bowen Family Systems Theory, as I did in the late 1980s, one begins to do genealogy. Among the many things I would learn is that, if you do genealogy, you are likely to be contacted by a relative you’ve never met, especially with the advent of Ancestry.com and other websites. I want to tell you what I know about slaveholding in my family.

FROM THE RECTOR: BAPTISM AND WORSHIP

It’s worth remembering that the first American Prayer Book (1789) altered the wording of the Lord’s Prayer: “which art” became “who art” and ”the Kingdom, the Power” became “the kingdom, and the power.” What is
significant is the recognition by the post-Revolution church that the spoken English of the country was different from that of England. That said, it would not be until 1892 that the American church found its way to revising its Prayer Book.

FROM THE RECTOR: CHRISTMAS AND EPIPHANY

This Sunday morning, January 5, we celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas Day. This commemoration occurs in four of every seven years. The 1979 Prayer Book gives three options for the gospel lesson, The Escape to Egypt and Return of the Holy Family (Matthew 2:13�15, 19�23), The Boy Jesus at Jerusalem (Luke 2:41�52), and The Visit of the Wise Men (Matthew 2:1�12), the gospel for the Epiphany. We will of course hear

FROM THE RECTOR: MERRY CHRISTMAS

Let me begin by expressing the great happiness I felt on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, my twenty-first Christmas at Saint Mary’s. Let me add my great thanks for everyone and everything that made it such a special time for so many. There were lots of smiles. I met faithful people from all over who were amazed by our building, our worship, and our music. During the services I found myself thinking of members and friends of Saint Mary’s who live elsewhere but whose commitment to this parish is strong. I also found myself thinking of people who welcomed me to Saint Mary’s and who are now in the nearer presence of God—I felt relationship and peace, but not loss.

FROM THE RECTOR: CHRISTMAS BEGINS

The twelve days of Christmas begin this week, on Tuesday evening, December 24. That said, there will be some signs of it in the church on this, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Evergreens for Christmas arrived a few days ago. Members of this year’s Flower Guild Christmas Team trimmed and placed the greens in water in Saint Joseph’s Hall. The wonderful smell of the evergreens is a sign for us that Christmas is very near. Some of the work (the crèche) in Saint Joseph’s Chapel is already underway.

FROM BROTHER DAMIEN JOSEPH SSF: RAZORS, GRATITUDE & HOPE

I was taking our dog, Annie, on her final walk for the day one Monday night, along cold wet streets with a now gently falling mix of snow and rain.  I passed …

FROM THE RECTOR: 150TH PATRONAL FEAST
On Monday, December 9, 2019, we will celebrate the 150th patronal feast, the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (transferred), of the Society of the Free Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Morning Prayer will be sung at 8:30 AM. The Noonday Office will be prayed at 12:00 PM and a Sung Mass will be celebrated at 12:10 PM. There will be an organ recital at 5:30 PM by Ms. Janet Yieh, Trinity Church, New York City. The Right Reverend Andrew M.L. Dietsche, the bishop of New York, will be celebrant and preacher for the Solemn Mass at 6:00 PM. A reception in Saint Joseph’s Hall follows the Eucharist.

FROM THE RECTOR: SESQUICENTENNIAL YEAR BEGINS

As the new church year begins with the eve of the First Sunday of Advent, on Saturday, November 30, my mind is thinking ahead to Sunday, December 8, 2019, the Second Sunday of Advent—the beginning of Saint’s Mary’s one-hundred fiftieth year of ministry. Because of its location in this city and because of its history of witness and daily worship, truly only God knows how many people have been blessed to enter its doors.

FROM THE STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE: THIS YEAR & EVERY YEAR

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin will be entering its 150th year on December 8, 2019, and the Board of Trustees, clergy and staff are planning the many ways we intend to mark this milestone. There will be celebrations and distinguished visitors and special music and more. During this special year, the parish will continue to do all of the things we do at Saint Mary’s regardless of the anniversary—worship, witness, fellowship, service.

FROM THE RECTOR: CAROL OSUCHOWSKI SELLE, 1932-2019

Carol Selle died on Sunday, November 10, at Lenox Hill Hospital, near her apartment on Park Avenue. She was eighty-six years old. She had not been able to come to church for several years now. I visited her regularly to bring her Communion and to spend some time with her. I saw her for the last time on Wednesday afternoon, October 30. She was the last of a group of four very remarkable women whose advice and encouragement helped my life unfold. I don't think the four of them were ever in the same room, but I was blessed to know them all. The direct and indirect links among them were many. Let me start with the first of the four whom I came to know, Elizabeth (Betsey) Shaw Bobrinskoy (1927-2008). She was Carol's best friend.

CALENDAR STUDY

The first proofreading of the 2020 Parish Calendar has been completed. Now the corrections need to be made. Then, there will be another proofreading — and then prayers! There are so many details. But when it is finished, I hope it will be of help to everyone who is connected to Saint Mary's.