FROM THE VICAR: ON THE PROTEVANGELIUM OF JAMES

The feast of the Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on this Sunday and so won’t be officially commemorated this year. All Sundays are feasts of Our Lord, and only a limited number of feasts can take precedence of a Sunday. Nevertheless, St. Anne and St. Joachim, Mary’s parents, will be highlighted among the saints in the Prayers of the People.

FROM THE CURATE: ON HER PATH TO SAINT MARY’S

Last week, while unpacking, I found myself rereading Ten Decades of Praise by Sister Mary Hilary, CSM. Published in 1965, the book is “the story of the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin in its first century,” as its subtitle purports. They were founded in 1865 in New York City, when Bishop Horatio Potter received the professions of five women. Today, the Benedictine nuns are the oldest extant religious order founded in the Episcopal Church.

FROM FATHER MORRIS: ON SAINT MARY MAGDALEN

St. Mary Magdalen is a favorite saint among Anglicans. She is said to have been among the first missionaries to arrive in Britain. Both Oxford and Cambridge Universities commemorate her with their ancient and very prestigious (and rich!) Magdalene Colleges.

FROM THE RECTOR: ON GROWTH AND STAFFING

Saint Mary’s is growing. 

The past few years, we have seen more people praying here on Sundays and throughout the week as we have expanded our liturgical schedule, our formation offerings, and our slate of parish activities. And parish growth presents at once a blessing and a challenge.

FROM FATHER SPENCER CANTRELL: ON THE SODALITY OF MARY

I’ve been a member of the Sodality of Mary, Mother of Priests since Assumption 2020. Even for me, with a number of years of distance, the mention of the year “2020” brings to the fore some interesting feelings and memories to put it mildly. But among them are some good ones of my entrance into this dispersed community of diocesan priests.

FROM THE RECTOR: ON READING AND COMMONPLACE BOOKS

A commonplace book should be as unique as a person’s fingerprint—no two ever alike. Part journal, part vision board, part book report, part top-5 lists, these are simply personal notebooks you keep to copy out any ideas or phrases you find interesting or inspiring, maybe tape in a cigar band from your son’s high school graduation, or press a maple leaf from a visit to the Russian Icon Museum in Clinton, MA, in October 2010.

FROM DR. DAVID HURD AND FR. MATT JACOBSON: ENRICHMENT OF OUR SUMMER MUSIC!

In many past years, the season of choral music at Solemn Mass has extended from October through the program year ending at Corpus Christi. In the intervening weeks, single cantors have sung the chant propers, provided leadership for the congregational singing, and sung sacred solos during communion. This summer, however, at the urging of the clergy and with the generous support of several members of the congregation, choral Masses and motets, in addition to the proper chants, will be sung at Sunday Solemn Masses each week by vocal quartets.

FROM DEACON ALDEN FOSSETT

The last few weeks of my life have been filled with significant moments of transition, including my graduation from Yale Divinity School, being ordained to the diaconate, and moving back to Massachusetts. There is still more change on the horizon as I will begin my new job as curate at Saint Paul’s Brookline in a couple of weeks. In this season of beginnings and endings, Psalm 26:8 has been an anchor for me, and it makes me think of you and of the interior of the church. For it was with you in that place that I was blessed enough to encounter God’s glory during worship over the past two years.

FROM FATHER STEPHEN MORRIS: “YOU GAVE THEM BREAD FROM HEAVEN. CONTAINING IN ITSELF ALL SWEETNESS.”

Dom Basil Nixen, OSB writes in The Last Communion of Saint Jerome:

… the Eucharist is perhaps the greatest expression of God’s extravagant love for us. As the enduring memorial of his Passion and Death on the Cross, it not only makes present for us the Christ who suffered, but fills those who worthily partake of the Eucharistic banquet with the water and blood which flowed from the pierced side of Christ.

FROM MARYJANE BOLAND ON BEHALF OF THE AIDS WALK TEAM

In its 20 years of walking, the Saint Mary’s AIDS Walk team has encountered every kind of weather—heat, cold, wind, rain, humidity—and today was the reward: blue skies with fluffy white clouds and temperatures not yet summer hot. Smoky Mary’s gold tee-shirts were joined by Trinity’s blue shirts and every kind of festive attire.

FROM CLARK MITCHELL: A NEW CALL

Over the past four years, under the leadership of Father Sammy Wood, Saint Mary’s has experienced both measurable growth and less tangible, but equally meaningful, transformation. Among the measurable signs of vitality are increased attendance, a steady influx of newcomers, and a significant expansion of our programmatic offerings. We have also developed new revenue streams—and more are in the pipeline—while trimming our expenses and making more effective use of our facilities.

FROM FATHER SAMMY WOOD: STATE OF THE PARISH

The following is adapted from Father Sammy’s report to the Annual Parish Meeting on May 3, 2026.

Thanks to everyone who stuck around after Mass on a Sunday in May for us to all be together for the Annual Parish Meeting of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. A few months ago I asked the original co-chairs of the Search Committee to get their team back together and start thinking again about where we are in the process, which led to their meeting with the bishop and his approval of calling a Rector to Saint Mary’s. About that same time, Renee and I began praying as well.

FROM FATHER SAMMY WOOD: YOU’RE INVITED!

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Or Oyez, oyez! if you prefer.

Both phrases are functionally identical—Oyez is just a traditional Anglo-Norman term, and Hear ye is the English translation. Both say “listen up” and call attention to some important info to follow. And in this case—the info is your invitation to our Annual Congregational Meeting this Sunday, May 3, after the 11:00 Mass. At least as far back as the 1970s, it has been our practice at Saint Mary’s to gather as a congregation on the first Sunday in May—“May Crowning Sunday”—to celebrate our parish life and ask Our Lady to pray for us.

FROM THE PARISH ARCHIVES: EASTER

Much has been written of the beauty of the Springtime; of the types of that blessed truth of Easter-day which the leaves and flowers, the buds and blossoms all unfold to our sight in their purity and freshness. The awakening is indeed beautiful, and men rejoice as the snows and shadows of winter days pass away; the cold and bitterness disappear, and in the new life there is so much of promise, the heart grows glad; even, it is said, the “earth smiles” at the glory of her hills and fields. These things are true and doubtless keep alive in some hearts the hope which is inherent in every soul—the hope of an immortal life.

STEVEN ELDREDGE, WHAT’S ON YOUR BOOKSHELF?

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (Simon & Schuster, 2023)

How did you hear about this book?

A friend mentioned it one day in passing on Facebook, and later that afternoon I found myself in a bookstore, (imagine!), and there was a table loaded with copies of this book. At that point, I figured it had to be Providence nudging me to read it.

FROM INGRID SLETTEN: AN INTRO CLASS ON SPIRITUAL JOURNALING

In Father Sammy’s third session of the Foundation Course: The Spiritual Life, he spoke about the importance of reflection as one of the pillars of Christian formation. Reflection can take many forms, whether it’s meditation, silence, writing, creative arts, or conversation with another person. There are many ways to connect with the Spirit.

A PRAYER FROM SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA

Oh our Resurrection!
Oh our Resurrection!
Oh high eternal Trinity,
take my soul from my body!
Oh our Redeemer and Resurrection,
Oh eternal Trinity!
Oh Fire ever burning,
Fire that never goes out,
never dims,
never can be diminished

FROM ALDEN FOSSETT: ANTHEM ON A PILGRIMAGE AT THE BORDER

In the midst of life we are in death; from whom can we seek help? From you alone, O Lord, who by our sins are justly angered.

These lines from an anthem appointed for use during burial flashed through my head every day during the pilgrimage that Berkeley Divinity School seniors made to the borderlands from March 7–13. The first time it happened, we were crossing the border from El Paso, TX, to Ciudad Juárez, MX, using the 982-foot long Paseo del Norte Bridge.

FROM FATHER SAMMY WOOD: ON CONFESSION

I was made a priest in my Washington, DC, parish church where I did field education back on December 8, 2007 (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, no less! Perhaps a harbinger that one day our paths would cross, yours and mine?). At the Examination, Bishop James Montgomery charged me, in part:

You are to preach, to declare God’s forgiveness to penitent sinners, to pronounce God’s blessing, to share in the administration of the Holy Baptism and in the celebration of the mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood, and to perform the other ministrations entrusted to you.

FROM FATHER PETER ANTHONY: ALL SAINTS’ MARGARET STREET IS VISITING NEW YORK

I am very grateful for the opportunity to write for the Angelus this week to let you know about a visit to New York which I will be making with my colleague Father Alan Rimmer in March from your sister parish in London, All Saints’, Margaret Street. Father Alan and I are both looking forward to being at Saint Mary’s to preach: Father Alan will give the homily at both Masses on Sunday, March 22; and I will be preaching on the Feast of the Annunciation. It will be terrific to meet new people and reacquaint ourselves with old friends.