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Mary by Laura Fisher

Our neighbor, Dee Moorhead, who lives across the street, at "St. Mary's Farm" has set up a little cut flower booth. She is donating all the profits to St. Mary's! That has meant over $600 this month! There will be a Thank You card available this Sunday, to sign to thank her for her unsolicited generosity.

On Sunday August 9th the Church of St. Francis , Riverhead (Formerly Grace Church was rededicated)

Bishop Provenzano's sermon on St Francis

The image of St. Francis given by a certain East End Priest.

Three Years ago when work began

Clergy Gathered

The Congregation

Celebration in the Church's renovated Hall

“The honor paid to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, goes back to the earliest days of the church. Two Gospels tell of the manner of Christ’s birth, and the familiar Christmas story testifies to the church’s conviction that he was born of a virgin. In Luke’s Gospel, we catch a brief glimpse of Jesus’ upbringing at Nazareth, when the child was in the care of his mother and her husband Joseph.

During Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, we learn that Mary was often with the other women who followed Jesus and ministered to his needs. At Calvary, she was among the little band of disciples who kept watch at the cross. After the resurrection, she was to be found with the Twelve in the upper room, watching and praying until the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Mary was the person closest to Jesus in his most impressionable years, and the words of the Magnificat, as well as her courageous acceptance of God’s will, bear more than an accidental resemblance to the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount.

Later devotion has claimed many things for Mary beyond the brief description that is given in Holy Scripture. What we can believe is that one who stood in so intimate a relationship with the incarnate Son of God on earth must, of all human beings, have the place of highest honor in the eternal life of God. A paraphrase of an ancient Greek hymn expresses this belief in the very familiar words of All Creatures of Our God and King: “O higher than the cherubim, more glorious than the seraphim, lead their praises, alleluia.” calling upon Mary”

Excerpted directly from the Episcopal Church's “Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022,” p. 362-363.

Artwork is a picture of a stained glass window from Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, TX taken by Fr. James Bradley, 2016

 This Sunday we will celebrate our parish’s patron’s feast, St Mary the Virgin, (Aug 15). In a special way we celebrate our faith community’s history and mission as we celebrate our patron saint. Traditionally a parish can celebrate its founding date, its dedication day, or it’s patron’s day. For us it’s a combination since this week is also the 155th anniversary of the first Eucharist in our parish in August 1871  

Therefore, we celebrate God's victory in Mary’s faith, her poverty and her unassuming service. As she was sure of God's love, her faith prompted her to accept the unexpected. Humbly and without reservation she served God's plans. She followed her Son in his life and his passion. Mary is first and foremost a model of discipleship.

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The Collect

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Old Testament: Today’s hymn from Isaiah prefigures and echoes Mary’s own hymn of praise.

Isaiah 61:10-11

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so, the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

The Epistle: Through Mary’s “yes”, God has taken on flesh in Christ Jesus

Galatians 4:4-7

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So, you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

"The Polish Madonna" Anon.

The Gospel: Mary fully responds in humility and service to the plans of God. She recognizes that her greatness comes from God. She sums up a humble, servant Church. 

Luke 1:46-55

Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Commentary

When we want to understand something, we can look for its “story”, its past; in that way we see how it arose. In a way our parish’s feast day calls us to do that as we look back on our community’s history here on Shelter Island. This is usually a very useful thing to do, and yet there can be something unsatisfying about it. We might presume that the whole meaning of the present lies in the past. This makes the present (and the future) old before they are born. If someone tried to “explain” you away by mentioning only where you came from and what happened in your past, you would feel rather left out of it, wouldn’t you? You would want to make a strong statement of what you are now, and what you intend and hope for the future.

Scholars are able to see the antecedents of the Magnificat in the Old Testament: in this week’s first lesson from Isaiah 61, and in the Canticle of Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1S 2:1-10, “My heart exults in Yahweh, I feel strong in my God.... The bow of the mighty is broken, but the weak are girded with strength. The well-fed must labor for bread, but the hungry need work no more....” etc.). Mary is repeating, you might say, what others had said long before she was born.

But when Mary (or indeed anyone) says “My soul glorifies the Lord,” it’s a leap of joy and praise in the present moment; it may have been said many times before, but it’s new now. Quotations are from memory, but joy and praise are in the present moment. Episcopalians used to be reluctant to pray spontaneously in groups, preferring to say, “What page is that on?” For many people that has changed. But it is good to remember that we don’t have to be saying surprising new things all the time. A prayer could be as old as the hills, but it is perfectly new if it comes from the heart. 

The "lost"
 Brigham Lamp from St. Mary's Pulpit