Weekly Update from Fr. van Dooren 5.22.26
Dear members and friends of our parish family,
This Sunday is PENTECOST! … the feast that brings the great fifty day season of Easter to a close. May we enjoy this last Sunday of the Easter alleluias with gusto and joy! And for those who wish, plan to dress with red this Sunday which is the color of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the red chasuble worn this Sunday is our oldest vestment of the parish given in 1880 as a gift to the first rector by the Sisters of St. John the Baptist. Fr. Patrick will have the honor of wearing it as the celebrant, and I have the honor of preaching in the matching dalmatic!
Pentecost, from the Greek meaning “fiftieth day,” is a feast dating back centuries before Christ in Jewish tradition. It enjoys an evolution of deep significance and celebration. It was initially known as the “Feast of weeks,” falling on the 50th day after the Passover when the first-fruits of the corn harvest were presented (Deut. 16:9). As the centuries passed, it came to include the commemoration of the receiving of the Ten Commandments believed to have taken place 50 days after the exodus from slavery in Egypt.
Then fifty days after the resurrection, when Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from all over the world gathered for this feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles (Acts 2:1), thus also becoming the name of the Church’s great feast of the Holy Spirit!
If you don’t have anything red to wear, please come anyway…smile! We want all souls on deck to celebrate this glorious feast!
The music for this Sunday includes the beautiful Veni Sancte Spiritus ("Come, Holy Spirit") which is the celebrated Gregorian sequence for Pentecost. Known as the "Golden Sequence," this deeply moving liturgical chant invokes the Holy Spirit to cleanse, heal, and bestow spiritual gifts. We will sing the chant as an opening hymn and hear a translation from the 19th century, Come, Thou Holy Spirit, Come, sung by the choir. This setting is composed by Daniel Ficcari, who is currently the Associate Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Join us this Sunday, May 24 at 3 pm as we explore the music of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. Fanny (1805–1847) and Felix (1809–1847) Mendelssohn were exceptionally talented siblings of the Romantic era who shared a deeply intertwined musical and intellectual bond. While Felix achieved international fame as a composer and conductor, societal conventions limited Fanny's professional career, though she produced over 400 highly regarded compositions. This Sunday, we re-create one of the regular Sunday afternoon Musicals that Fanny, after her marriage, would put on to showcase her own music. And this concert will feature our very own musical family! Performers include Berit Johnson, soprano; Joseph Kingsbury, alto; Aaron Gonzalez, tenor; Dominick Matsko, baritone; Azalea Kelley, piano, Claudia Dumschat, accompanist and organist. Get tickets in advance for this concert online here. Suggested donation is $10 which can also be made at the door.
We hope you'll join us for our annual spring concert on Friday, June 5 at 7:30 pm "Mostly Mendelssohn" featuring Mendelssohn's: Hear My Prayer, I Waited for the Lord, and Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings in D Minor. Our concert will also feature a celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary featuring chorister Hendrix Chan’s I Was Glad and patriotic music by William Billings and Nancy Wersch, performed by The Choir of Men and Boys & Girls, Matei Varga, piano, Kinga Augustyn, violin, The Transfiguration Chamber Ensemble, Claudia Dumschat, conductor. Get tickets in advance here.
EAG's Grand Bazaar returns this June 12-13 at The Church of the Transfiguration! Find upscale/designer/vintage clothing; theatre costumes, books, and memorabilia; art books; fine and costume jewelry; unique decorative items; quality household items including serving pieces, glassware, silver, porcelain, and ceramics; and one-of-a-kind items of interest. All proceeds support the charitable work of The Episcopal Actors’ Guild (helping NYC performers of all faiths and none in times of need). Join us rain or shine! Click here for more information.
On Sunday, June 14 at 1:00 PM in the Holy Family Chapel, Donn Mitchell will speak about his new book, Eleanor Roosevelt's Nightly Prayer: The Religious Life of the First Lady of the World. Copies of the book will be available for sale at a discount and the author will sign them. Please RSVP to Grace at parishoffice@littlechurch.org so that Donn will know how many copies to bring.
The Holy Rosary will be prayed in the Family chapel at 9:30am this Sunday. We will pray the Glorious mysteries which includes the story of Pentecost.
We continue to live-stream each Sunday’s mass at 11:00am, and a link is sent out each Sunday morning at 8:00am. We live-stream on Facebook and YouTube. Please email the parish office if you would like to pray the morning and evening offices with us by Zoom.
Thank you for your continued faith, support, and love for the parish.
Fides Opera
With loving wishes,
Fr. van Dooren