Weekly Update from Fr. van Dooren 9.25.26
Dear members and friends of our parish family,
We will celebrate the beloved and ancient Feast of St. Michael and All Angels this Sunday (anticipated from it’s fixed date of September 29th), and a promise of deep blessings awaits all who attend! It is one of my favorite feasts of the year, and how fortunate we are to be in a church so bathed with images of angels that have “attended” our parishioners for almost 178 years!
This beautiful feast claims great hymns. Christ, the Fair Glory of the Holy Angels, caelites plaudant, is one we will sing this week. The text 'Christ, the fair glory of the holy angels,' is a translation of a 9th Century office hymn for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, Christe sanctorum decus angelorum. This hymn names the celestial visitors who have graced this earth, and once again calls on them to renew their graces: Christ the Savior, three archangels (Michael, defender; Gabriel, herald; Raphael, healer), Mary, the saints, and all the company of angels. The hymn concludes with a doxology. Bach’s Der Herr Segne Euch (The Lord Bless You) and thrilling Sinfonia from Cantata 29 for organ will also be offered, plus the Renaissance duet Duo Seraphim by the English Catholic composer Richard Dering. The two voices exemplify a pair of angels praising God in heaven. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and Earth are full of thy glory.”
We welcome Fr. Philip Chester back to the parish and pulpit this week along with Nigel Groome, the choir master of St. Stephen’s Bournemouth. Fr. Philip and Nigel hosted our choir boys and girls the summer of 2025 in London, and we so enjoyed hosting their choir last fall. We are continuing our beloved relationship and are looking forward to many future choir trips.
Fr. Philip has moved from St. Matthew’s Westminster to be parish priest of St. Saviour’s Church in Primrose Hill, a leafy part of London near Regent’s Park. He remains a Prebendary of St. Paul’s Cathedral and a Priest Vicar of Westminster’s Abby. Welcome back, Father Philip!
Please join us for a special Christian Education Hour this Sunday, September 27th at 1:00pm in the Family Chapel featuring a talk “How do I follow Jesus?” in which Rick Hamlin will explore ways in which we can embody Jesus’ invitation to follow him in our 21st century, and how we hear His blessed advice in today’s world. Click here to read more about Rick Hamlin.
Join us on Wednesday, September 30 at 1 pm, for the first concert in our 1 West & 1 East Midday Music Series in partnership with Marble Collegiate Church. From immigrant ballads and singing schools to parlors, organs, spirituals, folk songs, and Ives, AMERICANA asks a simple question across four weeks: How did American music become American? The first concert will be held here at the Little Church with our very own Claudia Dumschat, organ, with Marble Collegiate's Molly Yuko McGuire, mezzo-soprano. The series begins with music of the young United States: William Billings’s revolutionary-era hymn tune Chester, James Hewitt’s exuberant The Fourth of July, and Charles Ives’s wonderfully unruly transformation of America—alongside songs by Ives. Suggested donation is $10, and contributions can be made in advance here.
Please plan to join us for the yearly celebration of our Foundation Day, Sunday, October 4th. To make the day special, we will have a reception following the 11 am mass. The church will provide the majority of the main course, but donations of homemade or store bought salads and desserts are greatly appreciated. Volunteers to help clean up are also needed. Please to contact the parish office (parishoffice@littlechurch.org) if you are able to volunteer, contribute, or have any suggestions!
Also on Sunday, October 4th, we will have our annual pet blessing in the garden. If you have a well-behaved pet, please bring them to this special mass. We will meet in the garden roughly at 12:30 pm for our annual pet blessing. Pets of all faith traditions are welcomed to receive a blessing.
The Bishop of New York, The Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, will make his first visitation to Transfiguration on Sunday November 15th. Any one considering Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation, please click contact the office. This is a beautiful time of renewal.
Thank you so dearly for the outpouring of generosity and response to our restoration of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Chapel. How privileged we are to have stewardship of this treasured and historical space! Scaffolding is going up and the large Transfiguration window will soon be removed for restoration. So we’ll look a little ragged for the winter months before the dazzling completion. Click here to read more about this current project.
The Holy Rosary will be prayed in the Family chapel at 9:30am this Sunday. We will pray the Glorious mysteries this Sunday.
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