Remember!

Remember! That was blessed King and Martyr Charles' last word, whose feast day today is. I wish I could say I went to Mass, but as I was walking up Park Avenue to St. Bart's I encountered a posse of CSM litigators I used to work with about 10 years ago and started remembering that wonderful year up in White Plains with the rental car and all that leisurely time on IBM's endless litigation matters. That threw me into a kind of alternate universe and I began wondering what I'd be doing today if I had become JN's secretary as I almost did when she became partner. That led me to thank my lucky stars I moved over to DPW, which is a much saner place and I am happily ensconced in a wonderful room with a view of the Chrysler Building and lots of quiet space, most days anyway. Suddenly I realized I had gone past the church, but it was such a glorious rare warm day in January that I decided to praise God and blessed Charles outside in the wonderful sunshine instead. I hope they will understand.

It's been a busy month at the shrine church and I am happy to report that our boiler has finally gotten reprogrammed so that's a big item to check off my list. Preparations for the annual meeting took up some time also as I had to write a year-end report and it's been a very busy year. We got through the meeting without any blood being spilled and we actually had a good discussion of ways we can improve our operations. The three newly elected vestry members all are high churchmen, so things are looking up. The choir got fully funded for the year and Doug is now scheming ways to make money with them so I predict the suggestion of cutting the music will be a non-issue soon.

I am now mostly focused on our next building project which is most likely going to be working on the roof drainage system and improving the flashing in the several areas where water is still getting in. I've been absorbed with leaders, gutters and flashing, which someone said sounds like the latest thing in adult entertainment. But it's fascinating stuff and critically important to get right. We have been plagued for decades by moisture damage from inadequate rain gutters and insufficient flashing. I hope I live to see the day when we can finally get the inside walls cleaned of all the efflorescence and stains from the years of water damage. But before that can happen we must make sure the envelope is sealed. This year I hope we can correct many of the problem areas with larger capacity drains and copper flashing under the eaves. Then we must raise about a million to do the interior cleaning. So angels, start your engines!

Last week I went up on the roof with our architects to survey some of the problem areas and I was grateful for AR's teaching me how to roofwalk that last summer. Years of walking the barrio rooftops had made him like a gazelle up there. I had no intention of following him but he insisted on showing me how to do it as he assured me that roofs are made for walking. And he's right, at least with this type of roof. You can walk pretty securely with the right kind of shoes and something to hold onto once in awhile. I didn't go all the way to the other side as he did, up and over the nave roof, but I did go up by the bell tower which is quite exhilarating especially on a cold January morning. JD took alot of pictures of the gutters and eaves and I took my binocs to see for myself. Over the narthex we were surprised to see no flashing at all between our building and the Boulevard, which would account for the waterfall we observed a couple of weeks ago when we had that hurricane.

But I've wandered far from blessed Charles, so I'll leave you with this glimpse of his reign:

The Holy Communion was once again seen as the principal action of the Church rather than the sermon. The doctrine of the Real Presence at the Communion was once again taught in the universities. Vestments began to be worn again. Candles were lit once more and a greater emphasis was placed on the externals of worship including the use of music. In particular altars were restored in church buildings, replacing the communion tables which had in turn taken the place of the old stone altars during the iconoclasm of the protestant reformation.

(from SKCM history)

And we think we have battles today...

Epiphany

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (Matthew 2:1-12)

We celebrated the Epiphany of our Lord last night in grand High Church style. Our artists in residence, Polyhymnia, provided the music, the glorious Missa 'Surge et illuminare' of Pierre de Manchicourt and the motet Magi veniunt of Clemens, both superbly done. We processed singing Morning Star to the Epiphany creche at the beginning. We have a separate creche for the Epiphany with the toddler Jesus since this is supposedly 2 or 3 years after the nativity. I was a torchbearer with a wobbly candle which managed to splash a big puddle of wax onto my left eye so I had to finish the procession with one eye sealed closed. It wasn't easy getting it all cleared off so I could see again once I got back to the sacristy to put away that confounded torch, but such are the perils of High Church.

I got to enjoy the rest of the service standing by the Louise Zabriskie memorial under Our Lady, probably the most serene spot in the sanctuary, just off the Gospel end of the altar. At the Epistle end, St. Ignatius stands above the Christian Zabriskie, Jr. memorial. Louise and Christian's son, Charles Frederic Zabriskie, gave the statues as a memorial to his parents and they stood in the original church before being moved to our present building. Christian Zabriskie was one of the founding fathers of St. Ignatius and warden for many years. Charles Frederic was senior warden for 25 years after his father's death and very instrumental through his close collaboration with our second rector, Fr. Arthur Ritchie, in the creation of our present church. I always feel very close to them all somehow when I stand there by Our Lady and think of how much of themselves they gave to God's glory for His worship.

Fr. Noel Bordador gave a wonderful sermon in which he suggested that the three wise men were not rich kings but more probably simple folk who had received the gift of grace to discern the presence of Christ. The gifts they offered were just the tools of their trade and were also rather practical for a newborn since gold would come in handy, frankincense would freshen the air and myrrh was a natural antiseptic (mostly likely in oil form rather than the resin we burn with frankincense). He then quoted the processional hymn, and assured us that "the greatest offering or adoration we can give God is nothing but our own self, our own life in all its beauty, ordinariness, sinfulness and brokenness."

It was a beautiful service, a good crowd for a Friday night, with lots of visitors, and even SrT drinking the lavabo water didn't bring me down. But does she really think lavabo water is too sacred to go down the piscina? What exactly is the reasoning behind that bizarre devotion? Best not to inquire I guess. I just can't wait until Ash Wednesday and I tell her she has to consume the English muffin and lemon we used to cleanse the celebrant's hands after the imposition of ashes... :>)

Shall we then yield him in costly devotion
odors of Edom and offerings divine;
gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
myrrh from the forest and gold from the mine?

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
vainly with gifts would his favor secure,
richer by far is the heart's adoration,
dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.