The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is an Episcopal

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

church in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, which is part of the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

of the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

. The church complex is located in the heart of

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

at 133-145 West 46th Street, with other buildings of the complex at 136-144

West 47th Street ''West 47th Street'' is a documentary film produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media. ''West 47th Street'' is an intimate cinéma vérité portrait of four people with serious mental illness as their lives naturally unfold over a three-year perio ...

,Savage, Charles; Pierson, Marjorie (ed.
"Free Church of Saint-Mary-the-Virgin Designation Report"

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

(December 19, 1989) between Sixth and

Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

Avenues. It is colloquially known as "Smoky Mary's" because of the amount of

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...

used in the services. Completed in 1895, the church has been called "one of the finest Gothic-inspired designs of New York's late 19th century". It was designated a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1989 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1990. In 2021, it reported 366 members, average attendance of 0, and $624,150 in plate and pledge income.

History

Original church

The Society of the Free Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in the

was incorporated on December 3, 1868. Thomas McKee Brown wanted to build a church in New York City dedicated to expressing the full witness of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

thought in ritual and teaching within the Episcopal Church. A year after his ordination, Brown brought his plan to the Bishop of New York,

Horatio Potter Horatio Potter (February 9, 1802 – January 2, 1887), was an educator and the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Dearth of biographical information Potter "shrank from public notice, left no literary monument and has, regrettabl ...

, who suggested that a church was needed near

Longacre Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent D ...

– which was renamed

in 1905 – on the west side of what is now Midtown.

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and ...

gave three lots on West 45th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, "stipulating that the Church should be free, and positively orthodox in management and working." On April 6, 1868, the cornerstone was laid for the first church, located at 228 West 45th Street, which is today the site of the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

. The rector and trustees named the church for the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

. The first church was designed by William T. Hallett, and was dedicated on December 8, 1870, the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Potter was unable to officiate at the service, but his place was taken by

Horatio Southgate Horatio Southgate (July 5, 1812 – April 11, 1894) was born in Portland, Maine, and studied for the ordained ministry at Andover Theological Seminary as a Congregationalist. In 1834 he became a member of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...

, the Episcopal Church's former missionary bishop to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. After the Episcopalians left the church on West 45th Street, it became the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer and then Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist.

New church

The Lady Chapel at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin

By 1890, the congregation had outgrown the church on West 45th Street. In 1892, the late Miss Sara L. Cooke, a member of the parish, left the church a legacy which eventually amounted to $700,000, in addition to real estate. Brown and the other trustees decided to use this legacy to fund a new church on an eight-lot parcel running through from 46th to 47th Streets. The new complex was to include a rectory at the 47th Street end of the lot, a clergy house for curates and assistants and a mission house for the sisters. The style would be

French Gothic French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedra ...

of the 13th and 14th centuries, with a church seating 800 people. Erecting this building was a challenge to the architectural firm of Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, with Pierre LeBrun as the lead designer, because of its size and the location. The LeBrun firm had experience working with steel framing, which is buried within the walls, making it the first church in the world built on a concealed steel skeleton, "redefining the conventional methods of church construction." The facade of the church is clad in

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, while the other buildings in the complex are brick-faced. The cornerstone for the new church was laid on December 8, 1894, and the church was dedicated in 1895. The completed church was wide and long, and the nave was from floor to ceiling and wide. The chancel, at the north end of the building, was deep, terminating with the marble high altar moved from the former church. Complementing LeBrun's design were many sculptural decorations by

J. Massey Rhind John Massey Rhind (9 July 1860 – 1 January 1936) was a Scottish-American sculptor. Among Rhind's better known works is the marble statue of Dr. Crawford W. Long located in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington D.C. (1926). E ...

Today

Today, Saint Mary's is known for its solemn liturgies and choral and organ music.

Solemn High Mass Solemn Mass ( la, missa solemnis) is the full ceremonial form of a Mass, predominantly associated with the Tridentine Mass where it is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon,"The essence of high Mass is not the music but the deacon ...

and Solemn

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

and

Benediction A benediction (Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the expositio ...

are celebrated on Sundays, and Mass is offered daily. Because of the copious use of

, the church is sometimes referred to as "Smoky Mary's". In 1996-97, the interior of the church was restored by J. Lawrence Jones & Associates, resulting in vivid colors, including cobalt blue vaulting with gold stars. File:The Nave of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.jpg, Nave File:Statue of Our Lady at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, carved by Johannes Kirchmayer in 1920.jpg, Statue of Our Lady File:The Reverend Stephen S. Gerth, Rector of The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, leading a Corpus Christ Processional through Times Square.jpg, Corpus Christi processional in

File:Clergy and Acolytes at the High Altar of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. The Altar was made for the original church in 1870 and moved to the church's current location in 1895.jpg, Clergy and acolytes at the high altar File:The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, 25th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church USA, preaching at Saint Mary's.jpg, The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold preaching at Saint Mary's File:Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Manhattan)1.JPG, Rear of the church on 47th Street File:Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Manhattan)2.JPG,

Music

The choir of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is a professional

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...

that sings music for the liturgy. At each Solemn Mass, the

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. ...

is sung in the original Latin. The choir's repertoire of Masses and motets stretches from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

to works by living composers. A number of musicians have served as organist and music director at the parish, among them McNeil Robinson, Kyler Brown, Christopher Babcock, Robert McCormick, James Kennerley, and Simon Whalley. The current organist and music director is

David Hurd David Hurd (born 1950) is a composer, concert organist, choral director and educator. Dr. Hurd was Professor of Sacred Music and Director of Chapel Music at the General Theological Seminary, Chelsea, New York City, for 39 years. He was also the ...

References

External links

*
New York Architecture Images
Midtown - St Mary the Virgin - 12 images plus a short history
Historical documents on the parish
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...

{{Authority control 1868 establishments in New York (state) 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches completed in 1894 Churches in Manhattan Episcopal church buildings in New York City Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Limestone churches in the United States Napoleon LeBrun buildings New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Religious organizations established in 1868 Stone churches in New York City Times Square buildings