Ritual.

Above: The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of America, celebrating Mass at St. Mary the Virgin - Times Square during the Feast of Annunciation (transferred). I am a torch bearer, the baldy in the foreground, third from the left.

++Schori preached an excellent sermon which even pushed the boundaries of gender, at one point saying we should all be pregnant with God, as Mary was. I personally interacted with her almost not at all, but from what I observed I found her to be a very gracious, poised lady. Mass certainly went off without a hitch--something that is not so easily achieved at St. Mary's. The liturgy demands more of the celebrant than any other church of which I'm aware.

Liturgical trivia: the torches at Solemn Mass are normally balanced with three at the rails on either side of the altar. For only two people in the world, the Bishop of New York and the Presiding Bishop, we use a seventh torch, which always goes on the Gospel (left) side, as seen above. For every Solemn Mass at St. Mary's, the seventh torch is lit, so that when it is used it is the same height as the other six.

Below: the Invitation to the table.