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Howe, Rose, Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Father Daniel E. Hudson, C.S.C., Notre Dame, Indiana, 1877 June 18

 Item — Box: CHUD 1
Identifier: CHUD X-2-d

Scope and Contents

Her mother would not permit her to send a letter to Bro. Stanislaus. This is to be her final communication with the Ave Maria. She wants the enclosed finale to "Aunt Winifred" printed in the Ave Maria. If Stanislaus objects she requests Hudson to have Father General Edward F. Sorin decide the matter. Since Sorin prays for her every day he will want to know the condition of her health. It is somewhat improved. While she has no quarrel with Cecilian musicians or music, Cecilian writers disgust her. Their writings are a combination of ignorance, falsehoods, and coarseness; sometimes directly contradictory to the definitions of the Pope, who should certainly know the rules regarding Church music. The fact that love songs are sung to certain music does not prevent the church from using the same music with its own words. Because music has an unusual effect on some individual does not mean that the unusual effect is an attribute of the music. She believes that the Cecilian writers' idea of what constitutes a Canonical Mass is wrong because they do not know what a Canonical Mass is. Then she explains its meaning. She thinks that Stanislaus is ignorant of the distinction between Grand High Mass and High Mass, and the several kinds of low masses. She explains a simple low mass. Besides Bro. Stanislaus' lack of grammatical knowledge, he is guilty of using provincialisms. It is not very becoming for a magazine published at a university to be guilty of using incorrect grammar. She thinks that Bro. Stanislaus' note will serve to alienate the confidence the American Catholics have toward Rome and confuse those people who are fortunate enough to attend the services in St. Peter's and St. John Lateran's Churches. The Cardinals and Archbishops in Rome should know the Church regulations in this matter since in Italy music constitutes part of the ecclesiastical study of students for the priesthood. The Council of Trent could not have condemned the music of Mozart and Haydn since they had not been born when the Council convened. If it did condemn the use of theatrical music, is it not possible that theatrical music has changed in the last three centuries? In her opinion Bro. Stanislaus does not know that there are several ways of giving benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The fact that he deleted the word "gay" from her passage "gay litany of Loretto" causes her to comment that Father Faber and others would not enjoy having him as their printer. The knowledge that music which has a devotion of its own, distinct from the emotions of our hearts, is used in Catholic countries with the approval of the pope should not interfere with the work of the Cecilia Society since American music is not sufficiently developed to imitate Rome. She wants to know if the change Hudson made in the last installment of "Aunt Winifred" was a certain speech which she intended to be ill natured and illogical. She intends to continue "Aunt Winifred" because her mother wants her to. The readers of "Aunt Winifred" in Fort Wayne have not found anything objectionable in it. A neighbor is trying to kill her little pet dog, which is the same thing McMasters and others are trying to do to "Aunt Winifred". She thinks it was very kind of Dorsey to praise "Aunt Winifred". :: X-2-d A.L.S. 8pp. 12mo.

Dates

  • Creation: 1877 June 18

Language of Materials

English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Notre Dame Archives Repository

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