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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 23, 1953,
BOOK REVIEWS
EDITED BY EILEEN HALL
3087 Old Jonesboro Road, Hapeville, Georgia
Each issue of this Book Page
Is confided lo the patronage of
Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces,
with fhe hope that every read
er and every contributor may
be specially favored by her
and her Divine Son,
FISHER OF MEN, by Kurt
Frieburger, (Appleton-Century-
Crost), $3.75.
(Reviewed by Michael Patron)
Kurt Frieburger, author of this
novel about the life of Simon
Peter, is a leading Austrian dra
matist. He is also commander of
the Yugoslav Order of St. Sava,
the Order of the Italian Crown
and great officer of the Papal
Order of St. Sylvester.
This inspiring biblical novel
was 20 years in the writing.. It
is based on the Gospels and tra
dition and shows a keen insight
into the cultural history of that
time. Spotlighted in that fateful
time stands the humble, courage
ous and rugged figure of Simon
Peter, the chief disciple of Our
Lord.
With Peter, we accompany
Christ on His journeys. We meet
His Mother, Mary, and the other
apostles and disciples. We fol
low Peter through his tragic be
trayal of Christ, his repentance
and, after Christ’s death, we see
him emerge a true Rock of
strength, as he embarks on the
mission given him by the Master.
The book is beautifully written
and shows the result of many
years of research in order to in
sure historical accuracy. We be
lieve you will find the time
George Lathrop, Rose went to
New York to live. There she dis
covered the pity and shame of
Blackwell Island, where people
with incurable cancer lived out
their last days in filth and with
out hope. The strong desire to
help these poor cancer victims
caused Rose to find her vocation.
With courage, faith, hard work
and a determination to do God’s
will, she succeeded. Other girls
came to help her and, through the
suggestion of a Dominican priest,
they first became Dominican ter-
tiaries and later formed a reli
gious order called the Dominical
Congregation of St. Rose of Lima
—or, as it is more familiarly
known, the Servants for Relief
of Incurable Cancer.
The red-gold hair was shorn,
and Rose Hawthorne Lathrop be
came Sister Mary Alphonsa. It
was the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, December 8, 1900.
Gradually the work of the Sisters
became known and other houses
were established, including Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Free Can
cer Home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mother Alphonsa died on July 9,
1926, but her spirit remains with
those who carry on her good
work.
THE STORY OF THE ROSARY,
by J. G. Shaw, (Bruce), $3.25.
(Reviewed by Sylvia Zsuffa).
The startling fact that St. Domi
nic did not receive the rosary
from Our Lady is the kernel of
this highly interesting but schol
arly book. Rather, the rosary as
we know it today took hundreds
spent in reading it to be both I c e years to develop.
Music On Record
By Homer F. Edwards, Jr.
enjoyable and profitable.
ON WINGS OF FIRE, by Mar
guerite Vance, (Dutton), $2.75.
(Reviewed by Pat Holloway,
•ige 12).
This story of Rose, daughter of
Nathaniel Hawthorne, is written
especially for teen-age girls.
Rose was a lovely, sunny child
with a mop of bouncing red curls.
Everyone loved her and she loved
everyone and everything. For sev
en years the Hawthorne family
lived in Europe. While in Rome,
Rose delighted in the gay, noisy
carnivals where everyone pelted
everybody else with flowers, the
rides along the Corso, listening to
the great splashing fountains, the
walks with her Mother through
the Vatican Gardens.
One sunny morning, on one of
these walks, something happened
that may have influenced her in
later years when she became a
convert to the Catholic Faith.
Rose was running ahead of her
Mother, oblivious to everything
about her, when she catapulted
headlong into a quiet figure mov
ing down the path toward her.
As her Mother hurried forward
to apologize, a tender voice spoke,
It is nothing, my child. God bless
you.” For an instant a hand was
laid upon the red curls and Rose
looked up into the smiling face
of the Holy Father, Pius IX. She
was never to forget its spiritual
beauty.
When Rose was 10 years old her
family came back to America. In
Concord, Mass., she lived next
door to Louisa May Alcott, rode
the pony of Ned Emerson and
teased the great Thoreau. Hers
was a wonderful childhood.
Then tragedy came to Rose. The
day before her 13th birthday she
lost her beloved father. Many
other sorrows visited her after
that but, as is so often the case,
God seemed to be preparing her
by these crosses He gave her for
the work He had in store for her.
After an unhappy marriage to
It started with the hermits, an
cestors of our monastic orders,
who threw pebbles into a pile as
prayers were said. In the early
days of the Church the common
man, who could neither read nor
write, still wanted to participate
in the liturgy, so little sequences,
giving the theme of the day’s
Mass, were memorized by the
people. They also wished to share
in the Divine Office, the official
prayer of the Church, which con
sists of the 150 Psalms of David.
Through these two influences the
rosary was born.
The recitation of the Psalms
was, howevei', quite a chore, so
Irish monks began substituting
the Our Father for a Psalm. Aid
ed by the monks, the faithful be
gan the custom of saying 150 Our
Fathers, thus replacing the Psalt
er of the Psalms with a new Psalt
er of Our Fathers. The Irish saints
who spread the faith across bar
baric Europe carried with them
this custom.
We know of the jubilant dis
covery of Mary during the Middle
Ages, how verses were written
in her honor, hymns composed,
litanies formed. In the same joy
ous praise of Mary a Psalter was
composed. The simplest Mary
Psalter, which could be said by
the man who could not read, was
a Psalter of Hail Marys. The
strictly official adoption of the
Hail Mary, as we know it today,
came with its publication in the
Roman breviary in 1568. As an
outgrowth of a practice in their
monasteries, we find the Carthu
sians credited with linking up the
two prayers, the Our Father and
the Hail Mary, and leading the
way to meditation on the myste
ries. The people liked the idea
and dozens of different types of
rosaries were invented..
The legend that the rosary was
given to St. Dominic was explod
ed by the Marian scholar, Father
Thurston, who came across a
manuscript placing the legend at
an earlier date than St. Dominic
CHOPIN: Etudes, Op. 10
(complete) and Scherzo No. 1,
B minor, Op. 20. Guiomar No-
vaes, piano. Vox PL 9070.
Having already committee the
Op. 25 Etudes to recordings (Vox
PL 7560) Mme. Novaes now of
fers the companion Op. 10.
All the characteristics of a
mature and magnificently equ
ipped Chopin interpreter issue
forth in sound here. Melody lines
are firm yet sing. Tempi are well
ordered and cause no occasion
for <confusion. Aside from such
positive contributions, a nega
tive aspect happily prevails:
nowhere could I detect a trace
himself. However, it was a Dom
inican, Alanus de Rupe, who
brought order out of chaos by
organizing the Confraternity of
the Rosary in 1476. Official recog
nition of the rosary came dra
matically. On the first Sunday of
October, 1571, all of Christendom
was threatened by the Turks. On
that day when Don John of Aus
tria was doing battle at Lepanto,
the Rosary Confraternities of
Home held processions which so
coincided with victory that Pope
Pius V declared that a commemo
ration of the Rosary would be
made in the Mass for that day. In
1573, at the request of the Domini
can Order, Pope Gregory XIII
established the Feast of the Holy
Rosary.
Although the Gloria is one of
the earliest prayers in the liturgy,
its appearance in the rosary is not
until the 1600s. The Dominicans
are credited with adding it, from
a custom in their monasteries of
appending it at the end of each
decade. So, while the story of St.
Dominic and the rostary is only
a legend, nevertheless the part he
and his Order played in popular
izing and spreading this devotion
was tremendous.
Father Duval, a contemporary
Marian scholar, says, “There is
no doubt that St. Dominic did not
institute the rosary, but his spirit
acting in his sons has made it
what it has become today, a
choice jewel in the common treas
ure of the Church.”
Mr. Shaw’s “The Story of the
Rosary” is a worthwhile contri
bution to Marian literature.
of the cloying sentimentalism so
often forced on Chopin’s music.
The composer himself may well
have played with a smaller tone
and have been satisfied with
less contrast in volume of tone,
but I cannot believe he permit
ted himself to romantically ex
hale his compositions as so many
latter-day interpreters insist on
doing. Miss Novaes’ directness
and candor make for far more
dignity.
The volcanic B minor Scherzo
is handled no less well. The re
cording by Vox has the same
ring of authority as that of the
playing.
COUPERIN: Lecons de Tene-
bres. Hugues Cuenod, tenor;
Franz Holetschek, harpsichord
and organ; Richard Haraud,
‘cello. Westminster WL 5387.
Wilfred Mellers, biographer
and specialist in the music of
Francois Couperin, has declar
ed the three Lecons de Tenebres
to be “the highest point of
Couperin’s church music, and one
of the peaks of his music as a
whole.”
The music has hitherto been
represented in the record cata
logues with that portion devoted
to the First Lesson (Wednesday
evening). To be sure this is ex
traordinarily florid religious
music and extremely formal in
structure. However, its power to
grip the imagination is not to be
denied. Especially is this the case
with such a performance as
Westminster here affords.
GREGORIAN CHAN T'S.
Sung by the Monks of Solemes
under the direction of Dom Jos
eph Gajard, O.S.B. London LIA
14.
In the measured, unhurried ac
cents of Gregorian chant one
can hear not only vocal melody
at its purest but also perhaps
the most nearly successful at
tempt to give expression to the
ineffable in religion. It is of
course first and foremost music
designed for the offices of the
Catholic Church. A calm, time
less and substantial beauty
found in no other category of
music permeate these ancient
texts.
The monks of Solemes in
northern France have long been
noted for their important work
MARRIAGES
o o
| MOODY-BAILEY |
O O
AUGUSTA, Ga.—Miss Melvis
Annetta Bailey, daughter of Mr,
and Mrs. Milton Reese Bailey
Sr. of Augusta, and Mr. John
Flaviar Moody, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Linton Louis Moody of
North Augusta, were maried
June 20th at the Sacred Heart
Church, Rev. Peter F. O’DonneH
officiating.
o
O
i
o
FREW-DULOHERY
1
o
SAVANNAH, Ga.—Miss Mar
garet Clare Dulohery, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius J.
Dulohery and Donald William
Frew, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jos
eph Frew of West Brookfield,
Mass., were married July 9th at
the Sacred Heart Church, Rev.
Father Robert Brennan officiat
ing.
O — O
j BECKER-O'SHAUGHNESY |
O O
MACON, Ga.—Miss Marjorie
Ellen Becker, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Jasper Becker of
Brookhaven, Miss., and Dr. W„
John O’Shaughnessey son of Mr.
and Mrs. W. J. O’Shaughnessey
of Macon were married June
11th at a Nuptial Mass at St,
Francis Assisi Church in Brook-
haven, Father Michael Campbell
officiating.
O O
| FELTOVIC-WELCH |
O Q
THUNDERBOLT, Ga. — Miss
Lucia Yvonne Welch, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. William ,W.
Welch and Michael Robert Fel-
tovic, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs,
Michael R. Feltovic of Monroe,
Conn., were married July 16th
at the Nativity of Our Lord
Church, Rev. Father John A,
Morris officiating.
in restoring Gregorian chant to
something like its original state,
This album of five records, ex
pertly recorded, presents a gen
erous portion of the results of
their work. The performances
are wfithout question definitive.
A valuable booklet accompanies
the set.
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