Conversation With an Angel
Belloc, Hilaire
May 19, 1926 THE COMMONWEAL 45 CONVERSATION WITH AN...
...Roman plainsong...
...Moreover, it is impossible historically I still addressed him, with irony, with solicitude, to prove that Saint Gregory the Great ever was a Benedictine...
...Our con- fine evening...
...Dom Gajard, and an alumnus of the Pius X School of Liturgical Music, I should like to criticize some statements "Shall I make you yet another...
...a pupil of Dom Mocquereau, Dom Gatard, and "I will," said the Angel...
...I thought a little while and then said to him: "I I watch it out of the corner of my right eye every can only give you a motto in English...
...I had no more mottoes for sundials...
...But if you T O the Editor:-As a former member of Solesmes comdon't like it, as I say, you can leave it...
...He had bobbed hair and a pleasing but exceedingly intriguing smile The Angel thought a moment (if what Angels do and he wore a fringe...
...this I told him scientific men are now in some doubt...
...To this the Angel assented, but not very I thought a little while about it, as is my custom graciously...
...music and the Latin language constitute the official public So I again thought for some time, remaining silent prayer of the Church-a universal music and a universal lanand attempting to compose...
...In this climate it is well known that a motto for him...
...The only things which "What was that...
...In the first place, But he cut me short by asking me again whether I had it is not true...
...But and Italian...
...Ward has found, through saddening experience, that "Oh, sir, you are kindly met"- Catholic young men are quite hopeless so far as liturgical (What tears were in her eyes...
...I asked, being now made by Mr...
...In mottoes the indeed...
...At last he could bear it guage...
...wrote out on a postcard so as to remember it- "No, but your sort do," reiterated the Angel, "and In sweet deluding lies let fools delight, that was the kind of thing you had in mind...
...and the rusted gnomon was Catullus too often to run the risk of bad translations still there, marking the hours...
...SISTER MARY LOUIS This policy, in my estimation, has two possible dangers...
...He was carved in stone and looked as When their little light is past, though he were younger than King John of England Droop and go to sleep at last...
...I would have gone on to draw a moral when I compose immortal verse, and produced thisfrom this and have explained to the Angel never to be proud of any talent whatever, let alone of the mere How slow the shadows creep, but when 'tis passed, How fast the shadows fall : How fast l How fast ! body, even if it were fifteen foot high and of stone, because such things are gifts...
...On the south side of the southwestern Suns may set, and suns may rise, door of this church there was an angel quite fifteen Our poor eyes, feet high...
...I seul...
...talking about, whereat he began a long discourse upon He said that he agreed with me, but that the reason images and their habiting spirits, their dual function, no motto had been put upon this sundial was that the the limits of the veneration that should be paid to man who had made it could not write, and that was them, and I don't know what and all...
...The Angel said it was very pretty, and very nice, "Not in mottoes," said the Angel...
...far as a man, through the effect upon him of divine praise, is I have asked one or two friends who have been in lifted upwards toward God, by so far is he w:Lhdrawn from the place since...
...Ward's method and school...
...Justine Ward's no longer and said, "Hurry up...
...I believe those who say I suppose the members of the movement that has its dynamic they have not, partly because it makes me proud to centre in the Pius X School of Liturgical Music, already apthink I was the only man with whom he exchanged preciate the disadvantages of their method, but it is only fair words during that long space of seven centuries, and to voice what a number of persons think to be the weaknesses partly because I thought I knew, of course, that statues of Mrs...
...munity...
...Very likely Mrs...
...But I gave him his motto, which I Lane language...
...I did answered...
...He said it was given you a sundial without a motto, since it is proper the immortal part of him that met Catullus, and I said to sundials to have mottoes-sometimes good, some- that I could make neither head nor tail of what he was times bad-usually bad...
...Both statements contain a number of petering out by the way in which the middle one had errors...
...Besides which, were it not for the respect I owe him) a large round it is an imitation of Catullus, and I meet poor dear dial, which was a sundial...
...I wouldn't dream of using such Drury not believe this...
...May 19, 1926 THE COMMONWEAL 45 CONVERSATION WITH AN ANGEL By HILAIRE BELLOC T HE other day I found myself in a provincial could not have a motto like that 1 It is unchristian 1 town abroad where there was a large cathedral You must give me another...
...writes: "It cannot be too often repeated that the Gregorian "If you like," said the Angel, without enthusiasm...
...the canonical liturgical languages of the Roman he remained dumb, nobly illustrating the sentiment of Church are Church Latin and old Slavonic (in Glagolitic the psalm, In Exitu, wherein it is thundered out that characters...
...but older than Saint Louis of France...
...Doubtless this is in accord with Mrs...
...Gregorian" is a misnomer for the plainsong of the not fitted in...
...Moreover, so many of the younger members of the congrega(Never princess so forlorn, tion have been or are pupils of the Pius X School, that the Gold and purple gay...
...translated it for him into the Language of Oil, whereat "Well," said I, "if you don't like my motto you he was somewhat taken aback and said: "I certainly can leave it...
...I gave it up as a bad Eucharistic worship of Catholicism is performed under Roman, job and left him for the night so that he might have Byzantine, Alexandrine, Antiochene, Armenian, and Edessene time to recover his temper, but when I went back the forms in the following languages: Church Latin, old Slavonic next morning before taking my train, to see whether (in Cyrillic and Glagolitic characters) modern Rumanian, he was in a more genial mood, he still remained offen- modern Arabic, Church Greek, old Armenian, old Syriac (two dialects) Gregorian, modern Magyar, Coptic, and Geez...
...Some say they have spoken with him, those who are in opposition to God...
...But I interwhy he was such a good artist, "for," said the Angel, rupted him by asking why he had not noticed the real "you must admit that I am extraordinarily well made...
...Pius X School seems certainly can speak and do so on occasion, yet those to be predominantly-though not exclusively, of course-a feminist activity...
...of him on his dial...
...For this reason, she limits her activities "I must have tumbled out of bed to children and looks to the future rather than to the immeLast night in paradise...
...Vernon ing to my work as poets will after the first half hour...
...I am sorry you should do so because it 46 THE COMMONWEAL May 19, 1926 is a very good motto...
...advantage of the motto, which was that it did not I agreed with him, but said that it was no cause for apply to sundials, and that caused him to ask me to self-gratulation but rather for congratulating the try again...
...Vernon tells us: "Only last week, no occasions are exceedingly rare...
...night comes very slowly, there is a prolonged twilight...
...Then," said he, "if you have no more Roman rite because it leads persons to imagine that Saint mottoes for sundials, I have no more use for you and Gregory was the composer of the text of the Vatican kyrial, gradual and antiphoner...
...Verses that are traditional and copied from somewhere unconsciously are always better than Garrison, N. Y. your original, sudden, uncooked stuff...
...Nor does it matter whether the thing is true or not, the point is the poetry," I retorted...
...others say they have not...
...The choir of the Pius X School is composed of girls belonging to the Church of the AnnunciaThe First Violet tion who are taught by the religious of the Sacred Heart, "Pardon, little stranger, and at present it sings the Mass each Sunday at that Church...
...In his hand he held pressed can be called "thinking") and then said up against his chest ("stomach," I would have said, "I turn it down...
...we can fully call our own are our vices, and even of "That was my third motto," said I, proudly...
...diate present...
...artist...
...He then said (after a pause) that because point is also the truth, as the butter merchant said I had a sort of pronunciation different from what he when he bought a peerage and took the motto, 'Dieu was used to, he had not quite caught my meaning...
...less a figure than Cardinal O'Connell invited the girls' choir That conversation with the Angel was held nearly of the Pius X School to sing at High Mass in the Cathedral a month ago, and during all that time I have not been in Boston...
...So I gave himchurch...
...singing is concerned...
...the future of music...
...A shadow marks our days, which end in night...
...You ought to thank heaven that you are versation up to this had been conducted in a simple of the North, to talk about the night `ruining down' kind of chronicle Latin and in early French...
...As I stood looking at him he asked me whether I I asked him how he could meet Catullus, seeing he could suggest a motto for his sundial, for it had none...
...the is to talk like a nigger...
...I don't like it," said the Angel...
...langue d'Oil...
...is the official music of the Catholic Church as Latin is her In fact, he might have seen for himself that I was official language...
...I know that it is good because COMMUNICATIONS I feel at the back of my mind that I copied it from CHOIRS FOR A NEW AGE somewhere...
...Grenville Vernon in his article, Choirs for a filled with vanity in spite of my rebuffs, and also warm- New Age (The Commonweal of March 24...
...with insult, with affection, with command, in all the The official court languages of the Holy See are Latin, French, seven moods which inflect the Basque vocative...
...It is unchristian...
...There is no official and unique liturgical lanimages of stone have mouths but cannot speak and guage or liturgical musical text of the Catholic Church for the cannot clamor their gutterals...
...congregation itself now joins in the singing...
...A more accurate name would be I shall not say another word," nor did he...
...I told him that it opening paragraph of Gregorian Chant : "Gregorian Chant was hopeless...
...So I left him for worldlings but Saint Thomas's saying remains true: "So to it, and was gone...
...He said that all languages were the "I never did say that night `ruined down'," I same to him and that he understood them all...
...was stuck up on a wall and had not been able to move I said: "It seems to me a very silly thing to have for all these centuries and centuries...
...This act of the Cardinal ought to affect able to make up any more mottoes for sundials...
...sively and pig-headedly silent, carrying his ironical "The proper execution of Gregorian Chant and music writsmile in a fixed, exasperating manner which showed me ten in the Gregorian spirit" may be "extraordinarily difficult" that he knew all about the great world...
...Have you lost your way...
...said the Angel...
Vol. 4 • May 1926 • No. 2
