The protest aroused by Cardinal [of Boston] O'Connell's ban on the "Beautiful Isle" is interesting, partly because it is typical. Dissenting voices seem to have missed the point of the controversy. In barring the hymn, His Eminence gave an obvious reason. He declared the song to be "cheap, trashy and vulgar". From a musical standpoint his action has no challenge to fear. He had no desire of wounding the sensibilities of those to whom the song may have grown dear through old memories and associations.

Fundamentally, the question is not one of sensibilities or of musical standards. Underlying the whole recurring situation is a matter of dogmatic importance. The song is not merely a song. It is the symbol of a theological system. That system is not the system of the Catholic Church.

From an artistic standpoint, many negro "spirituals" are superior to some of the Moody and Sanky hymns. We do not reproach the Evangelizers for not borrowing from their darker brethren. The religious sensibilities of some persons may be moved profoundly by certain snatches from the Verdi operas. It is not to their discredit the Verdi tunes are never heard from their choir lofts. If the spirit of the Moody and Sanky and similar hymns does not correspond with that of Catholic liturgy, who is right: the Cardinal who bars them from Catholic service, or his critics who discourse on musical standards, and sensibilities?

"Beautiful Isle of Somewhere", however inferior a representative, is merely one of a type. That plaintive swooping and swooning of the melodic line and the vague sentimentalism of the words --
"Somewhere the sun is shining, Somewhere the song-birds dwell," are thoroughly expressive of the "quiescent" phase of sectarian theology. The spirit of interior illumination, of private judgment, of comfort from the Scriptures alone, and of dogmatic indifference is embodied unmistakably in these hymns, and the finished products radiate its sad, familiar optimism. What an impatient critic might characterize as maudlin is really a religious note -- the note of evangelistic confidence which underlies practically all Protestant theology. The other phase is the militant evangelism of "Onward, Christian Soldiers, Marching on to War".

That many of these hymns breathe a vigorous spirituality and a rugged beauty, no one will deny. But they are totally foreign to the Catholic system. They were conceived under an alien inspiration. They deny implicitly the clean-cut dogmatic principles of the Church. They are strangers to the Mass, the sacraments, to the Catholic conception of divine Grace, to the communion of saints, and generally to the heritage of Catholic Faith so beautifully symbolized in the Catholic liturgy.

Catholic ritual is a logical development, the full and perfect product of centuries of devout labor and loving inspiration. It were a shame to mar the exquisite funeral service with "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere". Secular songs are simply excluded from Catholic devotions. Protestant hymnology as a symbol of Catholic worship is a contradiction in terms.
______________________________

The Caecilia, Volume 54, Number 11 (November, 1927), p. 109.

Related post:

Anent "The Beautiful Isle of Somewhere"