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Views from the Choir Loft

In Memoriam: Dr. Lucy E. Carroll, DMA

Fr. David Friel · June 28, 2015

UST A FEW short months ago, The Adoremus Bulletin lost its editor and leader, Helen Hull Hitchock. A little over a week ago, another woman associated with Adoremus, Dr. Lucy Carroll, died as a result of complications from back surgery. Over many years, Dr. Carroll contributed substantially to the reform of sacred music in the Catholic Church. (For details of her life, please see her obituary). Lucy was a friend and mentor to me, and I would like to share with you a little bit of her story.

Lucy was an accomplished choir director, clever cartoonist, and gifted writer. She was a beloved professor, published poet, and learned musicologist. She once worked as a high school music director, and eventually held a teaching position at Westminster Choir College in Princeton. She was also a woman of genuine personal holiness.

Lucy grew up in a Polish parish in the Bronx—Saint Adalbert’s—where her young faith was nurtured. It was at St. Adalbert’s that she first learned to appreciate the good, the true, and the beautiful. It was there that she had her first exposure to the language of the Church and the vast treasury of sacred music. She went on to earn music degrees from Temple University, Trenton State College, and Combs College of Music.

The most influential schooling she received, however, came from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in Purchase, NY, which operated the Pius X School of Liturgical Music during summers. Dr. Carroll studied there during the tumultuous summers of 1963 & 1964. She once reminisced:

I often think of the days at Pius X and wonder what state our Catholic church music would be in today if we had all followed the letter rather than “the spirit” of Vatican II; if we had truly used the best and most elevated compositions rather than the bubble-gum variety; if we had emphasized choirs and organ as the Council Fathers intended.

Do yourself a favor, and read the complete article from which this quote comes. When I read that article for the first time, I learned about a blissful period in recent Church history about which I was previously unaware. It is an eye-opening read for those of us born well after the Council.

Schools like the Pius X School of Liturgical Music are lacking in today’s Church. The closest equivalent is probably the all-too-brief Sacred Music Colloquium (which opens tomorrow in Pittsburgh and continues all week). It is so encouraging to see the growth of youth choir schools like the one at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City and the new Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum, led by fellow blogger Lucas Tappan. Where will the graduates of these schools be able to go for advanced studies?

Most of my interactions with Dr. Carroll stem from her longtime work as the organist and music director at our Carmelite Monastery in Philadelphia. In addition to her normal weekend duties, she worked year-round to provide beautiful sacred music for the annual Novena in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Triduum celebrated in honor of St. Therese of Lisieux. Lucy even edited an excellent hymnal just for the use of the Carmel, entitled The Monastery Hymnal. She is deeply missed by the sisters, her Monastery Choir, and the wider family of Carmel.

Lucy_Carroll_Mice Readers of The Adoremus Bulletin will recall Lucy’s frequent contributions to that publication. In addition to her many articles over the years (e.g., HERE, HERE, and HERE), she was also the creator of the “Churchmouse Squeaks” cartoons that would appear in every edition.

Dr. Carroll had diverse interests. On the one hand, she was passionate about pipe organs, while on the other hand she was an expert on the a cappella singing tradition of the Ephrata Cloister. She was a devotee of Carmelite spirituality, as well as an unabashed cat lover. She wrote a book (which I immensely enjoyed) entitled The Hymn Writers of Early Pennsylvania—a remarkably specific topic that capitalized upon her niche scholarship.

Lucy played an instrumental role in my coming to grips with the true nature of sacred music. Like so many other millennials, I grew up with a wildly distorted sense of what church music is and should be. I will forever be grateful to Lucy for patiently introducing me to the treasury I now love.

We offered Lucy’s funeral Mass on Friday in the original chapel of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA (my hometown). The congregation was heavily populated with members of her various choirs, all of whom sang at various points throughout the Mass. At the end, the In Paradisum was sung, and her casket was carried out of the chapel and taken to the burial site nearby.

I share Lucy’s story only in part because some readers will know her and be interested to hear the sad news of her death. The main reason I am sharing her story, though, is because she represents a generation of sacred musicians I deeply admire. She received an excellent education & formation in Catholic liturgical music, only to find that her skills were not wanted in the post-conciliar period. It took decades of perseverance before the sound education she had received could actually be put into the service of the Church who had formed her.

Dr. Lucy was a woman of great faith, totally immersed in the life of the Church. In many ways, the Church was her family. In every way, her life was totally committed to the work of Catholic sacred music. She is a brilliant example of what the Catholic faith can do when it takes root in a person.

Today, were it not Sunday, would be celebrated as the feast of St. Irenaeus, who famously wrote that “the glory of God is man fully alive.” It was Lucy’s faith that enabled her to be so “fully alive.” Her life was indelibly shaped by her experience of the Church; this should be the earnest desire of every Catholic.

As her name implies, Lucy was a light to others. Please join me in praying that she will be welcomed quickly into the resplendent light of the heavenly kingdom.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Youth Choirs, Helen Hull Hitchcock Adoremus, Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Passing on Tradition Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“However well equipped and trained a choir may be, all its good points may be obscured by an unsuitable accompaniment. In fact the organist can, in a large measure, either make or mar his choir. It must be owned, however, that the accompanist of Plainsong has to contend with many difficulties. […] The purist will still find his best enjoyment of the chant when it is sung unaccompanied, but to most a becoming accompaniment gives an added charm.”

— Benedictines of Stanbrook (1905)

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