CHILDREN AT PRAYER.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 293, 11 December 1929, Page 10

CHILDREN AT PRAYER.

MOVING SPECTACLE.

GREAT REQUIEM SERVICE.

Three thousand children knelt in prayer for the repose of the Soul of a beloved bishop, Who in life had made them his special care, when a Solemn Pontifical Mass of Requiem Was sung in St. Patrick's Cathedral this morning. It Was a spectacle more moving than any* great occasion of State could be. Contrasting with the splendour" and the intricate detail of the Mass, the simple piety of the children as they whispered their supplications Was something to touch the hearts of all privileged to behold it.

Children of the schools and orphanages came from all parts of the city and suburbs. They filled nave and transepts, blocked the aisles, overflowed into the sacristy passage and knelt in'the porch, while a solid phalanx blotted the sunlight in the wide north door. .-Fittingly enough, the orphans wore given; places: at the front, since the late Bishop Cldary was to them a practical and benevolent Father in God. Remarkable indeed was the reverent silence in which the thousands of little ones entered the cathedral, funereal and austere in its drapings of black, gold and violet, and knelt in their placesj lips moving in prayer. No soUnd Was heard save the murmur of their Intercessions as they concentrated upon their Prayei 1 Books and fingered their rosaries. Magnificence of the Mass. Before the high altar, stripped of all save the draped oriianients proper to a Sequjeiri. Mass, lay the body of the dead bishop, iii its habiliments of violet, gloved hands folded in the attitude of prayei'. The Six great candles about the casket burned With steady fiahie. Suddenly the. tivrob of the organ and the strains of slow* fUiieral music, aiid after a little there entered a long procession of priests, led by the tail figure Of Father McKeefry bearing aloft ft processional' cfUciflx. f'olioWed tlieh the ceremonial vesting of his Lordship the Bishop of ChfiitchUreli, the St. Rev. Dr. BrOdic, during which ail expectant hush pervaded the cathedral. The episcopal piirpie- WM covered at last in the hiajznificent Eucharistic vestments of black and gold, and a White iiiiire" was set 'iijieirtlie'deiebi-aiit's 'head. Ten small altar boys assisted in this elaborate ceremony. Tlieh the veste'd clergy approached the altar to make, their preparation'for the offering of great service Which is the very centre ard heart of the Catholic religion. A choir of dioees'aii ; priests burst into the soiiibre music of the.introit, '"Requiem iictcr'nam dona, et?, Domine"-—"Grant- them eternal res t t, 0 LOrd" —and the magnificent remembrance of the prelate who had passed Was begun. .Profound Thoughts on Death. After the collect for the Soil] of the bishop, the sUb-deacon, the Very Rev. Father Gonch'iiiger, read the epistle, following which the choir.; rendered the iUoufiifully beautiful sequeiic, "Die* irate, dies ilia,' - with its profound thoughts on death, as for instance: Faint and weary Thou has sought me, On the Cross of suffering bought me; Shall such grace be vainly brought me ? Spare, d tiotl, in mercy spare him!; "•. Lord* Jesu blest, / : ■ •'. '■: 1: '.■ GfMflt tflfeiri Thliie etei ; Mi ■'.''"' \i

.Siirlilg the Chanting of the Gofspei/orio' 8f tiie, Hidst speetaeular parts' Of the .serVlb6j all the clergy iii tlie saiietuary'helii liptgd caMp, symbdiisliig" tlie Scrip:, tlifal injunction that. Christians ■ sliißuld let tagif light ati shine before fiieri' that their Father ifi Heaven might be glorified in the spreading of the gospel Of salvation. Quickly following upon this solemn spectacle came the moment when the celebrant, deacon and sub-deacon and other assisting clergy approached the! high altar to prepare for the sacred Moments of the Consecration. . Hiish at the Elevation. , As the bgli r&fig 6iit its shrill siiiiiiridhS to greater devotion the whole juvenile congregation fell into attitudes of ; prayer, every head bowed low, and the sweet fragrance of iiieense drifted dbwii through the nave, symbolic of the beauty of holiness and the.prayers of the saints in glory. At the Elevation there was a i profound stillness in the cathedral, and , that sense Of a very Real Presence which , even the non-Catholics can appreciate at [ such a hallowed moment. With the mighty swell of the "Agnus Dei" tlie ; Mass moved to its drariiatic climax; the , celebrant offering the post-communion prayer for the departed prelate: "May Thy clemency which we implore benefit, we beseech Thee, 0 Lord, the soul of Thy . servant, our bishop; that through Thy mercy he may attain unto the everlasting fellowship of Hirii in Whom he hath believed avid noped, through Jesus Christ Our Lord." During the service the. thrbhe of the bishop of the diocese remained empty, heavily draped in mourning; Bishop Liston wiis seated on the south side of the sanctuary, and on the east side sat the Rt. Rev. Dr. Whyte, Bishop of fiiuiedih. Friend of the Children. The sermon which Bishop Whyte prfcaclie'd to the dliildreh wits couched in simpl,e terms. It was built oil tlie text, "And Jesus said to them, 'Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, for the Kirigddih Of Heaven is of such.'" His Lordship reminded the children of the efficacy of their prayers, upOn which the Church of God set such store. Their i pl-ay'eis had done niiich to make the recent Eiieharistie Congress siich a s.Ucde'ss. Jeshs loved tlie Children* and that Wag %vhy- the Church was so eager that they should prtly for the repose Of the soiil of the bishop of the diocese, who had passed om All priests and bishops loved the children, but noiie.ntrjre than Bishop Cieary, Who had beeii the friend of every child in the diocese, and especially of'the orphans. The life of Bishop Cieary should inspire them to live good Christian lives, and maybe sonic of those present Would respdild to God's call to be nurses, sisters* teachers and priests. If they prayed for their bishop they could be sure that he would in turn pray for them befOre the Throne of God, that they might enjoy life everlasting.

Children Pay Last Respects. The assistant priest to the celebrant was the Eight Rev. Mohsignor Lane. The Vcn. Archdeacon Holbrook was deacon, arid tlie Very Rev. Father Gondrihger, S.M., subdeacon. Assistant deacons were the .Rev. Father Furlong and /the 1 Rev. Father Sperrings. The difficult duties of master of ceremonies wei ; e performed dcvotiorially by the administrator of the Cathedral, the Rev. Dr. Buxton, who was assisted bv the Rev ; Father- MeKeefry. Mr. Leo/Whittaker I conducted a choir of diocesan priests, land Mi s& N eiii c Ormoiid was at the , organ. ' SM^lvf---^ 6i tho >^ ss , all the ■ r in., t fi - led - past the bor:i y <* Sifehdp lan IfaoS 5 m Statc ' * m *»ild-«^lng