SOLEMN DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 70, 23 March 1940, Page 11

SOLEMN DAY.

CHURCH SERVICES.

GOOD FRIDAY OBSERVANCE. EASTER TESTIVAL TO-MORROW The story of the Passion and death of Jesus Christ on the. hill of Calvary was. related in Auckland churches yesterday, when Good Friday services attracted large congregations. A feature of the day's observance which attracted much attention was the Procession of Witness ill Queen Street, in which a strong body of Anglican clergy and laity took part.

Archbishop Averill conducted the Devotion of the Throe Hours, from noon till ;! p.m., in St. Mary's Cathedral, Parncll. Addresses on the seven last words from the Cross were given between prayers and appropriate, hymns. Similar services were held elsewhere ill the city. The Kcv. E. E. Bamford, warden'of St. John's College, conducted the devotion in St. Paul's, Symonds Street, and Archdeacon \V. J. Simkin olliciated in I he Church of the Epiphany,

Full congregations attended three services in St. Patrick's Cathedral, after a perpetual watch had been kept before the Altar of Repose throughout Thursday night. Bishop J.iston olliciated at' the solemn unveiling of the Cross, which preceded the Mass of the l're-sauctilied. In the afternoon, the bishop conducted Stations of the Cross, a devotion in which the congregation meditate upon the sorrows of Christ on His way to Calvary. The Kcv. Father Phillip Murphy, of the Order of Friars Minor, was'the preacher at the evening service of Tenebrae, his sermon being of a particularly moving character, based as it was on' the sufferings of Christ for the. sins of the world. Early this morning there was a large congregation in St. Patrick's Cathedral for the Holy Saturday ceremonies and the First Mass of Easter.

Ministers and congregations of the Baptist Tabernacle, St. James' Presbyterian and Bercsford Street Congregational Churches, united in a morning service in the Pitt Street Methodist Church. The Rev. 11. J. Lilburii, of St. James' Church, was the. preacher. Another united service, in which the congregations of Presbyterian, Methodist- and Baptist Churches at Ponsonby co-operated, was held in St. John's Methodist Church. Colonel F. W. Burton conducted a scries of services, under the title of "A Day at the Cross," in the Salvation Army Congress Hall.

References to the annual Dominion conference of the Associated Churches of Christ arc. made in another column. The half-yearly Auckland Christian Convention was opened yesterday in the Howe Street Hall. The Auckland prison chaplain, the Rev. G. E. Moreton, conducted a Good Friday service in the prison chapel, St. John's, version of the Crucifixion being read by Captain S.' K. Banyard, of the Church Army. Easter Services To-morrow. Mourning for the Crucified will give place to joy in the Resurrection of Christ in the churches to-morrow, when Easter, queen of festivals in the Christian calendar, will be celebrated. In Anglican and Roman Catholic churches the altar-rails will be thronged from early morning, as the. faithful make their Easter Communion. In all churches festal music, with the characteristic "Alleluia," will be a feature of the day.

Archbishop Avcrill will preach lus last sermon as Bishop of Auckland at the evening service in St. Mary's Cathedral to-morrow. His Grace and Mrs. Avcrill arc to he entertained by the parishioners of tiie cathedral at a social gathering in tile parish hall on Tuesday night. The archbishop will preach at the morning service in St. Matthew's Church to-morrow.

United services will l>c held holli morning and evening in the Town Hall concert chamber as part of the annual Dominion conference of the Associated Churches of Christ. The Rev. Professor A. E. Albiston, Moderator-General of the Methodist Church of Australia, will preach in the Epsom Methodist Church in the morning, and in Pitt Street Church in the evening. The services in St. David's Presbyterian Church will he, conducted by the Very Rev. G. Budd, At St. Luke'*s Church, Renmcra, the sermon at the evening service will ho preached by the Rev. Dr. J. D. Salmond, Presbyterian director of youth work. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Anderson will bo the preacher at the 11 a.m. service in j Holy Sepulchre Church, EJiybcr Pass Road.