DAY OF PRAYER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 11, 8 October 1917, Page 6

DAY OF PRAYER

TOWN HALL SERVICE

ADDRESS BY BISHOP SPROTT

There were about 301)0 people at the Town Hall yesterday afternoon, when the Day of National Prayer was marked by a united religious service. The Mayor of Wellington (Mr. J. P. Luke) presided, and among those on the platform were Cabinet Ministers and ministers of religion. Hymns, readings, and prayers appropriate to the occasion were rendered, and an address was d/Jivered by Dr. Sprott, Anglican Bishop of Wellington. Fortius address Bishop Sprott took as hfs text a passage from Ecclesiastics, in which the phrase occurs: "The race is nrit to the swift, nor the battle to tho strong." Ever since the_ beginning of tTfe war, he said, two voices had been sounding in our ears. _ The Christian Church had been calling us to pray. Another voice had been calling us to put forth every effort to secure victory. Some might have thought thoso two voices contradictory, and might have preferred to put aside prayer and devoto themselves to work. But there was no contradiction in those two voices —the call to strenuous effort and the call to prkyer. He thought the answer was contained in the words he had just read from the Book of Ecclesiastics. The fact was our human life had two aspects. There was a regularity in human life which taught us that if we desired certain things to happen we must adopt certain means. To win a war we must keep ourselves strong. If we wished to attain power and influence we must adopt the proper means to gain those, ends, and if we did not use those means we had no right to expect to gain tho ends. Another extract from the Book of Ecclesiastics was: "Whatever thy right hand fbidest to do, do that with all thy might." History showed that victory did not always "rest with the strong. There were many instances of tho most momentous battles going to what seemed to be the weaker side. The fact was that in nil human affairs there was an element of mystery and uncertainty. That was where prayer came in. * That there was a region of mystery had been recognised in ail ages, and it had to be recognised that in the last end wo were at the mercy of chance or fate. Despite what a poet had said, one was not "captaiu of his soul," nor "master of his fate." Throughout New Zealand to-day a united effort was being made in prayer, but the services were not intended to be a substitute for effort in the prosecution of tho war which had been thrust upon us. They were to remind us'that lyjien we had done our -utmost, as we ought to do, there still remained the fact that, we were dependent crcatures—that God ruled and reigned, and that in His hands were the ultimate issues of human life and human fate. What might be the of God in' permitting this war he could not tell. Onr children's children might have a clearer vision when they saw the consequeuces 'being unfolded in the course of human history. Therefore, he would not say tho war had come through human sin, but he would say that'' nations at war were like ships in storm. Wo were being judged by this war. Every fault, weakness, sin, or failure that there had been in our national life was being brought _to judgment. ' In .these days our national life had not been shown to be utterly bad, utterly rotten. We might, however, thank God for all the heroism, ,self-sacri-fice, and energy this war had called forth. As an American writer had pointed out, the greatest mistake Germany had made was that she lilt not be.'.'un the war twenty-five years later, when she would havo had an easy victory. This war had shown us, as nothing else had, the evils of lust- and excessive devotion to pleasure, which had overcome our nation. We as a British people had ceased to bo able to look at facts. The war had not come to us without many a warning. There was a call to national repentance, which meant the repentance by the people. Repentance meant a change of life, of ideals. It would be a great task to try to sketch the ideal nation. Firstly, it would bo a nation that would be reverent in the use of freedom. We boasted of onr freedom. We proclaimed that we were fighting for it. ' It was the most difficult thing in the world for a nation to keep its moral courage from being debased. The ideai nation would be reverent in the use of freedom. - Amongst such people there ■ would bo no such thing as exploitation.' ''The war had dono much to unify us, but there was still a great cleavage between Capital and Labour. This problem must be solved. He thought that in the solution of that tremendous problem (which must be solved) far too much liad been in tho past left to legislation. There must bo many reasonable men, and why not those get together, not in great m.ass meeting, but in little round-table conferences, and/ discuss this great difficulty. He believed that if that were done some solution would be found so tliat there would not remain that feeling (whetner or not) that our social order largely rested upon exploitation. The nation he had in mind'would be just in the exercise of the nowers it possessed. Then thero would bo no greed, no cruelty. Lastly, the ideal nation would lie one placing its trust in God. A stable nation could never be built except that it had its trust in God.

IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES In all the Catholic churches of Wellington City and suburbs yesterday the principal service was devoted to the objects of the day of prayer. At the Masses hundreds i\t' the members of the congregations went" to Holy Communion and offered their communion for the special intention of the day. The sermons contained reference to the necessity for all to pray fervently and frequently, for peace and victory. At the Basilica, of the Sacred Heart large congregations attended at the early Mi'sses, most of the faithful receiving Holy Communion. At 10.30 Solemn High Mass was celebrated, His Grace _ the Archbishop presiding. The St. Patrick's College Cadets, under Lieutenant Chapman, paraded, and the college choir sang the Mass. The music comprised the "Ivyrie" and "Gloria," from Gounod's Mass for two voices. The "Credo Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei," from Gounod's "Messe Solemnelle." The difficult music of the "Credo" was rendered with remarkable spirit and refined taste. Mr. Gordon O'Meeghan presided at the organ. The celebrant" of .the Mass was the Eev. T. A. Gilbert. S.M., Deacon, the fiev. P. I,' Dignan. 'S.lf., and Sub-deacon, the Eev H. M'Donald, S.M. After the gospel, His Grace the Archbishop, spoke 111 eloquent words of the evidences of God s Providence, and appealed to the congregation to unite in prayer for victory mid pence, founded 011 right and U] 3 J lce ; Among those present were Sir Robert Stout. Sir Joseph Ward, Lady Ward, Mrs. B. B. Wood. Major Sleeman, and Mr. J. Colvin, M.P.