EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 December 1934, Page 12

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

FATHER LONG INTERVIEWED. “That which impressed me most,” said Very Rev. Father J. Long, Adm., of St. Patrick’s Church, Greymouth, on his return, after attending the Australian National Eucharistic Congress at Melbourne, “was the magnificent success of the Congress, which saved the Centenary celebrations, —and this is not, my opinion only—from being a “wash-out.” The Ceentenary celebrations had been a great disappointment, partly on account of the weather, but the Eucharistic Congress, favoured by the grace of God, with good weather, was, as I have said, nothing short of a magnificent success. And, under God,” added - Father Long,” if the success of the Congress was duo to any one man, it was due to the vision and the courage of Dr. Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne —to his vision, in seeing so far ahead, and to his courage in going ahead against strong opposition. Everyone asks whether the Melbourne Congress was a greater success than that held at Sydney six years ago? To my mind they were about equal, which is, after all, an argument for the greater success of Melbourne, which was a national congress, whereas Sydney was international.”

“The outstanding features of the Congress,” said Father Long, .“were the Eucharistic Procession, and the Men’s Night. Some idea of the magnitude of the Procession can be gained by the fact that, at a conservative estimate, there were 80,000 actually in the procession, which was watched by over 500,000 along the route, and, as a matter of fact, the Children of Mary, who led the procession, were back in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, after traversing the two-mile route, before the clergy and prelates, who brought up the rear, had started. Aftei’ rain in the morning, the weather was fine, though overcast for the procession, but just as the Canopy, under which the Sacred Host was being borne through the streets, was approaching the specially-prepared altar, in the open-air, the sun burst through the clouds, as though Heaven-sent, lighting up the Monstrance, and the faces of everyone. For the men’s night, well over 200,000 people assembled for the special service in the Melbourne Showgrounds, where a temporary altar had been erected, to do honour to their Eucharistic King, and the sight of about 80,000 lighted candles, held by the men, was most, inspiring. The service commenced at 8 p.m., but, all that afternoon, from 2.30 onwards, special trams, electric trains and buses, all packed, were running to the Showgrounds. The smooth running of the services, was a striking tribute to the organisation of the authorities.” Father Long said that the address of welcome to the Congress by Dr. Mannix, was particularly well done, and ■his hold over the minds of the people of Melbourne, was remarkable. The attitude of other denominations was mentioned by Father Long, who said that, after early opposition, everyone seemed anxious to co-operate and ensure the success of the Congress. His Holiness, the Pope, sent a message to the Congress, with a special Papal blessing for the Legate, and all participating, and. especially blessing those who had suffered as a result of the floods. The Pope proved the sincer ity of his sympathy by following up his blessing, with a donation of £l,OOO towards the flood relief fund. “The Congress,” added Father Long, “went from one success to another. There was not a failure in it, and after the tremendous enthusiasm and wonderful faith displayed by the people of Melbourne, there seemed a general sadness and loneliness, when it came to an end.”

COASTERS’ RELATIONS. Th© Commonwealth Premier, Mr. J. A. Lyons, at the opening of the new hospital conducted by the Sisters of Mercy in Melbourne, made a splendid uncompromising Catholic speech, eulogising the work done by the good Sisters. Incidentally, added Father Long, the head of the Sisters of Mercy in that diocese, was Mother M. Evangelish Doogan, a. sister of the late Mr. H. F. Doogan, of Greymouth. Another personage he met, of interest to Coasters, was the Superior of the Sisters of Mercy of the Maitland Diocese, Mother M. Borgia McSherry, a sister of Mr. J. MeSherry, of Greymouth. “My impression of the city of Melbourne, was that it was a very fine city, with great pressure of traffic, but with rather suburbs. The principal streets, Collins, Burke and Elizabeth streets, are very wide, and beautiful in their general lay-out. As far as I could see there was no sign of the economic depression, during the month I was there, unless it is fair to mention the number of beggars. These were a nuisance in the streets of Melbourne, more or less preying on the visitors to the celebrations. Of course, there was also a great deal of distress caused by the flood, which aroused wide sympathy, but the rain which caused the floods, was, in the city, at least, no worse than we had come to regard as typical West Coast wet weather, but there must have been much heavier falls in the country. The rapid rise and slow fall of the flood waters was due to the low-lying country and to the fact that the water could not get away. As an instance of the slow fall of the waters, I might mention, that, four days after the rain had

ceased, I saw, in Heidelberg, about ten miles out of the city, the flood waters still flowing through the top windows of a two-storied house, while the top of a gasometer was barely showing above the water level.” There was very little news available in Melbourne about New Zealand, and, what there was, was very scanty, said Father Long. Generally, the people knew nothing about New Zealand. He came in contact a good deal, during his visit, he said, with people from the irrigation areas, and he heard the remark many times, “Oh! you New Zealanders are the people who won’t take our oranges.” “There was great disappointment among the Australian fruitgrowers when the mission of Messrs. Coates and Masters, to Australia, was not successful. Taxi-fares in Melbourne were abnormally high, but trams were cheap and almost as fast. The tramway officials he found most courteous and obliging. “The weather was good for the greater part of my stay, but I left better weather than I went to, and I am very happy to be back after a most pleasant and inspiring trip,” concluded Father Long. Among other notables met by Father Long during his visit, were Mr. J. Scullin, Stan. McCabe, the international cricketer, and Mr. Dwyer, an Australian cricket selector.