MISSIONS CONCLUDED

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 December 1940, Page 9

MISSIONS CONCLUDED

AT KOTUKU AND RUNANGA Final sermons were delivered at Kotuku and Runanga, yesterday, by the Redemptorist Fathers who have been holding Missions there, and there were again large attendances. At Kotuku, a three days’ Mission was conducted by Rev. Father R. J. Selleck, C.SS.R., the exercises both morning and night being excellently attended. Yesterday morning, Father

Selleck preached the final sermon at Mass, later imparting the Papal Blessing to the large congregation. Rev. Father A.. C. Gregory, on behalf of Father Long and the parishioners, thanked Father Selleck for his excennent work during the Mission, and ' Father Selleck impressed on his congregation the importance, in the present difficult times, of following faithfully their religion by a life °f obedience, charity and humility. He said that the month the Missioners had spent in the Greymouth Parish had been a source’ of great pleasure and satisfaction to them, and he congratulated the people on their zealous spirit. Fathei - Selleck also explained the Mass and preached at Rotomanu. At Runanga, the Church of the Sacred Heart was filled to capacity last evening, when Rev. Father G. V. Gartlan, C.SS.R., closed the week’s Mission conducted there. Father Gartlan, in his final sermon, urged the people to be faithful to the good resolutions they had made during the Mission, by living a life of prayer, with attendance at Sunday Mass and frequent reception of the Sacraments. He expressed the pleasure it had given the Redemptorist Fathers to accept Father. Long’s invitation to preach the Missions through the parish of Greymouth, and said that they felt well rewarded for their efforts by the fine spirit of devotion evinced in every part of the parish. He also

thanked Rev. Father F. E. Kelly for the assistance he had given during the Mission in Runanga. Father Kelly, on behalf of the clergy and parishioners, said that Father Gartlan’s work in the parish had been an inspiration to all. He assured Father Gartlan that the prayers of the people would be with him in his missionary work. t

ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH At St. Patrick’s Church, Greymouth, yesterday, the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was observed by large attendance at the morning Masses, and an overflow congregation last evening, when about 100 Children of Mary in regalia were present in honour of the feast. Last evening’s congregation exceeded that at any service, except during Missions, held at St. Patrick’s for many years. Rev. Father Selleck preached on the place the Mother of God held in Catholic devotion, urging the congregation to seek her intercession in their trials and difficulties.

Following the sermon, Father Selleck received into the Sodality of the Children of Mary 25 young women, during which a hymn in honour of the Blessed Virgin was sung. After devotions, Father Selleck addressed more than 300 Catholic men on the importance of being members of the Holy Name Society, as a means of living full lives in every sense of the Christian precepts. He said that the large attendance of men had been an inspiration throughout the Mission, and he commended to them the necessity for prayer and the practice of self-denial so that they could find peace and happiness in their lives.

MISSIONERS’ THANKS Speaking last evening, Father Selleck said that the Missioners felt they could not leave Greymouth without expressing their deep appreciation of the many kindnesses showered on them during their stay. The Mission had been one of the most successful he had experienced in many years, and the Missioners had been touched by the spirit of noble Christianity which appeared to exist amongst the whole community of Greymouth. That spirit, he hoped, would extend in the years to come, because it was a guarantee of peaceful prosperity and happiness to find in a community a feeling of friendship based on Chritsian charity and love towards one another. Father Selleck said that he and Fathers Gartlan and Lennon also deeply appreciated the reports of their addresses published in both Greymouth papers, which had given a faithful account of the Mission. “That Greymouth and its people will continue to live in complete harmony, is one of our dearest wishes,” he added.