FUNERAL OF SISTER MARY GABRIEL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11537, 25 March 1898, Page 6

FUNERAL OF SISTER MARY GABRIEL.

(■ Yesterday the obsequies of Sister Mary Gabriel were carried out at Mount Magdala ■with the impressive and solemn ceremonies peculiar to the Catholic Church. At 9 a.m. punctually, the solemn office of the dead was chanted by the priests in the sanctuary. afterwards the Itequiem Mass was sung by. the Very Rev, Father Cummings, V.G., the Reverend Fathers Foley and Marnane respectively acting as deacon and subdeaeon ; the Rev Father Bowers, of Geraldine, being master of ceremonies. The singing of the Requiem was entrusted to the nuns of Mount Magdala and the penitents.of the institute. The body of the deceased was placed before the altar, with the coffin lid removed. The Requiem Mass finished, the ancient ceremony of the Absolutions was sung by the clergy around the tier. The procession was then formed. First went the one hundred and thirty penitents of the. establishment, next the eoffin carried by tbe Marist Brothers, of Barhadoes Street, followed by the acolytes and clergy; lastly walked the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Mercy, of Colombo Street, and the Sisters of the l£ission, of Barbadoes Street, followed bymost 'of the ’ representative Catholics of Christchurch and its environs. After the funeral and burial service, the Very Rev Father Cummings, with great emotion, addressed those present. He regretted- the' absence of Bishop Grimes aittd thhPhY fathers Giriaby and Gdutenoire. : holy.life of the deceased ahtj,-.<)f ithevgood-' work dbne by her, more esjped£lty' : ia) the -uplifting of lifer - fallen Bistets.; j .Thdee who were present ; that day had coin©' to do honour ■to ohfe 'who had dedicated her life to good works, and'who was r nbw in'the presence-of her Greater and had rest from her labours. Her life was Tike that of one of Nature’s smallest, yet most beautiful flowers, the actual worth of which was only known to those who looked closely into it. He considered her a hidden saint, who had done the work of a Christian heroine; She had been a very great factor in bringing the Magdala Asylum to-the position it now held, and her influence had made itself manifest in the feeling which the-large number of penitents entertained towards her. He concluded by saying that the grave, the coffin and its contents were moreeloquent th an the sermons of preachers. At the conclusion of the discourse, those present knelt arid prayed. In the sanctuary there were present—The Very Rev Father GutnmingSjV.G., Yeryßev Father Chervier, S;M. (Leeston), Fathers Marnane, Goggan, J. Haulti Bowers,. Rafferty and Foley. 'ln the chapel were the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of: the Mission of the Sacred Heart, and a large contingent of the Sisters ,of the Good. Shepherd and, all .the .penitents.: A number of the leading Catholics of Christchurch and suburbs were present at the services^