DEATH OF BISHOP LUCK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10036, 24 January 1896, Page 5

DEATH OF BISHOP LUCK.

It is with feelings of regret that we have to record the somewhat sudden, though nob unexpected, death of,the Right Rev. John' Edmund Luck, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, ab the Bishop's Palace, Newstreot, Ponsonby, yostorday morning' about half-past six o'clock. For months pasb the Bishop has been in a delicate state of health from a cardiac' affection of the heart. Owing to hiS condition a meeting of the Catholic clergy Was held at St. Patrick's oh the 2ist November, Archbishop Redwood presiding, for the purpose of appointing a Coadjutor, the clergy present recommended the following priests in tho : drdbr given :-Rev. Fathers Ldliiliah, Reilly, 1 and Hackett. About it week ago Father Lenlliari wa9 appointed administrator In conjunction, with the Rev. Mdusigiibr Paul, V.G. 1 During the last ten 1 day's Bishop Luck has been gradually getting' weaker. His medical attendants, Drs. Mackellar and Darby, did i all tlmt medical skill could accomplish, but without avail, and he was carefully nursed by Mrs. Kehoe Dempsby, of the Norbh Shore Oonvalesconb Home, who was in constant attendance. The Bishop was able to go about a little, but had bo be carried up and downstairs by tho lay Brothers. On Wed nesday evening the Bishop was brought downstairs to tea, and shortly afterwards (half-past six) he was seized with spasms of the heart. Bra. Mackellar and Darby were telephoned for, and were speedily in attendance. The patient was treated in the diningroom for some time, and carried up to his bedroom at ben o'clock. The medical men regarded the seizure as premonitory of the end, and Dr. Darby remained all night. The Bishop passed a restless night, and slept little, a good deal of the time in a chair, owing to having a great difficulty in breathing and being unable to lie down. After two a.m. yesterday he became a little easier, and slept ab intervals till six o'clock. At that hour his private secretary, Father Purton, wenbto say mass ab the Home for the Little Sisters of the Poor, when the Bishop said to him, "Ramomber me in your prayers." A few minutes afborwards, while the Bishop Was in tho act of being removed into bed, he was seized with fresh spasms of the heart, gave an exclamation of "Oh I" a few gasps, leaned his head forward on Dr. Darby's shoulder, and almost instantly died. Those present ab the time of death were Father Luck (the deceased Bishop's brother), Dr. Darby, a lay brother, Brother Guido, and the nurse, Mrs. Dompsey. *

Bishop Luck was conscious from the first seizure that he was dying, and was calm and collected, and perfectly resigned to his fate. Father Luck arrived on Saturday last from Waikato, being apprised of the real Btate of affairs, and that his brothor'a life was a mere matter of days. The hoisting of the flag half-mast high on the tower of the Bishop's residence Soon proclaimed the sad tidings of his decease to the pooplo of the surrounding neighbourhood and tho city, and the flags were_ subsequently hoisted halfinast at the city flagstaff, Albert Park, the Municipal Buildings, and the Fire Brigade bell toWer, Albertstreot. Many of the tradespeople also put up their shutters as a mark of respect, The convent boll tolled at intervals throughout the day. Telegrams of condolence were received from Archbishop Redwood (who arrives on Wednesday), Bishop Grimes, of Christchurcli (who is expected here by the 9.8. Taltapuna, on Saturday morning, to take part in the funeral obsequies and conduct the burial service) and the clergy in other diocesos. j As soon as the sad tidings of the Bishop's death reached the Catholic clergy of the city and suburbs, they proceeded to the Bishop's Palace. Among them, Father Lenihan (Administrator of tho Diocese), Monsignor Paul (V.G.), Fathers Madden, Kehoe, Buckley (St. Patrick's), and for St. Benedict's, Newton, Dr. Egan, 0.5.8., and Fathers Amandolini, Gillan (Tonsonby), and O'Hara (Otahuhu). The body of tho deceased Bishop has been removed to hit private chapel, where ft number of the faithful have visited as a token of respoct. lb will ho taken to St. Patrick's Cathedral this afternoon, where it will lie in state till Saturday. At seven p.m. a solemn dirge will be chanted in the cathedral, and to-morrow (Saturday) morning, a Solemn Requiem Mass will be sung at eleven o'clook. The funeral will take place shortly afterwards, bub the hour has nob yet been fixed, the cortege leaving for the Catholic Cemetery, Onehuhga, the deceased Bishop being interred there according to his expressed wish, one which was in his mind many j ears ago. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. We take the following particulars of the life of Bishop Luck from a biographical sketch of his Lordship, published in the Christehufoh Catholic Literary Society's Record i—

The Right Rev. John Edmund Luck, 0.5.8., fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Was born on March 18,1840, at Peekham. His father, Mr. Alfred Luck, Was tho youngest son of a Protestant Kentish family, and became a convert to the Catholic faith, during his sojourn in France. Mr.' Luck married Miss Clementine Goldlng, of Dillon Hall, by whom he had seven children. Bishop Luck was the fifth child, arid it is noteworthy that the whole of the family, with the exception of the youngest daughter, who died in childhood, dedicated their lives to the priesthood or the cloister. The eldest brother, Thomas, is now a Canon of the Diocese Of Portsmouth, While the lives of the two youngest brothers, as Monks of the Order of the Benedicts, have been closely knit together. John (Bishop LuCk) was of a studious disposition and at the ago of nine went to prosecute his collegiate Career at Bb. Edmund's College, Hertfordshire, which led towards the formation of his ecclesiastical vocation. The name of Cardinal Vauglian is associated with his early impressions. ... In 1854 the Benedictine Fathers of the Caeslnes'e Congregation of the Primitive Observance, settled at Ramsgate, which place had been the residence of Mr. Luck and his family sinco 1847 ( and thus during the vacations the three brothers came into contacb with the Benedictine Fathers, amongst whom were the late Abbot Alcock and FatherCuthbert Downey. Mr. Lucie was, from the first, a great admirer and benefactor of the Benedictine Fathers. The future Bishop was the first to recognise an attraction to the monastic life, and when in 1858 he manifested his inclination, he. was advised nob to precipitate his decision, bub to pursue his course of philosophy nb the famous serainary of St. Sulpice, at Paris. This advice he followed, and aftor a two years' course, adopted the lifo of a Benedictine monk. Tho two brothers, John and Francis, in October, 1860, followed the example of their three sister*,, loft home and country for the solitudo of Subiaco, the cradle of the Benedictine Order, and received the habit in 1860, making their religious profession in the following' year, and taking, the names of Edmund and AuguKtme respectively. Bom. John Edmund was sent shortly afterwards to the monastic College

of 8. A&ferdgttf'ali Rome m -prosecute his theological stu'diesat the Oollegio Romano, under the Auspices of trie celebrated Jesuit professors;. Balierini, Franzelin,.Tarquini,' and others,- and he took His" degree as D. D. in 1885. Meanwhile, in 1864, the Re*. Alfred Liidk/ his father (who, with the sanction of Puis. IX., had been ordained priest i/i 1863) died in' 18(54, necessitating a terapbrary visit to England by the. two brothers in connection with their fathers will. lie had already built the monaatory as Rarasgate for the Benedictine Fathers at his sole expense, and, had also built a commodious residence for himself in close proximity to the monastery, which now, together with some £20,000, came Irttb the' hands Of the Order through the two brothers. , The paternal residenco, Has a'ihfle received considerable additions, and Is now known as St. Augustine's Benedictine College. On tho return of Pom. John Edmund to Italy; he completed his theological course at Rome, and was ordained priest iri September, 1865, by Monsignor Rodilossi, Bishop of Allatri. The next two years Were spent at Subiaco, where he taUght philosophy, till October, 1867, when he returned to England to' assist in the foundation of a novitiate at Tonterden, in Kent. Here his life was one of great activity and labour, fulfilling in great part the duties of novice master, and the whole administration of the temporalities devolving upon him. In 1872 he mi appointed to the triennial office of Superior of the Monastery and College at Rairisgate. Towards the ehd Of his term of office his health failed him, and for a change of air he, was appointed, in 1875, assisbant chaplain at Hales Place, Canterbury. lb was during this period of wo that he occupied himself with the translation and publication of the Short Meditations," which have ever since been so well patronised by the Catholic public. In 1878 he again returned to the monastery at Ramsgate, and discharged the duties of vicepresident of the College, until the end of 1880, when the Abbot-General of the Congregation, determined on utilising his services in the foundation of a novitiate for the Italian province in Malta. It was on his way thither that he received the first intimation of the possibility of his being elected to the post of Catholic Bishop of Auckland. He was consecrated by Cardinal Manning on August 13,1882, in the Prioral Church of St, Augustine's, Ramsgate, after a delay of only a few weeks he started for the future scene of his labours, in company with the Rev. Father G. M. Lenihan, and received his first greeting in New Zealand from his brother, Father F. A. Luck, 0.5.8., at Russell, who had already been in the colony for eighteen months, and went there to meet him. Bishop Luck received a hearty and cordial reception from hie people on arriving in Auckland on the 16th November. Bishop Luck was the fourth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, was in the fourteenth year of his episcopate, and through his energy, and by the cooperation of his clergy and people, the Roman Catholic Church has made great advances, and enjoyed much prosperity, There have been nineteen new churches built ill the diocese during his regime, including the extension of St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was practically made a new building, St. Benedict's (Newton), and St. Mary's (Onehunga), all brick buildings ; six churches in wood for the Maoris, thirteen new schools, six new presbyteries, eight new convents (including the commodious Home for the Aged Poor under tho Little Sisters, Ponsonby),and the opening of the schools and erection of residence for the Marist Brothers, Wellingtonstreet, are part of the fruits of his zealous labours. Then as regards the personnel of the diocese, there thirty priests instead of fifteen, the Marisb Brothers have been introduced, three convents of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Home (alluded to above) of the Little Sisters of the Poor ; St. Mary's Industrial School has been greatly enlarged, with its recently-opened branch for boys at Takapuua, under the Sisters of Mercy, and a new foundation of the same Order has been established at Gisborne during his term of office. One of the last undertakings of Bishop Luck was the erection of a handSome and commodious Episcopal residence, from the designs of Messrs. Pugin and Pugin, the eminent London architects, on one of the most beautiful and commanding sites in Auckland, which will ever remain associated with the name of the first Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Pompallier. Bishop Luck's last visit to Europe was in 1891-2, when he collected the funds for building the Episcopal residence, leaving ib free of debt. The deceased Bishop was an eloquent preacher, studious and scholarly. He was an accomplished musician, and took an active interest ih horticulture, being himself a skilled botanist, and the grounds of the Episcopal residence at Ponsbnby are tokens of his refined taste iu that direction. In social life he was an amiable and charming conversationalist. Ib will be a matter of general regret that Bishop Luck has thus been taken away in the very meridian of life, and in the midst of a career of usefulness, when it had bean hoped by his flock that he might be spared to rule over them for many years to come.

[BY TKLKQHAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Thamks, Thursday. The hews of Bishop Luck's (loath was received here with deep feelings of regret). Tno Rev. Father O'Reilly will in all probability attend the deceased prelate's funeral, and other prominent Thames Catholics will also make an effort to show their respect for the memory of one who was so much revered. Wellington, Thursday. Dr. Grimes, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurdh, leaves this evening by the 8.8. Takapuna for Auckland, in order to be present at the funeral of Bishop Luck. The olergy of the Wellington diocese. with their Archbishop, Dr. Redwood, are engaged in the annual retreat of the clergy, bub for which circumstance there would be a larger representation of the clergy.