NEW CATHOLIC CHURCH PORT CHALMERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4870, 26 September 1877, Page 7

NEW CATHOLIC CHURCH PORT CHALMERS.

The question of providing a suitable>place of worship for the.Romari Catholics.of Port Chalmers lias long occupied the attention of thos* interested in it. - Eor^yeara p;isfc the Catholics, 9f thp Port have,, it may be said, worshipped under difficulties', first in one place aha -theriSiay another, a 0 circumstances dictated, and-as tney--were not a.^riumero.Us body fitiaucial difficulties': long stood iri the way of imparting substance to '"- the cherished idea of erecting a church pf their own. Eventually, however, these and' Other";* Obstructions were:removed by the active: liberie ahty of the. well wishers of the cause. 'A site had.:;,bee'n' long provided by the foresight of Bishop Moran, who, wheu he .first came here, purchased, a .sectiori from the« Go vernment at:, an almost .nominal: price. Ifc occupies- '"a : commanding situation- ?on tha , at the corner of Magnetic and BerneciaV.streets,',.within easy reach'"of 1 all parls of the ,t6wh.':'As the. little" band of Catholics at the Port. increased, in humbe*y & resolution to utihse the site was come to, And tha next consideration was thafc of ways and means. An. appeal for, direcfc subscriptions met with fair response, arid good;'sums were .realised from the proceeds of lectures delivered' in aid by the Bishop of; the Diocese and;. Dr.-Kelly? ' Two .or concerts also took place,; andr; brought in substantial assistance, and so at last:,' enough-had accumulated to riiake a begirihiriff with... The. preparation of architectural "plans'^ was entrusted to ; Mr Petre,, of this city, and he produced a beautiful little. Gothic" buildingcomplete, in all it's details: The plan displays ,aY building cruciform in shaped and'iii size 72ft long,- by a width *t 27ffc. iv the nave walls, 15ft. high ; and tothe ridge of the nave, 31ft. Gin. The dimensions of tHe riave are 42ffe in length by the above width, and at the west-,-eim end of; it! is the chancel: and transept,fof^ which' the dimensions are, irarisverse length! ' 50ft., tya depth of 17ft. The chancel is bver-':' lookedybyya handsome window, with Vtwe ~ on each side of it. in the transept. Aiiiihe^ eastern end of the nave is" the porch, 10ft. 6in. '' squtu-e, surmounted by a handsome tower, 63ft. high. , Above the. porch is the organ loft, approached bya winding staircase. The naye is lighted by. four .windows on, each, side,:; with;-to ': lend stability to the building, massive butresses" between eacbi The cost of a building built" in accordance to such plans would of necessity be considerable, and .somewhat beyond the. means of the Port'eon-: A greg-atiop ; aud as the Bishop decidedly set his face'agairist incurring indebtedness, his instruc-* tioriibeingj'pay as you go," there wa3,< rather '■■■■ than submit to.any modification of plans so ex-""' celient, no help for it but to adopt them in .part.:- Accordingly, tenders were called foe erection of-the.larger sectibri of the nave—a sec-- - tion irieaauring 32ft long, with tbj-ee windows j aside, and interior space suflicient to accommo.:date a couple of hundred worshippers. Of the °v several tenders sent in, that of Xvlessra Ait>ert" :' and, Page was-accepted. Work was at once commenced and good, progress made, the walls being run up several feet. The material used is Port; Chalmers .bluestone, with facings of ' Oamaru'stone at the door, arid windows. Tha • ceremony, of laying;the iriseriptiorial stone- of '!.'- ---rthe building tookplace on Sunday afternoon, y';

THE OPENING CEHEITONT.

; The Church is to he called " St.. Mary's Star [ of the Sea," and the announcement that ;tha;i opening- "ceremririy 1 would take place at &30 ~ onthe 23rd, was the means of causing the 2:30 train fi-om Duuedin: to be crowded, rlndeed;™ several extrA carriages had to be put on, and no fewer than 250 people, the majority of whontr were Catholics,^proceeded tb Port Chain; ers. i; When they arrived al thafc town their numßersTl were largely augmented by their friends at the ' Port, which, by tbe-way, had quite an "animated ar'peararce. The whole.assembly then wended their way to the picturesque site of the Church. The ceremony, as usual on such occasions, waa - conducted by the "Yery.Eev. Bishop Moran, assisted by the. Revs. Father .Crawley ..and' Father Sheehan. The responses were well renderedby the .choir of St. Joseph's Church. At the cbticlusiori of the ceremony, '■; \ P »■'?- *■'£ The : Bishop, addressing;thoso present, said:»" HavingiWessed and; laid, the foundation stone* of this churchy! suppose that ybii will expect me to say something on this occasion/ -' But''^ considering that a great .number of us" must're* turn to. Dnnedin to assist, at evening devotions, it is not in my power,' everi;if inclined.,to do bo, to/ trespass'pn your attention' at aiiy great length." .Tlie'first duty Ihave to discharge, now that we have/gone through the cefeiriohy; is to congratulate the congregation of this town npon this'day,- which has long been expected, praye^— and prepared for.';. The; congregation is small, . and it cannot be expected to do great things in the way of .church building.. Our. beginning ia " upom a moderate and :modest; scale iideed,*bnt'it is upon a fixed plan, which when completed Will bo found not to be unworthy of, Divine '/service under the'icircum^tancesir Iri .'laying, this., foundation stone, oiie :of thY prayers made.use of is—"; That in thin place tiie:. true faith may flourish; and, also,. the fear.^qf «: God, and fraternal charity." "We know from the.Holy Scriptures; that a great deal may be blessed by. Scripture arid prayer, and 'we1 have, • by reciting Psalms, laid"this foundation stone, trusting that God may,; give it a blessing, ana we have prayed, in laying it, that these divinevirtues may flourish among-the people here. The work we haye commenced is, ih itself, an. excellent/work, because theobject iri view-is to raise'a house in which to .worship the "great God—a house of prayer, and a house of sacrifice. "Now; to be permitted-to take part in suchA d:,work- as this.is a liigh. honour, and a.gfeafc? favour. '■-■: You will remember that the lioly - King' David had the holy ambition to build a. r hoiise to God—a.house, of prayer and a'-house of-" sacrifice,; but becauso of his sins, Almighty God would not permit him 'to have "that honour, or to enjoy that : favour, ,and it was reserved for .his sou, tho wisest of. men, to bring it to completion. This will give us to understand that the; work you'have designed, and for which you'have., prayed so long and earnestly, is one nob given' * to all persons to inaugurate, aud consequently we have reason to:feel, grateful to Almighty God for permitting us to take part in it.- -It ia---bur duty to give expression' to that gratitude, and this may be done in various ways, one of Svhich J willjust place before you. It "must ba obvious that those who projected this wbrlc^ihV curred serious responsibilities of■ a pecuniary nature, and it will be necessary for them to tax their resources to the utmost in order to complete their undertaking. It has been announced that a collection will be madeT towards the? funds of this Church, and this will be done in* the .old arid approved; practice of laying our ~: offerings upon the foundation stone, which' has * been blessed, consecrated, and set apart:: The ' offerings which we -will'lay upon it willfbe..' offerings to God himself, snd an act of hoihagej, '' love, obedience, arid worship, arid will b§: expressive of onr faith and confidence in: Divine Providence. Whatever we give to the great God on an occasion such as this we contribute ifc out of -His-own gifts to us, for everything we - have received comes frorirHimV and from Himr we expect all blessings wliich will be forthcoming in the. next life. I will not now trespass oa youi time any further. ■: -PPg "■ Tha collection was then proceeded with, and the sum of LGS was realised. '

The visitors returned to Dunedin by the five o'clock train.