ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17325, 27 May 1918, Page 2

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

An ordination service was held in St. Paul's Cathedral yesterday morning. The sermon was preached by Archdeacon Woodthorpe, cxannmug cliaylain to the bishop, iho presentation of tlje candidates to tn. bishop, arid their interrogation and replies followed. 'J he candidates were Franci: Vivian .Fislicr (to oliiciute at All Saints Church) and Samuel James Cooler (to be in charge at _Mosgicl). In the cut-nil];., special war intercessions were used, at which the preacher was C»non Ncviil. Canon Novill took liis text from 1 Maccabees iii, 17-21: "'llow shall wo be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude ; uiito whom Judas answered • - . for the victory of battle standi'th not m the multitude of an host, but. strength coincth from heaven, . . . but wo light for our lives nnd our laws." The preacher said the main difficulty with all Lliristians was the difficulty of believing that the tilings which they saw and touched were the real things, the invariable thinjrt?. i*o godless men always had a sort of megalomania, and lost themselves, because they thought tuat self was God. Then self destroyed them, as was but fitting. The only prayer that was any good was the prayer which had power to force itself through the things of sense to the unseen Power whica hold all these things of sense in His right hand, and was able to save by many or by few. If our intercessions were for"k anc ' co ' r ® wc 11( 'ed not wonder that the war dragged over on; that even the weather scorned to favour the (!<r- ' the one force which, as Sir William Robertson said, alone could conquer was the force in which we were lacking—the force of insistent, heart-birred intercession. The special intercessions were used, and the National Anthem concluded a very impressive service. On the United States cast am railways the congestion of cars lias been reduced to 86.302 since February, when the total was 161,000.