CHURCH SERVICES.

Otago Witness, Issue 953, 25 April 1889, Page 14

CHURCH SERVICES.

The usual ,Good Friday services were held in| St. Paul's Chur.qh on Qood Friay, and were fairly attended. In the' niorning the yen. Archdeacon Edwards was the preacher, and jn the evening the' Rev. .Quartos Bacon. The paster services to-jnflrrp^ wjill^on^mence with an early celebration of holy co^m^mbn.at B a.m..; there will be morning prayer at U o'olgg^ f with'a seponi; celebration of holy communion; and eyeping prayer at half-past 6 o'clock, when the Bishop of Dun edin will Dreach

Morning prayers were held at Bfc. Matthew's on Good Pridayat 8 o'clock, and the ante-commu-nion at 9.30. At midday the service of the Litany was 'held, and an address given by the Rev. Mr Torke. The.ohuroh was open for private worship during the] afternoon,, and a short service, w,as conducted by, the Rev. Mr Yorfe# in the ©yening. Good Friday mornfng's services.at. All Saints' Church were fairjy well attended. N The preacher was the Rev. Dr Belcher, who gave ft discourse on the crucifixion, taking for his text the words, "Forgive them, Father j for they know not what they do." During ; the Miss Treseder sang "He was despised!" ' During the last week large congregations have attended the Holy Week services held in the Cathedral. On Thursday morning the High Mass began at 8 o'clock. The Very Rev. P. O'Leary was celebrant, the Rev. N. Vereker deacon, and the Rev. F. O'Donnell sub-deaoon i the Rev. J. O'Neill officiated as master of ceremonies. The Yen. Archdeacon Coleman, adminstrator of the diocese, and 1 the Rev. Father ' Sh'eetiy were present in the sanctuary. '" After the mass there was a ppoceesion of 'the Holy Sacrament to the altar of reposoj $cry nicely' dedorated by the Dominican "nuns. The gsfrQPjf was borne by four ■of the ' .Christian grothers, (Dodtjnual worship jyas kept up!during!the day by various religious popfratsrpities of 'women, ana tjia Catfcoijta people generally. Through the entire night jjhe.men of the of the Holy Famjjy paid tpeir devptions, -djflfeyent sections' relieving $*gh other , every j honr. on 'Friday the mass for thg Fresanctjfied, „was celebrated at 11" o'clock. The Rey! . J. - Q'NeiH was 'the officiant, Rev. N. Vereker, deacon, and Revi P. O'Donnell, sub-deacon. ' The master of ceremonies was Rev. W. Burke. After the mass the ceremony of th© « Adofafcfon pf the Cross" was gone through by the people/. The ppefceher on the occasion' was the ; Rev. 1 Oliver Daly, §J. He took as his text,, M.Oj all ye that pass by the way, att@nd.aad see if there beany sorrow like to my , aorrow." .-„■=• lamentations of , Jeremiae, ! chap. 1 verse ii. Father D.a}y, who, is, a graceful j speaker, preached a .-very irappessjve, d]s.op.qrse on the passion of Christ. He led a most atten? tive audience step by step from the garden of Gethsemane to 'the hill of Calvary, ( interrupfcinjg the history 1 of the' passion from time #}' time 'to inculcate a ' lesson , or enforce a tr'tfth. v He' d^alt a blow' at the readers of ob|eoi^onflMe k lit)dratarei' l the! patrons of wb^ch'wqnld be ashumld jfc^ to ! theaa|;ho?sio^ho*ethoaghWthey,to(^^le|irare; Before coneiadipg, $»c missionary ijllui?strated hfe mbjeoti m * tolling way fry referring to a custom that obtained many penjfcurjes ago. It wa3 the practice, when a idead body was found, by; the, wayside for all th» neighbours to assemble around it. They - held up their band, and each solemnly said, " lam not guilty, of t^e death of this man." His hearers had then in contemplation the lifeless body of .Christ before fchem. How many could hold up their hand and say " I am innqeenfi of theb^ood of this man"? Not one cqt^ld 3o it. He urged all in conclusion to contrition for -past sins, and' amendment' for the fatare, The b^ce'of Teneb'rae last evenjng was very i Jvgely: (^tended.. ijPhe prater -or Jeremias was barnjoniajßijl by gome of; we'pnestsi The! f ßfnedieto." < fMJßejrere,"and'Merußalem;^ were sungimharßftonFiby-tteiHoly F..amjly chofr. The ceremo,ny-,of , the « Adoration pf thePposs, which formed part, of yesterday's p;6peedings, wasexplaineiJ, on .Tasday eyening last by the Rev. Father Lynch, in a lecture to .the members of the Mo'Jy Family. He said tnie ceremony seemed to have originated at the time when the Empress Helena found the true crostoof r Christ in the sepulchre. It was publicly venerated on account of Him who died thereon. The practice of venerating the cross on Good ' Friday (n a short time became general throughout the East; The ceremonials of the Bast contained regula-

tions which :atteßfeedkc'ouciuiiv_ely j the fact that not only- was the rite followed at Jerusalem and elsewhere,, essentially, the same* as theirs, but in some cases the very same words were employed. In every age L those r who truly loved' Christ had been imp elled^by a natural feeling to regard with aff eotiohate reverence the ( instrument of man's redemption. Adore the cross in the sense in which, the word was now used of Divine worship theyi certainly did tiot. [They looked! upon the ■figure^of a r crucified Christiwith a feeling like to ,tha^ } which.a;mother, regards the picture of ,an absent or. departed; child. ; Moved % the memo* ,ries which the, cross evoked, they- ,prostrated themselves, and,,^ Slf- Jerome sai^- pf Paula, '•adored as though they beheld our Lord himself hanging thereon." There was never a question of reverencing the miatenkl 'figure ';' never a question of adoration 1 as the word is used at pre-j s6nt. 'Adoratioh formerly signified-veneratioh-T >tk word which now is teferife'd solely tb/wbrship of the Supreme. Being, r formerly meant to reverence, admire, esteem highly. The church,' howi ever, did not change the ' word ( as,ißhe did noli change the language or, her anoient: formulas] which the people understood in their original sense. ; , „( , 0 , , v I • ' . Easter services ,were held in St. Paul's Church on Sunday morning and evening, the church being beautifully decorated for ]bhe occasion* At the 1 morning service the Yen. Archdeacon Edwards was the preacher, his text being |aken' ; from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 6th chapter, 1 .and 4th verse. ' The' sermon 1 had reference to, Christ's death, and' (resurrection 1 as - concerning our > eternal,. state. Jni,tbe evening -Bishop Nevill- preached on the. •' reception ,by<i the Corinthians, f and Jews of the, teaching of the! Apostles of the doctrine of, the ■ rosurreptiop, of Christ and of the evidences of his resurrection.; The preacher took .his text from , the /15th' chapter of ' St. 'Paul's First Epistle to , the Corinthians, ' '

Solemn high mass was celebrated at St.! Joseph's 1 Cathedral on Sunday, the congregations' at II o'clock and in the 1 evening • being' very! large. An orchestra, under Mr Schachtj rendered Mozart's Twelfth Mass in its entirety; the offertory n being i Haydn's "Byhmnto the) "ti(Btrings only).' !J?he'bther selections! iwere.i^Tebbe's.i Easter- anthem v" Haeor.Dies " (mo.rning/and evening); Buhlflr's ?*O Salutaris}j"j " Kirchenlied^jgiven as t a solo . by Mr Schacht ;j ! Webbe's " tantum Ergo.in A ;" tjie [ tary being the "march from "Athajiel" ■Missj Home officiated' at the organ; .The -choir] was! under Mr W. J. Ward, honorary conductor, whoj used for the 1 first "time a' very handsome i goldmounted 'baton, presented by the Rev/Father Lynch, administrator at 'the' cathedral; in The' baton is made of honeysuckle, beatifully carved I 'and 'handsomely, mounted in goldj With it'was; given anbandsome case made of ribbon wood! wifcha border of rimu, the case being lined with' satin. On the gold) mounting in the centre is ' following inscription :—:" Mr W. J. Ward, choir- 1 master, St. Joseph's Cathedral, fr,om Rev. Pj Lynch,, Adm., Easter, 1889."' On the mounting ! on the tip 6f the baton is the Inscription :«—" Sit; lavs plena, sit sonora, sit jupunda, sit decora." „ ' ' The services 'at Sti , -John's, $bslyn, in connec«i tion with Eastertide'were of the usual character. The church- was 'tastefully decorated, parfcicu-' larly the sanctuary and screen. Qn ; Easter Day! there was high celeb, ration at ' 7.30 a.m:;: matins j and plain celebration at 11' a.m., children'^ service at 3, p.m,', and evensong at 6.30 p.m. £b, the b^igh celebration itb'e choir entered, 'the ; ■ church at the wesfc;end dooi^, singing Hymn 131 i and headed by the banner, pf St. tfphn,itne| Evangelist, .the ce,lebrapfc meeting tbe choristers at 'the, entranpe' tQ th» pbjoir., Tj^e service o| matins was eami-cborall There was a large con : ; gregatidri) and' 54 communicated. At the children's service the church was full, this befog the only day in the year when the children' from the ' two "missions meet at the parish ' church. (After the address the incumbent dia- ! tributed the prizes;, to the. Sunday ' school j sobolarflf At evensong at ,6,30 the; choir again entered the church by th.9 west door, hoth 'the processional cross, and > banner , being carried. The incumbent was the preacher. The attendance at al| the, services was,, large, and the music throughout the day was reudere.4 in a very pleasing manner, befck ohoip a.ftd oongregation Bfngmg iieaHily.