ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 11

ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL.

MEMORIAL WINDOW UNVEILED. DEDICATION BY BISHOP RICHARDS. In the presence of a large gathering, which included officers of the Otago military district, the president (Mr H. L. I aterson) and members of the executive or the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and a number of returned soldiers and nurses, the window erected in St. Paul’s Cathedral to the memory of the Otago and Southland soldiers who fell in the Great War was unveiled and dedicated by Bishop Kicharus last evening. I'he service took the form of evensong, the first half of which was conducted by Canon Nevill, the first and second lessons being read by Archdeacon Fitchett and Archdeacon Curzon-Siggers respectively. After the second lesson had been read the consecration and dedication of the window took place. The bishop, preceded by members of the cathedral chapter, and accompanied by his chaplain (the Rev. \. G. Bryan King) moved in procession to the east wing of the cathedral, where the window is situated. Here Canon Nevill, on behalf of the chapter, requested the bishop to dedicate the window. Bishop Richards then pronounced the following words of dedication. In the faith of Jesus Christ we dedicate this window to the glory of God, and in memory of the men and women of Otago and Southland who gave their lives in the war.

Ihe ceremony concluded with the sound°.f the “ Last Post ” and the ' Reveille ’ from the crypt of „ the cathedral by the drum, bugle, and trumpet band of the Third Cadet Battalion, under Lieutenant Napier. At the conclusion of the second half of the service, which was taken by the Rev. S. J. Cooper, Bishop Richards delivered a stirring address, taking as his text Luke xvii, 33: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” In his first words, said the speaker, he wished to congratulate those who, by their labours, had been successful in raising the necessary funds to purchase the window. He wished also to congratulate the chapter and the diocese on placing tbe window in the church and the people of Dunedin, who, by its erection, had come into possession of a beautiful work of art; and not only a work of art, but a memorial of a crisis unparalleled in the history of the world. The speaker then referred to the dark days of the earlier stages of the war, when every one of them felt linked in life and death with the destinies of the Old Country. Her honour was theirs, and when they realised the gravity of the situation a wave of emotion swept through the Empire. Young men volunteered for service, tens of thousands of them leaving year by year for the scene of 'action, where, on every front, they upheld the noblest traditions of the Empire. They did not go for gain or for glory—they went impelled by the love of freedom and justice, and devotion to their country. It was a strange thing that the war, in which all the strongest passions were unleashed, served by contrast to bring out some of the finest qualities in human nature —idealism, unselfishness, generosity, kindness, and self-sacrifice—-a self-sacrifice by which the whole Empire was chastened and enriched. It was this self-sacrifice which, by sign and by symbol, was illustrated in tlie window which had been dedicated that evening. When they examined the window in detail they would see that the subject represented was not only sacrifice, but victory through sacrifice, and he liked to think of it as much a memorial to those who went to the war and returned as to those who fell, although it was only natural that one’s thoughts went out to those who had made the supreme sacrifice. “Were those lives thrown away and lost? ” asked the speaker. “A thousand times no! ” He dared to say that no life given willingly in a good cause was lost. The lives of their dear ones had been yielded up in the cause of righteousness. “ Well might we remember them in our sacred building.” said Bishop Richards in conclusion. “ May they be brought into our holiest thoughts. I thank God for them, and that in tlie hour of trial thej' were true to death. We honour them and hold them in our hearts with undying love.” Special hymns were rendered during the service, which was brought to a conclusion by the singing of a verse of the National Anthem.