MASS IN THE RAIN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18593, 2 January 1935, Page 13

MASS IN THE RAIN

WORSHIPPERS’ DISCOM

PORT

WOMEN’S DRESSES SOAKED

Heavy rain, which drenched the ■worshippers and compelled the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, Dr. Downey, to curtail his sermon, did not dampen the ardor and piety of the 100,(XX) women who attended Pontifical High Mass at the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds in Melbourne on the morning of December 3 Although the 60,000 women in the arena were wet to the skin, they remained without thought of personal discomfort, says the Argus, and sang the hymns and responses with fervor, which spoke, eloquently of their faith and devotion.

A pall of dark clouds overhung the Show Grounds and a few drops of rain were falling when, at 10.50 a.m., the long procession 'of clergy, followed by (lie Papal Legate, Cardinal Macrory, and his suite, made solemn progress through the dense ranks of the women to the great white and gold temple surmounting the High Altar. Hopes that the shower would be short were dashed as the clouds gathered thickly from the south, and before the Mass, was halffinished rain was falling steadily. Soon the heads of the worshippers, kneeling on the soaked turf, were invisible beneath umbrellas. Several hundreds of women on the outskirts of the tluong hurriedly tried to find shelter in the stands, which by then did not contain even standing room, but- most of the women stood their ground. Some 1500 Children of Mary did not waver though the rain soaked their sky-blue dresses and white muslin veils.

The celebrant of the Mass was the Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr. Ditliig. He and the assisting prelates and priests found scant shelter from the rain under the panoply of the temple. The. other members of religious orders on the dais were drenched. Even the throne had to be moved slightly to give, more shelter for the Papa] Legate.