West Plains Roman Catholic Church

Southland Times, Issue 13410, 23 March 1896, Page 2

West Plains Roman Catholic Church

The weather being very fine ye3terday morning attracted & very large concoarae of members of the iloman Catholic persuasion to the opening of the Church of the Sacred Heart near Waikiwi. The service was announced to begin at 11 o'clock, bub there were so many preliminaries to arrange, and the members of the church and visitors were so eager to assist the movement with tbeir contributions of money, which were presented in the porch of the building, that it was noon before the service began. The building has b seen very nicely finished and has a cheerful appearance. The contract has been most faithfully carried out by Messrs M. and H. Mair, under the supervision of Mr W. Sharp, the architect. It is capable of seating 250 persona aud there were more than that number preaent yesterday. At noon the Very Rev. Father Lynch, administrator of the diocese,enter«d the building from the sacristy at the east, and began the Mass which, with the musical portion, occupied an hour. The choir of St. Mary 'a Church attended in full force under Mr T. J. Anthony's condnctorship, and assisted by Mr D. Blue's orchestra, gave the musical portions of Lambilotte's Mass in D, Miss Mary Morrison taking the soprano, Mr W. D. Smith, the tenor.and Mr H. E. Anthony, the bass solos, the only part omitted being the Gloria, which, owing to its being the season of Lent, was left out. The Very Rev. Father Lynch was assisted in the service (which included the dedication of the building to the worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), by the Revs. Fathers ODea of luveto-irgill, and 0 Uonuell of Gore. He subsequently delivered a most eloquent address to the congregation on the words, " I have chosen and sanctified this house, | that my name m+y be there forever, and mine eye 9 and my heart Bhall be there perpetually." (II Chr .moles, eh. VII, v. 16.) He also referred to rho beautiful story of the good Samaritan as told in the Gospel pf St. Luke as symbolical of tne visit of our Saviour to the earth, which was then steeped in wickedness. He showed that (ke erection of a, church to the honour of the sacred heart) wasf calculated to be of great and lasting benpfit to all in the tiino of »heir trouble or on any special occasion, as in that building now sanctified they would always find the Lord Jesus. It was to be to them and their children, a house of God and gate to heaven. In it the mysterious services laid down by tto rules of the church would be observed. It differed from the temple of Solomon in to much as that there the Lord only appeared to the high priests in a cloud, whereas in that building they met Him in a substantial presence at the Altar, His eyes were npon them and His ears were ever open to their prayers. They were to be congratulated upon having erected so nobler a building where they could meet regularly to worship, where their minister would be able to admit their children to the church ; their prelate would anoint them when they were of age to receive the saaramenta ; where their children's banners would be blessed, and where the poor stricken sinner would find solaoe to his soul in his weary pilgrimage through life ; where there would be a union of Christian souls who bad met together in one common bond, and where they would be able to add to the minister's blessings by uniting in prayers for the departed. From that day the building was God's ham.fi the j/aßStu&ry of the. Snored Heurt of Jesus,

Concluding a most impressive sermon, he ■aid he had been led to believe that the church was almost out of debt, and he exhorted them to remove any Hen upon an edifice built for so sacred a purpose. The choir haviDg sung the Benediction the Rev. Father Vereker said that the monetary contributions had been entirely satisfactory. He could not say that the church was actually free from debt, but the collection that day had amounted to close on LI 50, and the debt remaining did not exceeed L4O, towards which he bad received promises which would nearly extinguish it. He had to thank all those who had assisted in the good work, the ladies and gentlemen of the choir, v sitorß from all parts, and persons of all denominations, who had contributed towards the fund. He also desired specially to thank the Very Rev. Father Lynch for his attendance, for the eloquent sermon he had preached, end also for his donation. Also the Rev. Father O'Donnell, who had attended at gr*at inconvenience, and to the Revs. Fathers Walsh, OXeary, and O'Neill for their contributions and expressions of sympathy. He hoped the words of the preacher respecting the edifice would be borne in mind and that the congregation would be constant in their attendance at) the services. Father Vereker also stated that he should read the fall list of contributions on the next Sunday that Mass was celebrated, and should possibly publish it otherwise.