THE LATE POPE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 174, 28 August 1914, Page 3

THE LATE POPE.

CEREMONY AT THE CATHEDRAL. PONTIFICAL MASS. , A Pontifical Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Pope was celebrated in the Roman Catholic Cathedral yesterday. There was a large congregation, and priests came from different parts of the diocese to take.part, in the ceremonies. The inside of the building and the sanctuary were draped, and above the facade of the cathedral was hung the Papal eoat-of-arms. The celebrant was Bishop Grimes; th? assistant priest, the Very Rev. Dean Hills, S.M., V.G.; deacon and subdeacon of the Mass, Father Aubry, S.M., and Father Cronin; deacons at the throne. Father Graham S.M., M.A., and Father McCarthy; master of ceremonies, Rev. Father Price; assistant master of ceremonies, Rev, Dr Kennedy. Bishop Grimes preached the sermon, and took for his text, "I. choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest —to wear the ephod before me. I will raise me up a faithful priest— I will build him a faithful house—l have made thee- a great name. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts." (First Book of Chronicles, chapters 2 and 5, verses 28 to i\s, arid the Second Book, chapter 7, verse 7.) Bishop Grimes said the words of his text fittingly applied to the late Pope, who had been raised by God to become His high priest and Supreme Pontiff oj? the Universal Church. All through"" his career, said the preacher, the Pope had been the father, friend, and benefactor of his people. All his actions were animated by love of God and by a desire for souls. His motto was "To renew all in Christ." That zeal explained the great reforms he established, his work in regard to church music, the Biblical Commission, and his firm and uncompromising attitude towards modernism. He was a man of peace as was seen by his refusal to bless the arms of one of the belligerents iu present war. He could not bless war nor the instigators of war, and there was no doubt that the war had hastened his end. The Pope was dead, but Papacy lived, said the Bishop, and, while exhorting the congregation to pray for the soul of the Pope, he ,reminded them that they should pray fervently that Go! might direct the Church in the (jhoicc of a worthy successor. j