A HERO PRIEST.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1065, 11 July 1917, Page 8

A HERO PRIEST.

THE LATE FATHER McMENAMIN. ELOQUENT TRIBUTE BY BISHOP BRODIE. Solemn requiem High Mass was celebrated at Ihe (lonian (lafholic Cathedral litis morning in memory of the late Father .McMenamin. .1 chaplain of the Expeditionary Forces, who was killed during the advance on Messines. Bisho]) ofliciated. the assistant priest being Dean O'Donnell. of Ashhurton. Dean Regnault and Father Charles (iraham ofliciated as deacons at the Throne. Father Hanrahan being deacon of the Mass, and Father Hoche subdeacon. A very large number of visiting clergy from all parts of Canterbury were present, and the Cathedral was crowded. The Bishop spoke on the te\l: "The Good Shepherd givefh His life for His sheep." When listening entranced to the relation of daring deeds by our war-scarred veterans he had asked himself the question: could we expert our present generation to emulate those deeds of bravery? The answer had come in the fact that New Zealand's sons had fought with courage and had faced death with a bravery unsurpassed in the annals of the world's warfare. He recalled .Major von Tempsky's tribute to the intrepid Father Roland, who accompanied him in his marches with the troops in the Maori war of the late sixties. Were the priests of to-day worthy followers of Father Roland? This question also had been answered by the priests of New Zealand, who had vied with one another for ihe work of chaplains. Father Sequief, Father Dore, and Father McMenamin were the first to be selected, to be followed bv Father Richards and; Father McDonald, of the Christchurch diocese, and then in due; order some fifteen others. To Father j McMenamin had fallen the honour to j be selected as the first hero-priest to lay down his life in the discharge l of his duties as military chaplain. I The Bishop gave a brief but sym-l pathetic sketch of the early life of j the late priest, who, he said, was an! exemplary Catholic and a model son. He was one of the first priests to he ordained from Holy Cross College, Mosgiel. He accompanied the Main Body, and was hailed as a great favourite with Catholics and non-1 Catholics alike. On the conclusion of the Gallipoli campaign, worn out and exhausted, he was invalided to: New Zealand. Regaining his strength | and vigour, he importuned the ecclesiastical and defence authorities toj allow him to continue. He went to England, and was appointed senior Catholic chaplain of the New Zealand Forces. Going to France to! relieve another New Zealand chap-! lain, he found himself with the i forces preparing for the advance on j Messines. The New Zealanders were in special training for a fortnight,; and the zealous chaplain found time I to give a short mission to the Catho-j lies, so that with souls purified and : strengthened with the sacraments of j Holy Faith they would face death in a manner becoming Christian sol-i diers. Messines had been the scene! of New Zealand's triumph. Her! soldiers had upheld the honour of their country, and side by side with j those who dieil a soldier's death they ! found their loved chaplain. Father I McMenamin had died the death of a hero-priest, in the service of his country, his fellow-man, and his God.