CONVENT JUBILEE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19624, 19 October 1933, Page 7

CONVENT JUBILEE

ST. JOSEPH’S, TEMUKA CELEBRATIONS BEGIN Evidence of the love of former pupils of St. Joseph's Parochial School for their Alma Mater, was convincingly displayed yesterday by the attendance at the jubilee celebrations of more than 500 old boys and old girls. Officially the celebrations opened Ur the afternoon when His Lordship Bishop Brodie welcomed the visitors, but actually they commenced in the morning with solemn Pontifical High Mass in St. Joseph’s Church. From the conclusion of the speeches of welcome until the late afternoon, the time was occupied with the calling of the roll, the photographing of decades, and afternoon tea. His Lordship celebrated the High Mass. The Rev. Father Fay, of Napier, was assistant priest, Father Dignan, of Fairlie, deacon, and Father Joseph Spillane, of Christchurch, sub-deacon. The master of ceremonies was Father Herbert, of Geraldine. Present in the Sanctuary were the Rev. Dr. David Kennedy, S.M., Provincial of the Marist Fathers in New Zealand and Australia, and a former Parish Priest of Temuka; Fathers Hanrahan, Timony, O’Meeghan and McGuire, of Christchurch; Father Flnnerty of Hokitika; Father Knight, Procurator of St. Bede’s College, Christchurch; Fathers Murphy, Peoples, Bartley and Durning, of Timaru, and Father O'Connor, of Waimate. The front seats of the Church were occupied by Sister Lauremia, the Provincial of the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Zealand, and many other Sisters, representing every convent in the South Island.

Hts Lordship’s Address. Taking for his text, “They who instruct others unto justice shall shine as stars for all eternity," from Daniel XII., 3, Bishop Brodie in his sermon said:—“The purpose of our gathering is to recall an event of 50 years ago when three Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters Raymond, Calasanctius and Immacula, arrived in Temuka in the year 1883 for the purpose of opening a Catholic school. We have to review the work of the intervening years with the great zeal of the Sisters and the immeasurable blessings conferred on their pupils by the religious training they received from the Sisters. Any reference to the Sisters of St. Joseph must recall the name of their illustrous founder, Mother Mary of the Cross. She was the daughter of Scotch parents, noted for their attachment to their holy faith and proved herself worthy of her great ancestry. Mary McKillop, for this was her family name, was born January 15th, 1842, and received in baptism the names Mary Helena, names of religious and prophetic import, indicating the love of souls of Mary the Mother of the the Redeemed and combining the love of the Cross so evidenced in the life of *Queen St. Helena, who discovered and restored the true Cross on which our Saviour died.

“Mary McKillop in the year 1866 accepted the invitation of Father Tenison Woods to teach school in his vast parish in South Australia. The first schoolroom was a stable in a little township named Perola. This brave young woman was undaunted by this humble beginning, being reminded of the birth of the Redeemer in the stable at Bethlehem. This zealous teacher gathered other generous workers around her and founded a religious community called the Sisters of St. Joseph, she herself taking the name of Sister Mary of the Cross. From that humble school in the stable at Perola that work has grown, and now the Sisters of St. Joseph have schools in every diocese of Australia. The Sisters now number well over 1500 and the children they have taught have reached the great total of 100,000. “When Father Fauvel invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to Temuka, he said he could promise many vocations and up to the present there have been no less than 83 vocations from Temuka

and the parishes of South Canterbury. On the Jubilee Lay all would unite in a grand act of gratitude to God for the blessings of the past years and in fervent prayer to God that the futuie years would unfold even greater blessings on the Sisters of St. Joseph and on their noble work in the cause of religious education.” Before and after Mass, the local altar-boys led the clergy and the Bishop in a procession through a Guard of Honour, formed’of the parish school children, dressed in uniforms of brown, the colour of the Sisters of St. Joseph. , , A welcome to the many friends and former pupils was extended by the Rev. Father Outtrim, parish priest, at the ceremony in the afternoon. Tne speaker said it was inspiring to see so many of them present from so many different parts of the Dominion. It was a pleasure to teachers to see their proteges returning to the old school. It had not been his pleasure to be associated with the many ex-pupils m thenyounger days, but he rejoiced to see the enthusiasm that they held for their teachers and school. There were a few Sisters left who had taught the members of the earlier decades, and to them he offered congratulation on the soundness of their teaching.

Tribute to Mr Gunnion. Before commencing his address, Bishop Brodie made reference to the loss that the town had suffered in the death of Mr T. E. Gunnion. He had met Mr Gunnion many years ago, and had found in him a kindly and capable Mayor and a very sincere friend. In his official position he had been kind always and most gentlemanly. He would not forget how he had proved, at the time of the visit of the Apostolic Delegate, a staunch supporter of Christian workers. Few realised the debt the town owed to Mr Gunnion, whose every thought had been for Temuka and for its benefit. From the Catholic community of South Canterbury, he took the opportunity of offering his sympathy to Mrs Gunnion and family. The gathering then stood bareheaded in respect for Mr Gunnion. His Lordship said it pleased him greatly to see the appreciation of the work that had been done in the parish and the rest of New Zealand during the last 50 years. The school was opened in 1883 and he was especiallypleased to see present several who had attended in the first year of the school. Temuka had played a very prominent part in the development of the Order, and had even produced the Mother Superior for Australia and New Zealand, in the person of Mary Elkis. On occasions like that it was natural to look back to the early beginnings of things. He could not pass by without giving a word of tribute to the Catholic pioneers of South Canterbury. Names like Fathers Fauvel, Foley, Le Menant, Chatagnier and Goutenoire together with many others that ne could not at the moment recall had laid the foundations of the faith on foundations calculated to endure for ever. Included in their careful work had been the formation of the Timaru and Temuka Parochial Schools, which long since had proved equal to the best in New Zealand. “To me. as a bishop, this gathering is consoling and inspiring,” he concluded. As representative of the ex-pupils of the school, Mr P. H. Lynch, of Temuka, was the next speaker. “From far and near, old and young, we come ill grateful remembrance of all we owe to our teachers and their successors, who have given their all in the cause of Catholic education,” said Mr Lynch. “That debt can be weighed in no human balance, appraised in no terms of money, but in its fullness only God’s eternal rewarding can repay. Still we are here to honour that debt and to meet it as far as lies in our power. Mother Mary of the Cross was called by God to found an Order of teaching nuns to meet the needs of Catholics in the scattered outback places of Australia and New Zealand. No place was to be too small, no place was to be too remote, no school was to be too poor, but the brown habit of the Josephite nun would be seen, the harbinger of the fullness of Catholic wellbeing. The need of the Catholic child was their one and only consideration. One sacrifice stands out in the noble story. Our grateful thoughts go winging over the years to Father Fauvel—that man of wonderful vision—for his share in bringing to New Zealand that noble original band of sisters through whom and through whose successors untold blessings of Catholic education have come to this country. Gathered together to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their arrival in Temuka, we the ex-pupils recognise our great obligation of gratitude to the Sisters. We are confident that as the result of the appeal which we have made and of the financial return from these celebrations the Jubilee Memorial Chapel will be even before Christmas an actual reality.” The Rev. Dr. Kennedy replied on behalf of the Sisters, thanking the speakers for their tributes and assuring them that the work had been one of love. New Chapel Fund. Before the gathering dispersed, the opportunity to impress upon ex-pupils the deep desire of all to present the Sisters with a memorial of the jubilee, was taken by Bishop Brodie. It would take the form of a new chapel for the nuns of St. Joseph, and because of the economic circumstances that prevented people from giving substantially, he would himself present £IOO towards the work. (Applause.) At the behest of the Rev. Father Outtrim a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the bishop. A little ceremony that may not be known to more than a few, took place quite unofficially during the afternoon. Ladies of the second decade had subscribed to make a fitting present to Sister Mary Anne, their teacher, and shortly after the addresses, Mesdames A. H. Clemens and Murphy, on behalf of those ex-pupils went into the Convent and presented Sister Mary Anne with a bouquet of the colour of the decade, red. Read by Mr J. Farrell, the official roll call was answered by 470 ex-pupils, and after the decade photographs had been taken, afternoon tea was served by ladies of the committee.