EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 178, 30 July 1932, Page 10

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

DUBLIN’S GREAT PAGEANT SPECTACULAR CEREMONIALS REMARKABLE STREET SCENES. LONDON, June 24. Ke markable scenes have been wit ucssed in Dublin in connection wittlie Eucharist Congress. An enthusius tic welcome was given to the Papa. Legale, Cardinal Lauri, and his pari; on their arrival from England, vybcr i hey had had an enthusiastic reception 1 he special correspondent of the Ncw> Chronicle in Dublin describes the cere monies. The Legale was greeted, when his steamer, garlanded with flowers, hove into sight, by aeroplanes Hying in the formation of a cross. On the quayside at Kingstown waited Mr. de Valera. President of the Executive Council oi the Irish Free State, with his Ministers. Guns of the Free State artillery from the pier-head crashed out a salute as the ship drew near, and stretching away for six miles along the multi coloured streets, with their decoration of Congress blue and the yellow and white of tho Holy See, tens of thousands of people knelt on the dusty pavements to receive the Legate’s blessing as he passed. Cavalrymen in green and blue, like soldiers in a romantic fairy story, gal loped in escort about the procession Women pushed their little children for ward so that they, too. might receive the blessing, and cripplea men wepi with joy. Tho progress of the Legato took over two hours to cover the six miles from quay to cathedral. A throng of 36,000 children lined part of the flower-strewn paths. Coach of Shining Gold. In a coach of shining gold the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Aiderman Byrne, drove to meet the Papal Legate at the city boundary. It is 25 years since the coach was used, and it is 200 years since it was presented to the city by William of Orange. It was drawn by six grey horses with postillion riders, dressed as in the days of the battle of the Boyne. ' In the sunlight stood the coach, waiting by the ceremonial gate way to Dublin, which has been built over the main road at Merrion, and there stood lines of mounted soldiers Their Hussar uniforms blazed with saffron and blue, and their bridles glinted. Cardinal Lauri’s gentle face was alight with pleasure. He smiled at the people and raised his hand in blessing. Aiderman Byrne was robed in scarlet and wore a three-cornered hat. The City Marshal, the macebearer and the sword-bearer —but without mace or sword, for the ceremony must be Irish, not English, in all its characters—and the robed aidermen stood in the background. The town clerk read the address of welcome in Irish. After the welcome by the Lord Mayor the Pope’s Ambassador came at last through the kneeling multitude to the deep solemnity of the pro-cathe-dral. Service in pro-Cathedral. In the pro-cathedral the first act in the pageant was enacted. Assembled in front and at the sides of the High Altar, writes the Morning Post correspondent, were the archbishops, bishops and mitred abbots, hundreds of them drawn from all parts of the world—the archbishops and bishops in their purple, abbots in white, with Eastern prelates in lavender, deep blue and other shades, introducing a different note into this symphony of colour. Immediately behind the episcopal benches, in the places of honour, sat the Governor-General and Mr. do Valera, separated only by the width of the red carpet that ran along the centre of the’ nave. Beside Mr. de Valera sat the other members of the Government, and behind them the representatives of foreign States in Dpb lin. The procession of cardinals, in their scarlet robes, headed by Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, marched from the schools opposite across the carpeted roadway, and moved slowly up the nave to the High Altar. Four Hundred Loud-speakers. A few minutes later came the Cardinal Legate, with his suite, ecclesiastical and lay, the Papal chamberlains in Elizabethan costumes, and wearing ruffles round their necks, and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, resplendent in uniform, with swords dangling by their sides. As the Legate entered the pro-Cathedral the choir sang “Eece Sacredos Magnus.” Led by Cardinal Lauri, the whole congregation intoned the “Veni Creator,” and the voices rang through the pro-Cathedral and out through the 400 loud-speakers placed along the main streets of the city to the waiting thousands of people in the streets. When the last strains had died away, the Cardinal Legate took his scat on his throne, and Monsignor Walsh, Chairman of the Congress Committee, entered the pulpit and read in Latin the Papal Brief authorising the holding of the Congress. Lastly came the Papal Legate himself. speaking from his place on the .fltar. The ceremonies concluded with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, gives by Cardinal Lauri, and once again tne voice of the whole congregation, singing the Latin hymns “O Salutaris Hostia” and °Tanturn Ergo” and “Adoremus” rang out over the city, where thousands of people knelt in the streets. A message was received from the Pope wishing the Congress success and congratulating the Irish people on their faith and loyalty. Searchlights and Beacons. Picturesque scenes were witnessed ■ throughout the night. Searchlights played over the skies, and buildings were illuminated, while on the hills surrounding Dublin, beacons blazed to carry Ireland ’s message of welcome to pilgrims still nearing her shores. During the night churches were packed with Roman Catholics of every nationality visiting the Blessed Sacra ment exposed for adoration on the altars. Thousands unable to gain admittance for benediction at midnight mass thronged the streets outside, heedless of fatigue and inconvenience. Throughout the night traffic plied con tinually, and it was dawn before the last of the churchgoers had returned home, many of them to snatch merely a brief rest, before taking part, in the |

endless round of meetings arranged for the coming day. Service in Phoenix Park. Earlier in the evening the greater part of Dublin was in Phoenix Park for the first of the great meetings of the Congress. The pafK was filled with thousands of people, stretching from one end of the hundred acres to the other. On most of tho roads leading to the park, writes the Daily Mail correspondent, bishops and clerics in their purple robes anti lace surplices came to the. place of meeting. The service was the first of three. This was a mass meeting of men, whose numbers reached about 80,000. New Zealand is represented at the Congress by about 100 people. They form a distinct section, and in the various ceremonial processions, two banners brought from the Dominion are carried at. the head of the party.