GRAHAMSTOWN (THAMES).

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 7, 14 June 1873, Page 9

GRAHAM STOWN (THAMES).

(From a Correspondent.)

The Right Rev. Dr. Croke came here from Auckland on Thursday (29th May). On Sunday, Ist June, he administered the sacrament of confirmation to upwards of 80 candidates, including adults— of which there were not a tew, after the 1 1 o'clock mass, which was celebrated by the Rev J. Golden. His Lordship, previous to giving the sacrament, delivered a briet but eloquent and impressive discourse to the congregation. He said :— " He came here on two-fold business. The first reason why he came was in order to give the • seven gifts of the Holy Ghost ' to the candidates there assembled ; and the second reason was in order to fulfil his usual duty of officially visiting this portion of hie diocese. When he came here, he found it was unnecessary for him to propose those questions to their pastor (Rev N. Jourdan) which he usually proposed to the pastors of other parishes, relating to the state and progress of our divine faith, and the spiritual'state of the faithful. The three great dutieß of Catholics were prayer, attending the holy sacrifice of the- mass, and frequenting the "sacraments. But, as examining the children on their knowledge of their religion and subsequently confirming them would occupy him a considerable time, his address to the congregation on their duties would necessarily be extremely brief. Above all, he recommended them never to forsake their prayers j omitting one's prayers wae the first step to spiritual ruin— eternal ruin ! He knew several cases where persons who were the reverse of good, but under no circumstances had neglected praying to their Creator when rising in the morning and retiring at tiimt, were eventually reconciled to God, and became good Christians f and he ascribed iL to the fact that thej prayed, and were at length heard by God. The Scripture says—' Ask, and you shall receive ;' therefore, if they did not ask, they would not receive. His advice, then, to them, upon the first point, was ' Not to omit their prayers, or any portion of them, under any circumstances. If they omitted a portion of their prayers some morning when in an unusual hurry, it would soon lead them to abandon thai portion altogether, and little by little they would go down the lull, until finally they would neglect their prayers altogether, • and, consequently, would have denied the faith and be worse than infidels.' He therefore earnestly exhorted them to continually pray in morning and evening, before and after meals, and whenever an opportunity offered during the day. " With regard to the second great duty, • hearing mass,' he also could say much. But they all knew how emphatic the Church was upon that point. Her very first precept was, •To hear mass on Sundays and holidays of obligation.' He knew there were cases where it was absolutely impossible for a person to hear mass } bnt of these he did not speak. But where a person wilfully absented himself from attendxng the holy sacrifice without a just and lawful excuse, he was clearly guilty, and was condemned by the Church. He would just relate to them a circumstance which took place within his own experience, and which would exemplify the heinousneos of the crime of not attending

mass. He was stationed in a certain parish in Ireland, and every Sundaj he noticed that there was a man who lived directly opposite the Church, who made it a practice to stand at his door and watch the people going into the Church and coming out, and he never saw him going to the Church himself. He made enquiries and learned that lie was a nominal Catholic, whose wife and children were very pious, but who never went to the Church himself. He therefore determined to speak to him. He did so, and the result of his conversation was that the man promised him faithfully that he would go to mass on the next Sunday. Sunday came, but ho looked in vain for the man in the Church, but- saw him standing as usual at his post, smoking. He spoke to him again, and again he promised ; but the promise was again unfulfilled. Well, after a time there were some priests come to the parish on a mission, and they held the mission for ten days, including two Snndays. He promised to go to the mission, and always to go to mass for the future. But, alas ! like all the other promises, they were unfulfilled. The mission came and weut, and he never attended. A few days after the mission, the Bishop of the County came to hold what is called a conference with the priests of his diocese, and he, Bishop Croke (then curate), had to attend with the other two priests of his parish at the conference. They had to go about three miles to where it was to be held. Now, he should here mention that the three priests were never absent all at once oh any day in the 365 of the year, but on the conference day from the parish. Well, thoy went to the conference. Returning home, when they were about halfway oc their journey, they perceived a man riding on horseback furiously towards them. When he came up, they inquired what was the matter ; and, breathless from the speed with which he had ridden, he told them that ' So-and-so ' had dropped down at his own door, and was dying, if not dead, at that moment. They hurried on their horses and soon arrived at the scene of death. There, at his own door, on the very threshold where he used to stand and watch the people going to Church, with the very pipe he smoked smashed into fragments at his feet, was the man he had so repeatedly and ineffectually warm <i That circumstance did more good in that parish than the preaching of the priests all the year round. As to frequenting the sacraments : This was the last and the most important of the great duties of Catholics. It was absolutely necessary for salvation to receive the sacraments, and to receive them worthily ; for woe to the man who profanes those' channels of God's grace. Confirmation was not, strictly speaking, necessary for salvation ; but where opportunity afforded, if a person neglected to receive it, that person would commit a very grievous sin; He urged upon them to receive the Holy Eucharist often, and to confess their sim worthily. He would now proceed to examine the children. But before doing so, he wished to impress upon their minds the three duties of which he had just spoken — prayer, attending mass, and receiving the sacraments. He exhorted them to pray often, never to absent themselves from mass, and, above all, receive the sacrament. May God Almighty bless them, and grant that whatever faults they may be guilty of in tKis life, wilj he forgiven them, and that they may all partake in the eternal joyß of heaven." His Lordship, who was listened to throughout with most marked attention, then examined the candidates, and subsequently confirmed them*.