CONSECRATION OF THE RIGHT REV. DR REDWOOD, BISHOP OF WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 56, 23 May 1874, Page 9

CONSECRATION OF THE RIGHT REV. DR REDWOOD, BISHOP OF WELLINGTON.

(' European Mail,' March 20.)

O>"Kofthe most imposing of the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church was perfoimed in the east end oi London on March 17, before a considerable number of eccle siastics and a large concourse of laity, including not a few Protestants. The Pope having appointed Dr ItedwooJ, of the order of Murists, to the See of Wellington, New Zealand, Dr Manning fixed the Feast of St. Patrick as the day on which the bishop elect should be invested with all the privileges and iusi»uia of the episcopacy. It was arranged at first that the Right Rev? Dr Ullathorue, Bishop ot Birmingham, should be one of the assistant prelates, uf which the Roman ritual requires two ; but almost at the last moment word was received that he bad been seized with illness. His place was taken by the Right Rev. Dr Weathers, Bishop of Amycla, the other assistant prelate being the Right Rev. Dr Danell, Bishop of Sonthwark. St, Aune's, Spicer street, Spitalfields, the principal church of the Marists in England, was the building selected for the ceremony, and soon after 9 o'clock in the morning a procession of priests, regular aud secular, many of the former being in their monastic costume, came forth lrom the sacristy, and, preceded by acolytes, walked up the nave, aud enteiing the choir, took up positions in the front and on either side of the altar. Immediately afterwards an episcopal procession advanced,

the Archbishop, the aceistant Bishops, and the Bishop-elect, wearing their violet rochets, surplices deeply edged with lace, pectoral, crosses, and birettus. Arrived within the choir, Dr Manning was conducted to an archiepiscopal throne on the left side ol the altar, and there he assumed the vestments in which he was to celebrate mass and perform the rite of consecration. Close to a small altar at the right side of tha choir Dr Redwood also vested. He as yet assumed no n.itre, but on the head of the Archbishop was placed a magnificent one, richlj studded with precious stones. The two assistant Bishops wore, not their jewelled, but their plaiu white mitres. When all was ready for the commencement of the consecration, the Archbishp, bearing his p.storal staff in his right hand, took his seat on a fald stool, aud with his back to the altar. The Bishop-elect was then conducted to the presence of his Grace by the assistant prelates, and Dr Redwood, uncovering, made a low bow to the Archbishop. Then the senior assistant Bishop, addressing Dr Manning, said, " Most reverend father, our hoi* mother, the Catholic Church, prays that you will raise this piiett here present to the episcopal charge." This and everything else gaid or sang during the rite, with the exception of the Kyrie eleison, was uttered in Latin. The Archbi-hop having demanded the apostolic commission, and it having been read, the Bishop-elect knelt down and took the oath. The ceremony, as a whole, was a very long one, extending over two hours and a-half. 13y way of description it may be sufficient to say that the consecrating Prolate and the Bishop-elect each recited the entire mass, and that the consecration of the Bishop waseffected in parts, and at different stages of the Divine Service, and did not become complete till towards the close of the mass itself. The Bishop-elect was put throngh an examination, after which ho was anointed on the head with the hands. Subsequently the episcopal ring was put upon his finger, and, finally, a mitre of cloth of gold was placed on his head and a pastoral staff in his hand. Then, amid the jubilant strains of a " Te De,um," which, like the music of the" mass, was beautifully sung by a choir in the orgau loft, Dr. Redwood, with the assistant Bishops on his right and left, walked through the nave and aisles, giving his benediction to the congregatiDn. His remarkably fine presence was a subject of general remark. He is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, Bishop in Christendom, being' scarcely. 35. He wear? an abundanea of light-brown hair, beard, and moustache, and his expiession is indicative of the intellect, activity, and kindness ot heart which are said to be the cause of his elevation to the episcopacy at such an unusually early age. After the consecration, the Marist Fathers entertained the Bishops and a number of other friends at an early dinner. Archbishop Manning presided "The Pope" waa the first toast. In giviug the next, that of " The Queen," the Archbishop spoke in the warmest terms of the benefits which the Catholics of this country had derived from legislation during Her Hajesty's " just and beneficent reign." The toast wa* drunk with all the honours, and the National Anthen was sun<» by a number of the priests. In proposing the health of Dr. Redwood, the new Bishop of Wellington, sir Charles Clifford mentioned that when he himself first went to New Zealand in 1842, there was not a priest in the colony. He might in a manner claim to be the first Catholic pastor there, for the Cai holies used to assemble in his house to say prayers on the Sunday. Catholicity had made great strides in New Zealand, and he had no doubt that Dr Redwood had a great missionary career before him. It was mentioned in the course of the bpeakiug that though th© founder of the Marist Order is still in existence, it has spread itself to the utmost distant climes, aud Dr. Redwood is the fourth member of it that has been raised to the Episcopate of the Roman Church.