THE CHRISTCHURCH MAGDALEN ASYLUM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 44, 26 February 1886, Page 16

THE CHRISTCHURCH MAGDALEN ASYLUM.

(By the Bpecial Reporter of the LytUUon Tivut^ of being Sble^o wt ontoot o^ 8 " ff 11 * o**0 ** ** the proud^ oAtion church, a mission of mercy that wilL benefit all^reed! «*{ ef .^« nbeli ?'«o«F community. The exutence of\ GaSlfa Sisterhood Bpecially trained from the novitiate with the one object of reclaiming, educating, and influencing for good the frffi 3 tteir sex the special knowledge of the necessity of such wrk hereto Chnstchurch possessed by Father Ginaty himself,^* £ %J5L£ bestowal, for the very purpose, of the Maxwell bequest, foralinkS a w m i >firCOaißtances'f irCOaiBtances ' forgin * ot "Wch seems scarSS aacnbable to human agency. But the hnman agent in iTwork taJ£X.S I 7I 7 E? B lr ngely the P ublic w^~the prime mov« Iw v t i7 ha " I* 8 " th « P M j° r °' Catholic flock in Chris™ church. To him, therefore, tu/mt et origo of the good deed itwa. necessary to turn for information concerning its inception, iteinamnT 2*l £ Thursday next, and such minor details as shoSbTvajSlTe to the charitable and philanthropic ; and, in short, to everyone/ a M LtJnT^'l father 6inaty, « our plan's for the bSldin'g.' are not settled. Mr. Petre, the well-known architect of Dunedin has provided me with a set of plans, which have been referred to a higher authority for approval. We have to prot^cSsScUy* But there is a decent house on the grounds already which wili-I™ our immediate needs, though by no means fc?w 'ocSSedtaSr ton, which is likely to be very extensive. We ta£ iSealfan in April. The system of the Sisters ot the Order of thfooodsKeS is based on separation and classification, so neglected atphwe? l!S Burnham and others of its kind. Besides that for receivinTfa S women there wil also be an establishment where small fhildS removed from evil surroundings may be reformed and educated ?!T T %- Th n Bimply - n^ gleet , ed aQd outcaßt arecompletej wpaSSI from the really criminal and immoral, and an e^deavourVni S made to instil into their minds an idea of the nobility aid dfenit? of womanhood, so that, once habituated to virtue, they may SS away good women and good mothers. (My mind dwelt tovoluntaril J on that phrase, ''habituated to virtue "Uo chance one? tor Faffi Ginaty employed it more than once-and the dark vista it opens udJ Thus, you see although the property once known as the ? Sard Farm,' consisting of 200 acres, is extensive, we shall want a «SJ deal of it. The buildings for different classes morthToSiSfiS isolated, surrounded each by its recreation grounds, secure from an y chance of general intercourse. Then there will be large mtehS gardens, and fields for the cows and borses-50 acre? « iUS^l suppose, will be needed. The remainder can be rented, if neWsZv • reS'^ 8 bßen madC f ° r itf bUt refaßed te^B£Xl Then the institution is to be self-supportine t " Var ,-„ ft measu.e, after its first start, which will naturally be a matter cf S»nt MderaWe expense, though, as Mount Magdala, as I have re-naSed : it, will be open to all, without respect to denomination or of crmi we hope to get public support as well. But the design of the whole wjll be exactly that of the Convent of the GooTj Shepherd at Abbots ord in V.ctona, an account of which was publisheTin yow paper lately and which I am reprinting in this circular "^and Srther^n 8 * PapCr Wbicb reference willbe made «. • Could , y° u * ell m * ft «t«e, Father Ginaty, about the Sisters and their work ? How many are coming here ? "We exn^t t«» i than four Sisters. At Abbofcsford they began witii ?? OPu? 0 P u? and n£ there are 80, while the inmates number 640. The Order XibliMh J in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and other couoS^Jkl ladies who join the Sisterhood, we find, come mo.tlj txomThe ralks of the highest nobility. Indeed, with the great spirit of ChrSS philanthropy and desire to atone for the sins of the r sex th2J^£S up the life of devotion. The Order is everywhere There n^« that ib more patronised, for its doors aw new cloJJdto ?#?/?* woman of any denomination ; she has only to lornf a ? f*llenf * llen taken in, and the good it doe; is iSltoSbto X wk^k* 0 *. is P.t Angers, In France, and there the^ nuns i aw toSnS £f P " hh 2MOthem to P o outside and follow them, but^by continual eSS ,? f ° r and bunion, whenever possible, they iSSS a ?S?K ?"?? women they have reclaime^lfrom a life of sin" C the •m from destruction the poor Magdalen, whl,wffttod T[ . US 2SR r^'nfeJef To' e i"d%^. di »^ -*£ wk'JS really Ih. germ ot (be p,, s«. D t keyiSln - Th>t K "" enM «""«» ..p. -asri^ iL^irofTr^r

attended there were of my own flock. At one time, just before Easter, I wu preparing them for the Easier- tide devotions of our Church, and had lectured on ' Mortal Bin.' They were all moved , but one in particular, Maggie seemed repentant and sorry beyond all the rest. There was no need to work upon her feelings ; she shed torrents of tears, and was by far the most contrite of them all. In fact, if any woman seemed ripe for Heavcu, it was poor Maggie . She left the gaol, and in the harry and stress of other work I lost sight of her ; indeed, her face had passed from my mind when, five months later, just as I was about to attend the celebration of early Mass on Sunday morning, one of her evil companions came to my door, evidently in great distress. ' Won't you come and see poor Maggie,' she said, 'she is fearfully ill.' Maggie, I asked, what Maggie J Andt hen when she told me, I remembered. Following her, we hurried to the door of an evil-looking house in High street. A heavy, sottish, beery-looking fellow balanced himself before me in the dark passage, reeling with drink, a scoundrel who passed himself ott here as a doctor—he has since passed into Eternity. He held out a bundle of queer ragged papers, with which he fumbled, mumbling out something about them being his proofs of having ga ; ned a diploma, and tried to stop me. I mnst have looked very fierce as I thundered out at him, and asked him if he meant to obstruct a priest when doing his duty, for he slunk back and I and my guide passed on up the dark mysterious passage. There, at the end, in a little kennel so narrow that I could only reach her by pushing the sofa on one side, lay Maggie, hopelessly and senselessly drunk. I bent over her, and whispered in her ear some words that might recall her to the knowledge that a priest was by. It was all in vain, but her arm hanging over limply to the floor moved uueasily round and round, the fingers working nervously, making half-witted attempts to clutch the beer jug that lay upset there. Seeing she was beyond my reach, I sent off quickly for the doctor. He came, but it was all the same. IMy bands are tied,' he said, ' I can do nothing.' She was taken to the hospital, senseless still from drink, and died in the same state next day. Then the resolve came into my mind that, come what would, on the very first opportunity I would try to establish a Magdalen Asylum in Christchurch. Poor Maggie 's face was before my mind when I wrote those lines the other day." Let me end with another quotation from Father Ginaty's circular ; it shows practical reasons for supporting our institution, though written ef another :— " The public have very little idea of the good that is being done in an unostentatious manner by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. The waifs and wanderers who are rescued from the paths of misery and sin by the Sisters are not asked to what creed they belong. It is sufficient that they need succour. All creeds are received into the Magdalen Asylum. The nuns of the Good Shepherd do not live among ' the stars.' They nobly confront the stern realities of life, and their labours confer a real benefit on the public. Idleness is a stranger to the little community, who fully recognise that 'work is worship.' With such institutions in our midst as the Convent of the Good Shepherd embraces, we may rest assured that the circles of good emanating from them, small though they be at first, must ultimately exercise a salutary influence on the future of the Colony."