OPENING OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH, MOSGIEL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XV, Issue 30, 18 November 1887, Page 13

OPENING OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH, MOSGIEL.

{fitago Daily Times, November 14.)

Thk ceremony in connection with the opening of the new R*m&n Catholic church at Moßgiel was performed yesterday by Bishop Moran, assisted by Fathers Vereker, Burke, and O'Neil. Owing to the wet weather there was not a very large attendance at the opening service ; but among those present were some who came from beyond Milton, • distance of about 30 miles. The special train which left Dunedin at 10 a.m. took out about 60 passengers ; and it is almost certain tfcat bad the weather been fine this number would have been more than treble^. The new church is situated about half a mile from tke railway station, on the main road leading through the township. It stands on half an acre of groand, which was purchased at a cost of £101. The building, which will seat upwards of 300 persons, hat been erected at a cost of about £700. The foundations are laid la concrete, and the walls are of brick, 14in in thickness, though timber has been used for the back wall with a view to the ultimate enlarge* ment of the building. The measurements are : Vane, 46ft by 18ft j side aisles, each 35ft by 10ft ; altar, 18ft by 10ft. A gallery for tha choir is of the same dimensions as the altar, and there are also four vestry rooms, two on the ground flour and two on a level with tha gallery. The contract has been carried out by Mr. T. J. Anderson, the sub-contractors being Messrs. A. "Woods and G. Randall, of Dunedin, and Mr. W. Hunter, of Mosgiel. Mr. M'Monagle, of Milton, is the architect. The work in connection with the building has apparently been carried out with credit to all concerned, with tha result that a very neat and atractive place of worship has been provided for the Roman Catholics residing in and about Mocglel.

Pontifical High Masscommencd immediately after half- past 11 o'clock, the Bishop being celebrant ; Fathers Burke and Yereker deacon and Bub-deacon ; and Father O' Neil, master of the ceremonies, The dedication sermon was preached by the Bishop. [He|expressed his. regret that the day had been so unfavourable as to have kept away many who had intended to be present. He then offered his hearty congratulations to those present upon the erection of the Ohurch, and thanked those ladies and gentlemen who had been good enough to come to assist in the choir, also those who had assisted in a similar capacity at St. Leonard's on the previous Sunday. He eaid it gava him very great delight to be present in that building, which was ia every way so church-like. He congratulated them from his very heart, and expressed a hope that the progress made by the congregation during the last 16 years would ba nothing as compared with the pro* gress that would be made in the next 16 years. It was now about 16 years since he had opened the church in Bast Taieri. That was tha beginning, and it was considered a very good beginning, as It really was, The church then, small though it was, gave more than sufficient accommodation to the congregation, and now it was a matter for oon. gritnlation that it no longer sufficed for their accommodation. When they took the matter of the erection of a new ohurch into consideration, it appeared that the site at East Taieri was not the most convenient, and so it was decided to come down to Mosgiel to erect a church there. The building, though not entirely completed, contained everything that was requisite for the purposes of a church. It had its sanctuary — though that was only a temporary one— also its vestry rooms. It had also its organ loft and its organ, its altar, and everything tbat was required for divine service. There was upon it some debt, but it was not to be expected that a church such as that could be erected by the congregation without incurring some debt. He had no doubt as they had done so well in the past, that they wonld do even better ia the future, and make every effort to get rid of that debt at M«a as

possible, so that their church might be a perfect gift and be'.ong entirely to Almighty God. So long as th^re waa a lien or claim upon it, it could not b> said to belong entirely to God. He therefore urtred them to give liberally towards the redveti'n of the debt, and he felt sure that thoso who had been prevented frim attending by the rain would not only give w hat i hey had intended to give, but when they saw th t church, that their hearts would be softened, and they wjuld give even more than they had intended to give had they been present. The old church at E^st Taieri. had be>;n dedicated to A'miehty G d under the name, and in the invoia'ion of Mary Immaculate. He had so dedicated it, out of his devotion to the Mother of God. It was the first chu eh at the de 'icati>n of which it had, been his privilege to assi-t in the diocese and it had occured to him that nothing would be more pleading to Almighty God, or to the Divine Redeemer God made man than 'o dedicate that church to Him under the name and in vocation of His immaculate mother, for in honouring the mother the*- were of course honouring the son. Ha then proceeded to explain at some length the meaning of the doctrine of the immaculate conception, and to eive some of the reasons why they, as Catholics honoured and loved the Blessed Virgin Mary. The service in the morning was a« follows : — Processional hvran, " Ecr c Sacerdos " ; ''Kvrie" and ''Gloria" from Moza't's "First Ma^s" ; " Credo "and •• Sat ctus," from Mozart's No. 2 ; '• Benedictus," from Gounod ; " Agnus Dei," from W^ber. Miss Walsh al«o sang an '"Aye Maria" at tho onVitory with organ accompaniment, and violin obbligato plsyed by Mr. W?rd The members of S*. Jos-ph's choi' present were : Mrs Angus, Missefl Conwav Woods, Wahh, Cantwell, Murphy, Smith, Mills; Messrs Cantwel , War' 1 , Dunne, Carolin, Smith and Rossiter. Herr Scherek presided at the organ. In the evening there were Pontifical Vespers, the Bishop presiding, and assisted by those mentioned above. Father Burke preached a learned and i k quent 8 rmon on the ceremonial of the Oarholic church, after which there was Benediction. At the conclusion Fath< r O'Neil, the pastor, ascended the aliar steps and nnrnunced that the sum realised on the occasion amounted to about £81. He added that the inclemency of the weather was a great disappointment to him, as no doubt it was to all.