PASTORAL FOR THE YEAR 1890.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 40, 24 January 1890, Page 13

PASTORAL FOR THE YEAR 1890.

Patrick bt the grace of God and favoub of the Holy See Bishmp of Dunedin, &c, to the clkboy and laitt of said diocebb, gbbbtino and blessing in the lobd.

Deably Beloved Bbbthben,— The holy season of Lent begins this year on the 19th February (Ash-Wednesday), anl ends on the 6th April (Batter Sumiay). The regulations for the fast and abstinence of Lent this year will be stated in.a schedule annexed to this Pastoral. We exhort all to comply with these regulations, and thus obey the Church and act in the spirit of our fathers in the faith, who, in obedience to the command of Christ and Hi* Apostles, devoted a part of each year in an especial way to the exercises of pc .ance and mortiftcation, Having often in the past years addressed you in reference to the obligations «i penance ai.d mortification, and in narticu'ar of fasting, abstinence, and alms-deeds, we may, we think, now pass on to the consideration of another most important, and, indeed, paramount subject. On this subject, also, we have again and again addressed you, but the subject is so important that no apology is needed for recurring to it agaiu this year. You will, probably, anticipate wnat this BUbj ct is, and that we intend once more to draw your a tention to the question of education, and in this anticipation you will not be mistaken. Our object is, first, to congratulate you on the Buccessthat has hitheno attended on your efforts to pive a truly Christian and Catholic c tucation to your children, to rejoice with you on your hay ing established so many excellent Catholic schools in this diocese, and to emphasise the fact that you have succeeied far beyond your expectations in spite of the marked injustice with which, in educational matters, you have been treated by the legislature of New 5? k A « X? y ;" htt !» e Btood for m * n y lon &« wear y veMB fighting the battle of Cbr.stian education, h-hting itatyour own sole expenae, fighting it in the face not only of discouragement, but of fierce opposition. Whilst we regret the injustice with which you have bean treated, and the unwisdom -nay, morethao criminal folly of the legislature which has banished God from the schools of his own children, we have reason to rejoice in the consequences that have followed for us. *c have never had, thank God, any temptation to m*ke compromises : the enemies of Christian education have been bo determined to tax us for tbe education of other people's children to the exclusion of our own, that, fortunately for us, they would 1 sten to no project whereby our schools might become even to a limited extent entitled to some aid from the public funds, to which Catholics in common with their fellow citizens, have contributed. Tbe result for us is that our schools are thoroughly Catholic, and in them there is not the least thing to hamper the exercise of the fullest liberty in the education of our children. This is a great gain, and a blessing which we can hardly appreciate as it deserves, and for which we can never be .uffioienty thankful. We do not write thus because we think or fear that the Catholic body would for any worldly or KS^«^ B i 0 ? 1 ?S c any con) P rom iee detrimental to the faith and morals of their children, but because we have, through the unjust and impolitic action of others, been saved from even the tempU.H,nof doing so. We ought to look uponthis as a great blessing from Him who taught us to pray "lead us not into temptation." Were our legislators inclined to do justice in this matter of education, and abstain from endeavouring to violate our consciences, or endeavouring Tt S-SL 1 !?^ 0 T, lolateo . ur « on »ciences, they would imitate the conduct ««5^ S? Provincial Legislature and the Canadian Parliament, X! i7^ C™? * n * d )ÜBt a ? d liberal kgkktion no man's conscience is violated or under stress, and no man is compelled to provide funds for the maintenance of a system of education in the advantages of which he cannot share. And, sorely, what is done in Canada, what is done l^Sf^^lw o *?, ll^' Ihere1 here C * tholi °» are in precisely a similar position to that of Catholics here, could be done here. Where there is a will there is a way, and ail that is required for the establishment of a «T«em at once wise and juat in this country is ths will. We need !2£S* 77?7 7 ?? aYa V *? de f cr ,! bin S «» Canadian principle and the Ontario 7W?'J£ S?i been done in the leading columns of the New Zealand Tablet, which is and h M ever been watchful of yonr best SSBftn^ ?!?• ? Kia \ t0 afford yon the moßt necessary and caref ully-digested reformation on the question of education, and all its tSiTSSJ'SV '" 7? haVe mention ed the name of the Nbw /.ealakd Tablet, we desire to avail ourselves of this mention to nTL'f? T n l° U the ° eceßßitT and the duty of supporting this newsr&!« Si "IT* Ot yoar ability ' lt is moßt important for the r^itfon aTe *^° rg 5 n to defend itß interests, explain its KSX? f 2^ v? " gh > denonn ce injustice, expose folly, and T?iltt « epa < bhC|B i th * tßtidpublicma y no lon K er remain the S,. °' PW?"" - the mm ° 8t g'onndless, and statements about Catholics and their aims and objects the most false. In addition, tal^l cr v- ft i on ? hy all should support iheNZ JoW^sH °X-i dMII hh m 6m 6 b ° entau * ht to Kad ' ha ™ been well educated. Buch children will, and must read, and nothing can be more necessary or more important than that they should have good accurate, and untainted Catholic literature to read. The N.Z. Tablet ■uppliessach literature. It is a paper which no man need fear to allow ultZ «H nd ? ?U? U * J" dt lt i 8 Oatholic - moral . affording useful and intertsting information, conducted with great ability and

seal, and written in an admirable literary style. Its tone is high ; in a word, it is a newspaper of which the Catholics of New Zealand may well be prond, and which it is their interest and their duty to support generously. You will be called upon during this year to make the usual efforts to maintain your schools already established, and to establish additional ones, to contribute as usaal to the BemU nary Fund, to help the Holy Father with Peter's Pence, and to do something towards the maintaining tbe holy places hallowed by the footsteps of our Divine Redeemer, and the evangelisation of the Aborigines of Australasia. You will, we have no doubt, do your duty in these particulars in the future, as you have done in tbe past, with that devotion and zeal for which the Catholic of this diocese have erer been remarkable. In this diocese there have been very few, indeed, who have not been in the habit of making their Easter duty, and for this we return hearty and grateful thanks to God. But there ought not to be any absentees, and we hope that in the future there wui be none. All should remember that the precept of Easter com. mumon is Divine, and that it is only ecclesiastical in so far as tha determination of the time of Easter id concerned. Our Divine Lord commanded all his followers who had arrived at the years of discretion to go to Holy Communion at least onoe in the year, and all the Church has done in reference to this is to direct that the time for the fulfilment of this precept is Easter time. The law of Easter Oommunion, therefore, is in substance Divine and ecclesiastloa.l as to time. Surely, therefore, no one deserving the name of Catholic will so outrage our Divine Redeemer as to disobey his loving command, or be bo rebellious to His Church, which all are commanded to obey as to neglect his or her Easter duty. , . Tue blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. _ „ |J»P. MOBAK. Dunedin : Feast of St. Agnes, 1890. The following are the regulations for Lent, made in virtue of special faculties from the Holy See :— 1. The use of flash meat is permit efl at dinner on all day* in Lent wnh tbn exception of Wednesdays ani Friday*, the Saturday of Quarter Tense, and Monday in Holy Week. J. At tbe collation on fast days the use in moderation of butter, cheese, a-id milk is permitted, with the exception of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, t. Oa all days the use of butter, cheese, and milk is permitted at dinner, with the exception of Ash Wednesday and Good Fri :ay. 4. By indultthe use of lard is permitted on all days except Good Fjiday and Ash Wednesday. 5. Eggs can be eatpn at dinner on all days except Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fish and fl^sb meat are not permitted at the same meal. There is neither fast nor abstinence on Suadays in Lent. All who have completed their 21st year are bound to fast and abstain— unless excused by the state of their health or the nature of their employments— according to the regulations stated above ; and all who have arrived at the use of reasoo, though not bound to fast before the completion of their 21st year, are, nevertheless, bonnd to abstain from the use of flash meat on the days appointed— unless exempted for a legitimate cause, of which the respeotivo Pastors are to be the judges. Subject to the above regulations, every day, except Sunday, and St. Patrick's Day (when it does not fall on Friday or in Quarter Tense), in Lent, is a day of fast and abstinence. All who have arrived at the years of discretion are bound to go to Commnnion within Easter time, which, in this diocese, commences on Ash Wednesday and ends on the octave of the Feast of S3. Peter and Paul. A collection for the Seminary Fund will be made on the Ist Sunday in Lent, where a priest officiates, and in other churches and chapels as soon after as possible . The collection for the Pope will be made iv each chapel or church some Sunday before the end of September next, and for the Aborigines and Holy Places when each rector shall think convenient. The clergy are requested to read this Pastoral at If ass in all churches and chapels where they officiate on Quinquagesima Sunday, and to place a copy of it in a conspicuous position in all churches and chapels at the beginning of Lent.