CATHOLIC CEREMONIES AT GORE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 3, 17 October 1890, Page 13

CATHOLIC CEREMONIES AT GORE.

The successful proceedings at Gore on last Sunday must have been a source of great p'easure to the Bishop of Dunedin and of gratification to Father Newport and his flock, and of consolation and encouragement to the Sisters of Mercy. Very large congregations filled the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, morning and evenimg, and a great gathering witnessed the solemn blessing of the new Bchools in the afternoon. The weather was simply glorious, the order observed perfect, an(? everything passed off without a hitch of any kind. Many persons came from Mataura, Pukerau, Clinton, and other outlying districts to swell the numbers of townspeople who assisted at the various functions. High W.&BB,Coram Pantijice, was celebrated at 11 a.m. Rev. Father Newport, to whose energy aud perseverance the present sate of things is chiefly due, was celebrant, Very Rev. Father Walsh (Invercargill), and Rev. Father Lynch (Dunedin) acted respectively as deacon and Bub-deacon. A choir, which even in a city would be styled efficient, rendered in a becoming manner the musical portion of the service. The " Aye Maria " of Gounod, as sung by Miss K. Walsh, would be far from out of place in a Cathedral Church on a grand occasion. After Mass, and before the ceremony of reception of postulants, the Bishop addressed the candidates, and afterwards the congregation generally. His Lordship, who appeared to be in excellent health and spirits, spoke at some length on the obligations of religious, and the duties of Catholics in the matter of education. Taking up the las t words of the Gospel read in the Mass of the day, he showed in his usual clear, forcible way that Jesus, going down to Nazareth and subject to Joseph and Mary, wbb the model of those especially who, choosing a life of perfection, bound themselves to obey the lawful commands of a legitimate superior. He exhorted the people, wbom he praised for tbeir generosity in the past, to continue to exhibit the spirit of self-sacrifice in the future. Ec complimented the pastor, Rev. Father Newport. on the result of his labours for the mission, and congratulated the Catholic body on the progress of religion among them. In a few years much had been done. They had built a substantial church, which in a short time would be enlarged, a fine presbytery for their priest, a convent and echool which made, under the circumstances, a very good beginning indeed. The church and presbytery were free from debt. The convent and school buildings would soon

be likewise free. Much remained to be done and he had no hesitation in saying that judging by their past generosity and successful efforts, much more would even soon be accomplished. In a few earnest words he encouraged his people to guard against the godlessness of the times, and to maintain their own schools. Hi 9 Lordship concluded a telling aidress, in which he dwelt on the iniquity of the present system of education, by taking that in his very long experience be had never known man or worn in to become poorer through being generous to the Church. The collection, usual on such occasions resulted in £80 being added to the amounts already received for school aad convent purposes. The foundation at Gore has, up to the present, ost £1,000. A very impressive reception, ceremony was then gone through with, the whole congregation remaining to the end. The young ladies who nave enterei tha noviciate at the Convent of Mercy, Gore, are Miss Bridget Doyle, (in religion Sister Mary Colnmba), and Miss Kate Healy, (Sister Mary Patricia). Bo h came from Ireland with the'professed Sisters of iha Convent a few months ago. At 3.30 p.m., the Bishop blessed the fine school, newly erected.Jwhich was designed by Mr. W. A McOaw, architect, and built by Mr. J. Carmody, contractor. The directions of the Roman Ritual were carried out to the letter. Without doubt a lasting impression was made on the children who took part in the procession, and the crowd that line! the Gordon hill, or followei the Bishop and priests, will not soon forget the sight. Everything helped to make the scene bright and jjyous, and the occasioa solemn. An almost cloudless sky, a cheery sunshiny day the girls in spotless white, all the children singing sweet hymns, the nuns walking with those little ones for whom they left home and friends, the white robed clergy and the venerable Bishop, filled with gladness, that another pillar had been added to the house of Catholic education, then the procession quietly 'moving down the hill, winding along the slope, slowly climbing the hilly ground and passing leisurely by the convent on to the neir building destined doubtless to be another home of piety beneath the Southern Cross, another nursery of learning, all contributed to make the occasion one that would linger in the memory and would not soon pass into oblivion. Many were the expressions of pardonable pride and evident pleasure heard during tha day. This is not to be wondered at. As the Bishop justly remarked the establishment of the Convent of Mercy at Gore and the erection of the well finished building just opened, mark an era in the history of the missioa, and are matters for pastor and people of sincere self congratulation. It has been said that in the colonies the Catholic Church usually secures the best sites procurable for church and school, Gore is not an exception. Tke firat view one obtains on entering this important town from the North takes in the neat presbytery on one side of a gently rising hi 11, the church and convent on the other. The scene from the nun*' grounds in a few years when willows and drooping ash line the adjacmt streamlet, *nd fir and pine and shrubs ot various kind dot the many hills which, surround a fertile plain, will be one of singular beauty. It is but right that nature should by beauty of scenery make some slight compensation for the loss sustained by severing ties of kindred and relinquishing the joys of early associations. The nuns of Gore came from the Convent of Mercy, Carrick on Suir, Ireland. They volunteered when Bishop Moraa was last in Europe to come to work for Church and God in this distant diocese. They took possession of their new home on the 10th of last March. They at once entered on their work, and temporally taught in the Gordon Town Hall. Of their success even in a short time the reverent attitude of the children on Sunday in the church, their quiet demeanour in th« streets, the tuneful singing and well ordered movement of the little ones during the long ceremonies spoke volumes. The Sisters of Mercy have brought with them from the old land the best traditions of an Order which in the hospital and in the school has done much for religion and humanity. When on Sunday tha Bishop for the last time referred to the happy event of the day there was not one present who did not utter a fervent amen to ths prayer that God might bless abundantly the noble work undertaken in His nams.