THE PASSIONIST FATHERS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 34, 10 June 1892, Page 31

THE PASSIONIST FATHERS.

Ibt connection with the opening of the new Betreat of the Passionist Fathers at Goulburn N. S.W.— of which we lately quoted a report - the local Herald gives us the following :—: —

The Black monks, m they are sometimes called, or as their Order is more correctly termed, " The Congregation of the Barefoote \ Clerks ofjha most Holy Gross and Pa9sion of Jeans Christ," was founded by F^ovb Francisco de Danei, who was born at Ovado in Sardinia, on the sfa January 1694, Paolo was a remarkable man, and subsequently became known in religion v 8t Paul of the Cross, and Founder of the Order of Passionists. Although at this time there were many religions Orders in the Catholic Church, yet the wish of bis life was to found one the special aim of which would be to make known to others the sufferings and death of Christ, or as it is called the " Passion of Christ," Hence it is that the Order received the name of Passioniits. The Passionista, accepting the mysteries of the Divinity and humanity of onr Lord, seek chiefly to inculcate his doctrines by preaching him crucified. The wish of St Paul of the Cross was that the Order should be founded in the strict poverty of the cross, and to have no regular means of subsistence, but to be dependent on the alms of the faithful. They were to be the preaohers of the Passion and Death of tbe Crucified, and the very spirit and character of the Order is expressed by penance and suffering. On the 22nd November, 1 720, St Paul of the Cross was first clothed in the habit of tbe Passion, and assumed the name " della Oroce." He occupied a " cell " in a hermitage on Mount Argentaro. This was the first house of retreat of the Passionist Order, and it flourishes to this day. Paolo then received from Pope Benedict XIII the privilege of founding an Order of missionaries with the object of preaching the love of Christ as displayed in his passion. Paolo and his brother Giovanni (who had joined him in the work of the Order) were ordained priests in Borne on tbe 7th June, 1727. The rules of the Order have been approved of by no less than four Pontiff?, namely, Benediot XIV, Clement XIV, Pius VI, and Pius VII. After seeing tbe Order spread throughout Italy, St Paul of the Cross died at the Betreat of the Saints, the first monastery of the order, on Mount Argentaro. He was beatified in 1852, and canonised in 1867. The carrying out of the special work of the Passionists is done principally by the conducting of missions and retreats, on the invitation so to do from the bishops and priests of different parishes. After their apostolic labours the Passion ist Fathers retira for a short rest to their monasteries, or retreats as they are called, These retreats are generally selected with a view to quiet and solitude, and in tbis respect the building at Mary's Mount is admirably situted. Although the order was foundad and cradled ia Italy in the eighteenth century it has since spread over France, Belgium, Spain America (North and South), and was introduaJ into EngWni ia the year 1840 by Father Dominic, who a few years later had the honour to receive by appointment the late Cardinal Newmin, and to receive his profession of faith in the Catholic religion, a fact which is made known in the great Cardinal's Apologia pro Vita Sua. Scattered throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which ate contained in what is kcown as the Kngliab Province of the Order, there are now twelve monasteries, numbsring over one hundred priests, about forty students studying for the priesthood, and about the same number of lay Brothers. The Novitiate Hous3 is situated at Broadway in Worcestershire. In the year 1887 his Eminence Cardinal Moran invited the Passionists to Australia to carry on the work of their Order, namely, tbe conducting of missions and retreats in this land. Father Vinceot Grogan (wbo is returning to England by the Orient steamship Opbir nest week after a stay of sixteen months) was Head Superior in England when his Etninenca asked for the missionaries for Australia, and knowing the great field for missionary work which this country afforded he accepted the invitation, and the first community of Passionists arrived in Sydney on November 21at, 1887. The 2lst November is a feast known in the Catholic calendar as " The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin in tbe Temple." Hence it is that the mooaatery at Mary's Mount is called tbe Presentation Betreat. The first colony of Passionists numoered four priests and one lay Brother. Tbe priests were Fathers Marcel las, Colman, and Patrick, with Father Alphonsus O'Neill as superior. They settled at Marrickvillc, Sydney, the parochial work attached to the church of St Bridget being attended to by those of the four priests not employed ia missionary work. tSo numerous were the calls for missions and retreats, that it was found necessary to augment the number of already hard-worked Fathers by other Pasbionists from Borne. Consequently seven priests, two students, and one lay Brother have at different times arrived from tbe English province, amongst these being that scholarly and eloquent preacher, Father Hilary, who is at present master of novices at Mary's Mount. This drain upon the home province could not be expected to continue, and as it was necessary that provision should be made for tbe future, it was thongbt advisable to establish a Novitiate or House of Probation in Australia, a house where youths wishing to join the Order could undergo the customary year's probation, during which time all concerned would be Able to judge of the probationers' fitness

for the Order. In this aptitude, together with the detire for the religious life, consists of what is known as the vocation. To find a suitable locality for the novitiate was ths next trouble, and the Bavensworth Estate, overlooking the city of Goulburn, and at that time in the market, was selected as affording all the conveniences required for a novitiate nous?. After the usual formalities the purchase was effected in the early part of 1890, and Bavensworth, as before stated, became known as Mary's Mount, and the first novitiate of the P«Hionist Order in Australia was established in Goulburn. Tbe new retreat was solemnly blessed and opened in June 1890, by his Eminence Cardinal Moran, in the presence of many dignitaries of the Catholic Church, including Archbishops Oarr (Melbourne) and Beynolds (Adeliade) and the bishops of Goulburn, Maitland, Bathurst Grafton, Armidale, Wilcannia, etc. The grounds attached to the Betreat at Mary's Mount, including. as they do, orchard and vineyard, and covering about forty acres, combined with the secluded position of the Retreat, render nothing wanting to ensure that quiet which is absolutely necessary for the proper observance of the rules of the Order. Since the opening of Mary's Mount five young Australians have passed the year of probation or novitiate beneath its roof, and are now engaged in the studies necessary for tbe work of a missionary priest. Their places in the novitiate portion of Mary's Mount were quickly taken by other aspirants to the priesthood of the Order, and this increase in numbers necessitated tbe addition of the new wing and chapel which were blessed and opened yesterday.