CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 15, 27 January 1893, Page 27

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From oar own Correspondent. ) The retreat of all the cleigy in the bishopric ended and the dioceMn synod opened in the pro-Cathedral on Monday morning last. A solemn Pontifical Mass of the Holy Tiinity, whereat the Bight Bey Dr Grimes was celebrant, was celebrated at 7.30 a.m. and prior to the opening of the synod. The Rev Fathers O'Donnell and Ireacej assisted as deacon and sub-deacon, and the Bey Fathers Le Menant and Gontenoire as deacons of honour at the throne. Tbe Bey Fathers Bell and Bowers were masteis of ceremonies, and all the sacred ministers received Holy Communion from the hands of their Bishop. Tbe usual blessing at tbe end of the Mass waa not imparted till after the synod, but not a detail of the rubrics was omitted, and the opening ceremonial, which continued three and a half hours, waa therefore, most splendid and imposing. Before Mass, and after the usual visitation which a bishop makes to tbe Blessed Sacrament when he enters a church, a solemn procession took place around the interior of the pro-Cathedral. His Lordship assumed for tbe occasion a superb cope, and the clergy, except the Very Bey Father Gamming*, Y.G., whose vestments were a dark purple, wore red vestments. The convent pupils, who were followed by the Children of Mary, pro* ceeded first. Then came the Sisters of Notre Dames des Missions, the schoolboys, who wore the badges of the Sodality of tbe Apostle* ship of Prayer, the Hibernians, the members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and, lastly, tbe clergy aod the Marist Brothers. When Mass was concluded his Lordßhip delivered a splendid discourse and requested the prayers of the faithful for tbe success of the synod. He then intoned from the foot of the altar the hymn, " Salvum me fac," and repeated the prayers prescribed for the opening of the synod. He intoned also the hymn, " Veni Creator," and tbe clergy, while they made a second procession round the church, sang the Litany of the Saint?. The choir not only took up the various hymns which his Lordship iatoned but also executed admirably Mozart's Mass No 9, and Mr Dougal sang with much taste tbe psalm, " O Domine Deos," and an Offertory piece. The faithful then were requested to withdraw from tbe sacred edifice, and the synod began. Some of the sessions were very long and tbe synod continued on Tuesday and closed on Wednesday last. A solemn High Mass of the Holy Trinity, which commenced tt 7.30, was said on the occasion. The Rev Father Aubrey was celebrant and the Bey Fathers fiegnault and Laverty acted as deacon and sub-deacon. The Bey Fathers Carew and Purton assisted bb deacons at the thrune, and Mr Funston sang the hymn ''Veni Creator" as an Offertory piece with great expression. After Macs tbe Bishop thanked tbe congregation for their prayers, to which was due, he said, tha perfect unanimity which had very strikingly prevailed in the deliberations of the synod. The decrees and regulations, which will be shortly translated and published, were drawn up in accordance with the spirit of the Church and when they were read in Latin tbe clergy signified their assent to them with acclamations of "fiat, fiat" and "amen, amen." Tbe closing ceremonies were much the same as Ihe opening. The Papal benediction was given and the " Te Deum " sung, and then the Bishop and tbe clergy withdrew in processional order from the church to tbe presbytery. Tbe office, which the promotion of the Bey Father Aubrey rendered vacant, of the diocesan inspector of schools will be filled by the Rev Father H. G. Bowers, who will examine the sohoo's in Canterbury. The Rev Father Carew has been appointed the school inspector for the West Coast portion of the diocese. The diocesan consultors, or bis Lordship's private councillors, for the year are the Very Bey Father Cummings, V.G., also the Bey Fathers Cbervier, Goutenoire, Le Menant and O'Donnell. The synodal examiners are the Bey Fathers Bowers, Le Menant, Goutenoire and O'Donnell. The Bishop nominated for this office the Bey Fathers Bowers and Le Menant, and the clergy elected for the same position the Bey Fathers Goutenoire and O'Donnell. A solemn requiem Mass ooram epitoopo, which was the Gregorian Mass, and sung by tbe cboir and tbe clergy, was celebrated at the pro-Cathedral on Tuesday last.

A cablegram, wbioh arrived here on Friday last, brings the sad intelligence of the death of the Rev Mother Marie de Cceur de Jesus, the foondresa and the first Superioress-General of the Order of the Sisters of the Notre Dame dea Missions. This sorrowful event happened on Thursday last, the 19th instant, at Starry, Kent, England, and in the 67th year of her age. The Order of Notre Dame del Missions, which has bouses in France, England, India, and 8 in New Zealand, was founded at Lyons, in France, in 1861, and at present numbers about 300 members. The convent which was founded at Napier in 1865, was the first house established in this Colony, and the Rev Mother Bt John, a very esteemed member of the representatives of the Order in this city, was one of the small community of pioneer Bisters who settled at Napier. The deceased lady, who was devoted to her sisters, and idolised by them in return, was a remarkably intelligent, energetic, and exemplary religions. She visited Ntw Zealand in 1883, and again in 1886. Whilst travelling during the latter year from Woodville to Mauriceville, the axle of the coach, wherein Bhe journeyed, was broken, and the vehicle upset. For three weeks afterwards she was confined to her bed and room, and attended to by the Sisters of Mercy at Wellington. Indeed, from the accident she sustained not only a savers shock to the system and a scalp wound, but also internal injuries wherefrom she suffered much of late years. Sincere sympathy is felt for the Sisters both here and elsewhere in their bereavement, and every success and prosperity is ardently desiied for an Order, which bag cost its foundress, who has now gone to receive the well-merited reward of her labours, so many years of fervent prayer and devoted zeal. — R.I. P. His Excellency the Governor, with Lady Glasgow and party, visited on Friday last the Maori pah at Kaiapoi. The Natives gave about a year since a grand reception to Lord Onslow, and their feelings of loyalty prompted them to accord a hearty welcome to Lord Glasgow, who was driven out to the pah. When he arrived at the boundary of the Maori reserve he was met by a Native escort, in Native costume, of young chiefs, who formed up with Mounted-Con-stable Donovan. Two arches of welcome had been erected at the pah — one at the Native school, and the other at the Runanga Hall, which was decorated with toi-toi, flax, and several prominent members of the Ngaitahu tribe. The Native school-children were ranged on a platform within the ball, and on a table the school prizes. The Natives and the Native children each read and presented an address to his Excellency. In the address of the seniors of the tribe attention was drawn to a memorial which detailed the Native claims for certain rights and privileges under the Treaty of Waitangi, and for the fulfilment of "P. Kemp's deed." This memorial was presented in December, 1891, to the Queen through Lord Oaslow, and as no reply had been received from her Majesty, Lord Glasgow was askei to cauße instant Inquiry to be made into their grievances, and to recommend that adequate justice be done to their long unsettled claims. When his Excellency had replied to the addresses and Lady Glasgow had presented the Bchool prizes, he desired that the Native chiefs might be introduced to him. After speaking with several dignified Native gentlemen, a number of women of rank were introduced, and then followed a general introduction of the Europeans present. An afternoon tea, which hud been provided in the schoolroom, took place next, and the distinguished visitors returned ia the evening to Kaiapoi. , The Rev Father Le Menant das Chesnais, the parish priest at St Mary's, lift the city during; the week to conduct a retreat in Wellington, and the Rev Father Servejean of the West Coast preached at High Mass at St Mary's on Sunday last. Toe Rev Father Briand, aV-o from the West Coast, delivered a very eloquent and instructive salmon at Vespers. Takiog for a text the words—" Train a youth in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," the rev preacher spoke of the vast and splendid civilisation

and progress of the present age, and, at the same time, said that the Church was never so cruelly tried and beset with so many difficulties and danger*. The improvements of the age in an intellectual and material sense are very great, but nevertheless an attempt is mad* in every corner of the earth to take by storm the very citadel of Christianity by eradicating the idea of the supernatural from ,\ha mind of man. To effect this the subtle plan is to seize the children and to train them in godless and mixed Bchools where nothing Christian or supernatural is taught. Tnis plan is more artful and efftoa* cioua than the chains, prisons, and lions of old, and therefore people are becoming neutral on matters of religion, and when religion jp banished moral idsas and principles art likewise banished. In conclusion be reminded his hearers of the divine promise made to the Church and exhorted them to maintain their Catholic schools at any cost, and thereby prevent their children from perishing in the flood of infidelity aud false science wherewith human socieby Is at present deluged.