MONTH'S MIND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 9, 28 June 1895, Page 20

M ON T H'S MIND.

( 'Cmf i nu ill )

virgins of Jerusalem, still hang down th -ir lvads with grief to the ground " (Lain) Well may one and .ill cry out in the bitter- i ness of thfir sorrow "My r.ither. my Father, the i harlot of Israel, and the guide thereof (2 King-, KM.")). J)early hi loved in Christ. whiKt the Chinch blesses and respects jour legitimate regret-, she " will not have you ignorant concerning them that are asleep, that you be not soirowful even as others who have no hope" (l'hess. iv. 12-17). Ah in lite so in what is called death, the Christian's sleep, she brings the consolations of religion to our help. Costly spices and precious periumes were employed by the PagaMh of old to embalm their dt ad The ( hurcli does bitter than this, she embalms their memory with the pert nine ot pious prayers and fervent supplications t ) the I 'at her ot all mi reies. She brings forth the cross ot her crucified Christ, sweet smelling incense, symbolical lights, as so many reminders that the reparation is only for a time. Mie would have us lift up our minds and hearts on high towards heaven, the true home and country, where we fondly hope that he whom we mourn is or soon will be. dwelling in the bosom of God. Mie bids you cherish the memory ot your beloved Bishop be faithtul to his teaching, imitate his example, walk m liis footsteps, nay more, she bids you go t > the tomb and listen to him who " being' dead yet spea :eth (Hob. \u-l) out of the silunce thereof. What does he say .' " Remember my judgment • tor thine al-o shall be so , yesteiday tor me and to-day tor tliee ' Eecl. 'A^-2'A His whole lite was a sermon, the burden w hereof was humility obedience, love ot duty, love of his brethren, love of the Church love of God. love of our neighbour as ourselves. Resolve to put into practice all that he taught during life and all that he teaches now that he is no more Rev Father* and dearly beloved in Chr^t, it behoves me to recall one last and most important duty which devolves on us this morning. We have come to pay one more tnbute of respect to the memoiy of a saintly bishop. But this must be no barren tribute In the nndst of our grief, we nubt not forget the divinely-inspired oracle, •• It is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins" Mac n c. 12. We know tnat the holiest on earth were not always exempt from some slight stains which must be expiated in the cleansing flames of Purgatory. You loved your I'dhhop in life, prove that love now by fervent prayers in behalf of him who, perhaps, may now be appealing to you in the words of Holy Writ, " Have pity on me, have pity on me at least, ye my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me " (Job). Hasten my deliverance from this land of fiery expectation Then L will lift up my hands for you in prayer with a thousand times more fervour than in the days of my earthly pilgrimage. In the name and m the authority

of holy Church we are now about to perform one last most solemn ceremony. Full of help for the dear departed it is full of consolation and salutary lessons for his sorrowful survivors. Por your beloved Bishop we shall implore the happiness of eternal rest, a place of refreshment, bright light, deliverance from sin. First of all, we shall beseech God to grant him rest, Requiem eternam dona ci ' Dmn hie, " Eternal rest — r st in peace and bliss," Requiexcat in price. This solemn prayer in the opening one of the Mass of Rt i/uii in. It is the 1 tht words of the absolution we are now about to perform. Why this persistence of Holy Church? Ah ! the soul of your dear Bishop may still be in a state of suffering expectation. The High Priest whose hands were once uplifted for you in prayer may now be in a way of sorrow and suffering, lifting up his voice to you in plaintive appeal, hence not yet in true peace or bliss. Holy Church would have you hearken to his appeal. Pray for him. You have the Divine promise that your prayers shall be heard. We believe that this peace, this rest, will be his, because it is our privilege to believe in a glorious resurrection. The unbeliever would fain hive us think that all is over with our departed ones when the funeral rites are fulfilled. No. No. We believe in the Word of Him who has declared, " I am the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live ; and everyone that liveth and believeth in Me shall not die for ever" (J. 11, 24.) The true light of heaven is the Spotless Lamb. Far from Him, all beyond the tomb, is dark and dreary. The poor soul momentarily exiled from her true home and country, yearns for that Light. It sighs and mourns in darkness, hence the Church bids us pray that " Eternal light may shine thereon," " Lv.v jyerpetna lueeat ci." Oh, consoling word* full of glorious, blissful immortality ! Death is but a sleep. Sleep has its bright hour of awakening. As a pledge of that consoling assurance the cross is carried aloft before the funeral bier. We know r , with the certainty of faith, that he who, a month ago, was laid low in the graveyard beyond will rise and walk with Him who said, '■ Oh death, I will be thy death !" We know that the first Bishop of Dunedin is not dead, he only sleepeth. From out that sleep we can hear him cry out : " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my earthly course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day. and not only to me, but to them also, that love His coming "' (ii Tim. 4-7-8"). Again, '• I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the Last T)ay I shall rise out of the earth. And I shall be clothed again with my «kin, and in my flesh I shall see my God. whom I myself shall see. ard my eyes shall behold Him, and not another • this my hope is laid up in my bosom " (Job xix, 2.">'2l). Thanks to Him who died upon the Cross, thanks to Him who, to take their bitterness and a sting therefrom, passed through the ordeal of death and the grave. Thanks to Him " who is risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep "(1 Cor. xv, 20). Your beloved Bishop w ill surely rise. The lighted torches around that bier are symbols of his lively faith, and of the glory to which, in the resurrection, he is called both for body and soul. For this corruptible must put on \n< orruption : and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the sa\ing that is written : Death is swallowed up in Victory. 0 death, \shere is thy Victory ! O dc.ith, where is thy sting.' (Cor. xv. ">>-">). With the utmost fervour let us t hen cry out from the depths of our soul, " Grant, O|Lord, we beseech Thee, this mercy unto Th\ servant Patrick departed, that having desired to do Thy will, h' may not suffer in return for his deeds ; a, id as by the tme taith he was joined to the company of the faithful here below, so may Thy tender merry unite him among the angelic choirs above — Amen. Eternal rest give to him, () I Mi-d. \\nd let perpetual light .shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest m peace — Amen.