FIRST COMMUNION AT KERRYTOWN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 22, 27 September 1895, Page 20

FIRST COMMUNION AT KERRYTOWN.

(From an occasional Correspondent.) Temuka, September 21. List week was rather a memorable one for a large number of children at K^rrytowD, when they made their first communion. They had been prepared for this great act by tbe Rev. Father Le Meiant des Ohesnais, by a retreat extending over three days. On T'nursday was the grand day. Mass was celebrated at half -past eight, when an efficient choir rendered appropriate hymns. Misa D. Hoare presided in her usual efficient style at the orgin. Father L<3 Menant preached a sermon on the " Blessed Eucharist," which was characteristic for its simplici y. The first communion spectacle was very impressive. The girls were dressed in wbitr, with flowing veils, and wreaths of flowerß, and lighted candles ; and the boys wore sashes. After Mass the children were tak> n to t marquee (kindly lent for the occasion by Mr. M. Scannell, of the Wallingford Hotel, Temuka;, which had been erected near the school, where a sumptuous breakfast had been prepared for them by the ladies of the congregation. Misses Hoare, Stevenson, Mr Sullivan, Coughlan, and Brosnahan were most indefatigable in their attention to the wants of the children. At half-past two o'clock a grand procession, with banners, etc., gracefully waving, was held round the convent grounds. The procession over in the school a renewal of baptismal vows was made. Father Le Menant again preached an i repressive sermon on " Perseverance," and tbe Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament brought a happy day to a close.