BISHOP LENIHAN AT CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 14, 6 August 1897, Page 18

BISHOP LENIHAN AT CHRISTCHURCH.

PROCEEDINGS AT THE PRO-CATHEDRAL. Sunday last, says a Cluistchuroh paper, was quite a red-letter day at thePro-Cathedral.Barbadoes street, and very large congregations w eie present to do honour to Bishop Lenihan of Auckland, who is at present on a visit to Christchurch, At the morning service Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by Bishop Lenihan, and the Rev. Father Cummings. V.G , preached. Miss Hayward sang the " Veni Creator Spiritus," and Mr. C. Read the " Sanctus."

In the evening Pontifical Vespers were cele' rated, and so great ■was the attendance that many were unable to gain admission to the church. The Bishop of Auckland preached, the Very Rev. Father Cummings was assistant priest at the throne, and the deacon and sub-deacons were the Itev. Fathers Goggan and Rafferty. During the service the Te Deum was sung as a thanksgiving and Mr C. Head sang " The Holy City." The Right Rev. Dr. Lenihan preached a most eloquent sermon from St. Luke vii., dealing at length with the use of the confessional and the sacrament of penance. After the sermon, the procession of the Most Blessed (Sacrament took place ; it was an imposing spectacle, the Hibernian Society taking part with their handsome banner. At the conclusion of the service, the Rev. Father Cummings asked Mr. E. O'Connor to present an address to the Bishop of Auckland in the name ot the Catholics of Christchurch, who were most anxious to welcome his Lordship in a tangible manner, and he was sure that the address contained the heartfelt expressions of opinions of the people of the church. Mr. E. O'Connor then read the following address :: — '• To the Right Rev. G. M. Lenihan. D.D., Bishop of Auckland. My Lord, — We, the Catholics of Ohristchuroh, desire to express our feelings of respect and veneration to your Lordship on your first visit to Christchurch since your elevation to the Epi&copate. It was with intense satisfaction we learnt that you were chosen from the clergy of Auckland to guide the helm of that important diocese vacated by the death of the late lamented Dr. Luck. 0.i5.8. We arc aware of the affection and strong mutual attachment existing between your Lordship and our belovtd pastor the Vicar-General and Administrator of this diocese, the Very Rev. Stephen Cummings, S.M. Still we are very grateful to you for the goodness of heart that prompted you to journey here from your own episcopal city to inaugurate an important event by which it is hoped to remove a great burden from the devoted Sisters of the Missions. This suffices to prove the absorbing interest you manifest in the welfare of religious communities. We are fully aware of the firm, fearless and noble stand you take, shoulder to shoulder with the hierarchy of New Zealand, in the cause of Catholic education. On behalf of our beloved and reverend Bishop, now absent in Europe, we express our sincere gratitude to you for the deep interest you take in the work of Catholicity in New Zealand. We pray God that you may be spared ad vntlftii multo^qiif (i)iiios to guide the destinies of the see over which you have been placed. We beg to subscribe ouisehes in the name of the Catholics of Christchurch, your Lordship's devoted servants. — T. M. Lonargan. .T. J. Wilson, G. J. Sellars, E. O Connor, Patrick Burke. S. I'ttn <ul I uieula, August 1, 1V.17.

Bishop Lenihan then replied as follow *~ — " My dear friends, — Your kiml words and expressions of goodwill deeply touch my heart. The inhabitants ot Christchurch have always boen noted tor their warm-hearted generous hospitality. A little less than fifteen months ago I witnessed the enthusiastic reception accorded to the Cardinal-Archbishop of Sydney and the llluVrious party that accompanied him. and to-night you meet to do honour to one who has been raised to the Episcopate through no merit ot his own. In former years I had the good fortune to sp^nd an ocC.i-ional holiday in your midst and made many friends. Contented \\ ith your valued friendship, I cherished most fond memories of the happy day.s I passed amount you. And now, to crown all, you are assembled this evening to renew, I trust, your feeling of friendship and to offer this tribute ot such evjelleut workmanship and design, and thus to show the feelings of re-pect and re\trenco for the high dignity to which I have been called. You who had the good lortune of meeting the late Bishop of Auckland, the flight Rev. Dr. Luck, will realise the dillicult position I have to fill. A saintly prelate, endowed with groat intellectual attainments, ruled out us. and led us in the path ot virtue. Of his interior spiritual life God must be his judge, but of his works in our diocese there aie hueh manifest proois that his reNered memory w ill never be forgotten, lie lived for God, and gave his lite w lllingly tor the benefit of souls ; and when I compare hi* ability with the limited attainments I possess, I grieve for the loss the diocese ol Auckland has sustained. Von kindly refer to the excellent work being done by the Sisters of the Mission, and my willingness to come and assist them. Wherever the Sisters are to be found, there we find the work of God prospering. These consecrated virgins give up the comtort of their homes, they leave all that the world holds mo.st dear, and lose their health and their li\es m the service ot the poor and indigent, and help you in adorning" the minds of the little owes with those virtues that make your children the tabernacles of the Holy (ihost. Apart from the world, " they follow the Lamb whithersoever lie goeth." The admiration we ha\e for their exceeding purity and holiness makes us lejoioe to help and assist them m their troubles, and gladly 1 came to encourage them in any way. To

your sorrow and mine your pood Bishop is absent. I can never forget the kindne»s he manifested towards the diocese of Auckland when our late Bishop died, and during the interregnum until the appointment of a successor. He was present with us when our chief was being consigned to the tomb, and did his utmost to assuage the sorrow which still rends our hearts. He journeyed to Auckland to be the bearer of the Apostolic Briefs appointing a new bishop to that See. He presided at the consecration services that took place a little later on and by his kindliness of heart and gentle manner has secured so great a meed of gratitude at our hands that we can never hope to repay. Beloved as he is in Christchurch, we in Auckland are ready to prove that our affection for him is no less than yours, and we are anxious to show him that honour and respect which is due to a noble prelate, a sympathetic ndvisur and a kind friend. To help and assist in any work in his diocese will always be a pleasure and an honour to me. You do well to speak of the inutjal attachment and affection existing between your administrator, Father Cummings, and myself. If old friendships are considered the best, then our friendship for one another is deserving of recognition. For three and thirty years we have known one another and I am proud of the fact that he still shows affection and love for me. He f-poke this morning of my kindness in coming down during this inclement season to do some little service for him. His wish is a command for me and the royal reception 1 have received at his hands has more than compensated me for my trouble. I felt considerable diffidence in taking the high position to which I have been called, but decided to take it on the call of my superiors, and I look to my friends, amongst whom I count you, to assist me in my endeavours to do good, so that I may lead others on to glory in the work of G-od, to spend and be spent in His holy service, and to be able to give a good account of my stewardship when Igo before the judgment seat of the Almighty. I need not add how greatly I shall treasure this excellent but unexpected address which you have so kindly offered me." In conclusion, his Lordship said that he had been much impressed by the beautiful ceremony of the evening, and could not help remarking the reverent demeanour of the congregation, more especially of those who were not of the Catholic faith ; and he wished to thank all those who had assisted for the manner in which they had fulfilled their various duties.

Miss Funston presided at the organ at bcth services, and G. D. Cronin conducted the choir, which was considerably augmented for the occasion.

The address, which was an exceedingly handsome one, was illuminated by Mr. A. 11. Hart, and was bound in Russian leather by Mr. Mclntosh, the Bishop's arms being beautifully embossed on the cover.