The Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 38, 19 September 1901, Page 24

The Catholic World

BAVARIA.— The Passion Play.

There was recently on view in Regent street, London, a handsome processional cross, of Renaissance design, which will be presented by Lord Halifax and other English visitors of last year's Passion Play to the villagers of Ober-Ammergau. It will be accompanied by a shrine for the preservation of official documents, the completion of which has been delayed by the illness of the designer, Herr Lang. Both gifts have already been acknowledged in a charming anticipatory letter of thanks by Joseph Meyer, the famous ' Christus,' on behalf of the commune, of which he is now burgomaster. ENGLAND.— A Relic.

The Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster is to be presented with the left hand of fet. James the Apostle to be placed in the new Ca'hedral at Westminbter. The hand, which is stated to be in an excellent state of preservation, was received in England by Henry I. and was a gift from his daughter, the Empress Matilda, in 1135. It was enshrined in Reading Abbey, which was dissolved in the reign of Henry VIII. Centuries later the hand was discovered in Reading Museum, and passed into the hands of a Catholic family. The fingers of the hand are curled as though beckoning, and there are sigus of its severance from the arm with a saw, The hand will be placed in a specially prepared reliquary in the Cathedral. A Recently Ordained Priest.

Father R. C. Chase, formerly Anglican vicar at Plymouth, and recently ordained in Rome, arrived in England about the end of July, and preached on the following Sunday evening in Bishop's Stanford, where he will make his future home, to a large congregation, mostly composed of his 'ormer co-religionists. The rev. gentleman delivered a powerful sermon on Christ weeping over Jerusalem, and at its conclusion paid an eloquent tribute to Cardinal Vaughan's recent Bermon on the Prince of the Apostles, a copy of which was presented to every one in the church, strongly urging them to take it home and study it. St. Edmund the Martyr.

The transference of the remains of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, from Toulouse to this country (says the Catholic Timet) ia an event of historical importance, and it must have far-reaching effects in inducing truth-seekers outside the Catholic Church to hark back to the old ways. St. Edmund's death bore all the marks which indicate a true martyrdom, and this is why it made such a lasting 1 impression on the people. Twice he was offered his life on condition that he would renounce Christianity, but« he stoutly refused, and readily faced a death which he must -b*v& known beforehand would be terribly cruel, for in their fceebootiag the Danes of that period were guilty of barbarous atrocities. Doubts have been raised as to whether the relics at Arundel are actually the remains of the Martyr King. In such matters soeptioism and credulity are alike easy. The proper frame of mind is a disposition to rely on the result of a close and careful investigation and we may conclude with confidence that such an investigation has taken place when we know that the subject has been under the cognisance of the Holy See. it is singular that the remains of another great English saint named Edmund — St. Kdmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury — have also, so far, been preserved in France. Perhaps the day may not be far distant when they will be removed from their shrine at Pontigny to England.

I

Opening of New Schools. The Jubilee of the Brompton Oratory, celebrated in 1899, has borne substantial fruit in the uhape of new parish schools in Cale ■tenet, Chelsea, to which the Jubilee fund has been devoted. The opening oeremony was performed by Lord Edmund Talbot, who paid a high and well deserved tribute to Father Crease, who had taken np the work of the school* with.such zeal and energy. The See o! Nottingham.

Rumor is busy in London (says the Monitor) as to the destined ooonpant of the vacant See of Nottingham. Mgr. Prior, Rector of the Beda College at Rome, seems to be the favorite, but a secular newspaper has given currency to a report that Father Mac Call, of Arundel, is about to be appointed. Father Mac Call is, of course, well known to London Catholics, baring been for many years at the Brompton Oratory, and later at St. George's Cathedral. A Leeds Priest Honored.

The Rev. J. R. Cowgill, secretary to the Bishop of Leeds, has been raised by the Holy Father to the dignity of Domestic Prelate. A Well-deserved Honor. -

London Catholics are cordially pleased with the honor conferred by the Pope on Mr. Lister Drummond, in creating him a Knight of Bt. Gregory. Mr. Drummond is not only deservedly popular on aooount of his unvarying affability and kindness to all with whom he comes into contact, but he has proved himself an aotive and energetic worker in the Catholic cause. Novel Presentation.

A large number of the clergy of the diocese of * Nottingham, orer which Bishop Bagshawe has presided for so many years, met at the Cathedral, Nottingham, on July 29, and following a luncheon in honor of the retiring prelate, the Very Rev. Canon Browne made a presentation to the Bishop in the novel form of a tricycle. Canon Browne said the gift was t-eleoted in accordance with the Bishop's wishes, thongh had a more costly article been desired subscriptions would have been readily forthcoming. The Bishop, who was greatly affected, expressed his gratitude for the affectionate feelings whioh prompted the gift. Charitable Bequests.

Probate of the will dated 2nd August, 1900, of Captain the Hon. Edward Francis John Preston, of Err wood Hall, Chester, J.P., formerly aide-de-camp to the Duke of Abercorn, who died on the Ist March last, aged 56 years, son of the thirteenth Viscount Gormanston, has been granted to his widow, the Hon. Genevieve Preston, daughter of the late Mr. Samuel Grimshawe, of Errwood Hall. Captain Preston bequeathed to the executors, for Ma<wes for his soul, £50 ; to the Catholic mission at Whaley Bridge, £25 ; to the Parish Fund of Stramullan, Meath, £25 ; to tit. Joseph's Night Refuge, in St. Vincent street, Manchester, £100 ; to Bishop Brown's Industrial School, £100 ; to the Mill Hill Missionary College, £100 ; and to the Refuge for Waifs and Strays of the diocese of Shrewsbury, £100. The estate has been valued at £11309 15s, including personalty of the net value of £8820 6s lid. GERMANY.— Catholics and the Press.

The German Cat holies (says the Catholic Time*), it seems to us, display wisdom worthy of imitation in the policy they pursue with regard to the Press. They make it an essential point of their programme to support their own papers and to extend their influence. In most Catholio dii-tricts they have flourishing Catholio organs, and two of their daily papers, the Kolnuche Volksxeitung and the Oermania, are amongt-t the most powerful factors in moulding public life. The acting editor of the Oermania has received a short term of imprisonment for doing what he regarded as his duty in the public interest, and his co-religionists have determined as a result to pay him special honor. There are amongst them no carping critics of his boldnees in giving effect to his convictions ; they join hands in thanking and encouraging him. Furthermore, the German Catholics, who believe in helping their friends and fighting the enemy, have in public meeting at Cologne denounced the antiCatholic spirit in which the Kolnuche Zeitung, a bitter opponent of the Church, is conducted, and the subject of repelling the attacks of the anti-Catholic Press will occupy the attention of the fortyeighth General Congress of German Catholics, which will be held at Osnabriick. These German Catholics have a knowledge of the requirements of successful public action.

GIBRALTAR.— Bishop Bellord's Successor. It is stated tha this Holmes* the Pope is about to appoint to the vacant See of Gibraltar the Verj Rev. Ambrose Agius, Procurator General of the Monte Cassino Benediotines, and at present Superior of Bt. Ambrogio, Rome. Father Agius has youth on his side (he is only 42), and besides is an excellent linguist, having a perfect knowledge of English. He was, as a matter of faot, educated in England, at St. Augustine's College, Ramsgate, from whenoe he was transferred to the Benedictine Monastery at Lubiaco. ROME.— Theft of a Valuable Painting. A most audacious theft (writes a Rome correspondent) has occurred in the famous Church of Santa Sabina on theJAventine Hill ; the Madonna of Sassoferrato has been stolen. The "ohuroh is known to all Catholio visitors ooming to Rome. It is the most anoient of all the pentres of the popular Dominican Order. In its adjoining garden is the orange tree, planted by St. Dominio, whioh sent out a new shoot, now large and vigorous, in the year when Lacordaire was professed in the holy Order. In the oonvent is the room of St. Dominio, where also he entertained in holy colloquy St. Francis of Assisi and St. Angelas the Carmelite ; and there U also the room where was Pope St. Pius V. while he beheld the sea fight at Lepanto. In the ohuroh, beside the memories of St. Thomas Aquinas and so many other celebrated Dominican saints who lived at Santa Sabina, is an altar over whioh until the othar day was the most famous Rosary picture in the world. This was one of the sweetest and softest compositions of the creamy -pencilled Sassoferrato. In the centre was the Mother of God, in the form of a beautiful maiden, bearing the Child Jesus and enthroned. The Divine couple were surrounded by a oourt of angels, oherubs all. each individual one of whioh has a particular expression, and was net forth in the most remarkably chosen delicate hues— in fact. just like the other picture of Sassoferrato in the collection of han* • ing paintings at the Vatican. To the front, a little on either side. kneel St. Dominio and St. Catherine of Sienna ; while, between the two, emblematic roses lie scattered about. The whereabouts of this painting are now a mystery. It and its frame have been removed from the altar, and the frame has been found in a street near by. It ia thought that the thief, or chief one of the thieves, got himself hidden and locked up in the ohuroh at sundown, when the vergers finally closed the saored edifloe, and that he was thus pretty easily able to get away with his prue, the recapture of which will be ardently desired by Catholics and art- lovers generally. SCuTLAND.— Ordination at Dundee} At the High Mass in St. Andrew's Pro-Ca hedral, Dundee, on Sunday, July 28, the Rev. Robert Russall wa< raised to the priesthood. The Mass was celebrated by the Right Rev. Angus MacFarlane, Bishop of Dunkeld, who administered the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The Rev. R Russell was born at Ballinlnig in June 1878. He entered Blairs College In 1891. From thence he went to France. He received minor orders from Cardinal Riohard in Paris, and at the same time his sub-deaconship. UNITED STATES.— A Catholic Lady's Gift. Mrs. Thomas F. Ryan, a wealthy Catholic lady of New York, has presented through Bishop Van de Vy ver, to the diocese a gift of a quarter of a million dollars for the erection of a Cathedral in Richmond. The plans have been made, and the work of construction will begin in a few months. Richmond is one of the poorest and most thinly-populated Catholic dioceses in the United States. Appointment of an Auxiliary-Bishop.

Announcement is made of the elevation of Rev. Peter J. Muldoon, former Chancellor of the archdiocese of Chicago, to the dignity of Auxiliary-Bishop to Archbishop Feehan. Bishop Muldoon will succeed the Right Rev. A. J. MoQaviok, whose ill-health compelled him some time ago to resign his high office. Robbing a Church.

A gan); of safe blowers blew open the aafe in the basement of St. John's Catholic ohuroh in Worcester recently and stole all the contents, consisting of three gold ohalices, a valuable ciborium and several altar ornaments. The Church in Hawaii.

Hawaii, which is now urder the flag of the United States, oontains 33,000 Catholics, and these < have 35 churches, 59 chapels, SS priestß, 3 academies, 1 oollege, andjlO parochial schools.