New Catholic Church at St. Andrews.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 50, 11 December 1902, Page 20

New Catholic Church at St. Andrews.

(From our Timwn correspondent. His Lordship Bishop Grimes arrived from Cbrifltohuroh ou Saturday last, accompanied by the R«v. Father O'Connell His Lordship celebrated the nine o'clock Miss on Sunday and in the evenine preached an eloquent sermon on • T^e Immaculate Conception ' to a crowded congregation. In the afternoon the Bishop, aooomp^nied by the Bey. Fathers Tubman and « Oonnell and Mr Tun.buH, ar-hiJett, drove to St. Andrews f,r the purpose of laying the foundation stoi.e of the new church. Rev. Father Regniult (Waiuiate) and R-v Father Taylor (Timaru) were also present at the oerem<ny. The concourse of people present to witness the ceremo y made the day a memorable one in St. Andrews. - , T £ e '©"awto* account of the ceremony is taken principally from the Timaru ' Herald ' : — Hia Lordship and the priests robed in one of the cottages and, preceded by the choir, went in procession to tbe site. The foundation stone, a cube of bluestone, into which is let a marble panel bearing the date 1902 was then 1 nd. Beneath the stone was placed a bo .tie containing copies of the New Zealand Tablet of local newspapers coins of the realm, and a dedic .tory document in Latin, of which the following is the translation : •To the greater glory of God, this stone was blessed and laid December 7 1902, by the Right Rev. J. J. Grimes, 8 M. f D.D , Bishop of Christchurch ; the reigning sovereign beiDg his Majesty t-dward VII. ; his Excellency Lord Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand ; the Right Hon. R. J. fieddon, Premier ; the Very Rev J Tubman S.M., Rector ; Revs. P. Regnault, O'Connell, Taylor, and Kerley, SjM. s, and a large concourse of the faithful being present • Mr. J.S Turnbull being the architect ; and Messrs E. Hall and P* Foster the builders.' Mr John O'Connor read and presented the following address whioh waa in pamphlet form, with a very pretty illuminated oover :— •To the Right Reverend John Joseph Grimes, 8.M., D D , Lord Bishop of Chri9teharch. May it please your Lordship,— We, the Catholics of St. Andrews, wieh to express our delight in having your Lordship among us to-day. Our pleasure is heightened by the thought that the object of your visit is the laying of the fcundation stone of our church. There is every promise that this church will be worthy of the Holy Sacrifice, and a credit to your diocese We know the zjal of your Lordship in church building ; we admire your oourage, perseverance, and personal sacrifices in the erection a noble cathedral ; and we promise later on to make an effort to lighten your heavy burden. The members of your flock at St Andrews have caught the spirit of their energetic Bishop To the early settlers great praise is due for keeping up the hope of obtaining a churoh. Newcomers have swelled our ranks, our ambition and our funds, and even those outside our communion have encouraged us by their kindness and helped us generously with their purees. Our labors and sacrifices are about to be rewarded We are B>on to see a solid, commodious, and devotional churoh rise before us on this pretty the overlooking the mightiest of oaeans leading our thoughts to eternity and to God. We f*e\ sure this beautiful church will please your Lordship ; we believe it gives a new importance to St Andrews ; every settler is reasonably proud of it, and takes it as a sign of progress and as an encouragement to others to swell our number*. We are grateful to your Lordship for the interest you take in uh. We wi-h to thank y>u mo-t warmly, and abo those people of Timaru who no che. rfully and graciously assisted ua in our late bazaar. We thank the ladies of our own district, who have shown not only zeal but heroism, which comes of the faith that thfy are working for God. It is our hope that our new church will open free from debt, ho that there may be no new anxiety for our beloved Bishop or our devoted pastor. In conclusion, like little children, we place our offering in your Lordshio's hands, to be blessed and sanctified and presented to our Heavenly Father. We wish to make Our Father's house a house of prayer, and we hope that the piayer appointed to be said in the dedication of the church may be fully realised in our own, that " Whoever comes seeking benefits in this church may rejoioa to obtain all that he desires."— Signed on behalf of your Lordship's most loving and obedient children, John O'Conno-, P Ryan J O'Loughhn, Patrick K>noedy.' ' His Lordthip thanked them for the beautiful address and for tbe beautiful words it contained, being sure that they represented the feelings of all the Catholics of the district. He need not bay that the pleasure they felt iv seeing him among them was reciprocated, especially as he came for the purpose of laying the foundation stone of wh»t, as he haw from the plans which their architect had submitted, would be a most beautiful f-tiu. ture, and one which would not only b^ a great comfort and blessing fur their people, but also an ornament 10 the district. He could n.t accept sll the words of praise attribute.! to him, but he hoped tuat he and they were all trying to do tbeir best;. He reminded them of the tff jrts of an early settler and of one of the most devoted priests now dead, who had secured for them that excellent site, and who would have rejoiced to pee that day ; and he trusted that they were now looking down from the heights of heaven and observing- and blessing that great work. As their address Baid, their labors and sacrifices were about to bt> rewarded. They had reason, as they admitted, to be grateful to all who had helped them, and he was sure that the people of Timaru who were prtsent were pleased to hear that public recognition of their help from that platform. He hoped that the church would be g. lemnly dedicated wht n completed, and that it would be opened free from debt, so that there would be no anxiety for anything. They had placed their offering in his hands to be ble&sed and sanctified, and he would conclude with the fitting words of the holy ritual Here hie Lordship repeated the prayer at the end of the address. He then gave short

general discourse from the text • Glory to God in the highest and pea se on earth to men of good will.' These words, first ottered 2000 jearß ago, and repeated every day in the adorable saorifloe of the altar, were the most appropriate basis for an address upon snoh an occasion as this. For on the one hand the building was to be erected for the glory of God and of His Incarnate Son, whose work the Churoh was striving to oarry out over the whole face of the earth; and on the other hand it was a praotical expression of the worde : ' Peace on earth to men of good will,' for here men would gather to make earnest supplications to the throne of the Almighty, not only in behalf of themselves, bat in behalf of nil lovirg God above all else, and their neighbor aft themselves The ritual they had just used, the litany recited, were, he remarked, pr ictically the same as were use I by St. Patrick when establishing churubes in Ireland, by St. Gregory in England, by St. Boniface in (x runny, those pioneer bishope in what were then pagan and ravage lands, bo that they were in touch, as it were, with their forefathers of many centuries ago, in the noble work they were now assisting in. lie congratulated their devoted pastor, and all who had looked forward to this day for bo many yean Since the foundation of the diooeee, 15 years ago, said his Lordship. 25 churches had been erected or oommenoed or reconstructed • 10 convents, 2 residences for teachers, 12 or 13 presbyteries built or enlarged, and that convent of noble purpose, Mount Magdala. Hit Lordship dwelt particularly upon the splendid buildings that had been erected at Timaru, the Convent of the Saored Heart being ta« pride of the whole Colony, both for the noble building and for th« devotedness of the teachers there. He referred also to the great work being done by their day schools, not only without Government a&Bistance, but even under difficulties created by the Government, which he explained to mean that in North Canterbury they have to pjy for inspections and examinations. And all these thingi they were doing though they were by no means a wealthy communion. They had reason to rejoice at their success, and no wonder many outside their Church marvelled that they had achieved bo much. One thing only would explain it : their work was baaed upon the word of God, everything was most scriptural, everything waa done to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Hia Lordship closed with an appeal for liberal donations towards the cost of the building whose foundation stone had just been laid. Very Rev. Father Tubman, on behalf of the assemblage, thanked his Lordship for hie presence, aDd stated that the Bishop bad given five guineas as his donation, and the priests of Timaru had ghen ten guineas. He thanked his reverend brethren fte tbeir assistance, the Garrison Band, the choir, and the ladies of Timaru for their help ; the architect and builders for their evident determination to make the building all that they desired it to be • and Mr J. Casstdy for presenting the weli-prepa?ed foundation stone. The church is being erected on a site a little south-weet of the business part of the township, and nearly opposite the west end of the Presbyterian Church, a road or Ptreet separating the sites. The walls are lfift high, of Makikihi brioks, hollow, and 16} inches thick, on concrete foundations, and stiffened ry buttresses. The main building measures 50 by 30 inside ; at the western end is the sanctuary, 18ft wide and 15ft deep, and off this on the north side a sacristy, with an outer door. The ridge of the iron rouf will be 34ft above ground. The whole of the exterior wallf? will be cemented, making a white building of it. Tue collection amounted to close on £150. This sum is augmented by the proceeds of a very successful bazaar recently held which realised considerably over £200. The greatest enthusiasm waa shown by the St. Andrews congregation in making the bazaar a success. The Timaru Choir drove <ut on several evenings to give entertainments at the bazaar, and Very Bey. Father Tubman as treasurer, and the various stallholders had altogether a busy time of it The new church will be a great boon to the residents and will supply a much felt want in the district. 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