STOKE ORPHANAGE

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 24, 11 June 1903, Page 19

STOKE ORPHANAGE

AN APPEAL BY ARCHBISHOP REDWOOD.

(From o\ir Wellington cor ies] oiideut )

On Sunday evening. Way 81, his CJiace Aicl.l 1 lon Redwood preached m the Lasiliea ol the -.acred J'i;>rt

' We cek'biate to-day, <-aid his (iiace, ' the great least ol I'entecost, we coimneinoi ate one ol the greatest events that ever happened in the world, the coming down ol the l!oly Spn it upon the Apostles and disciples of Chr rst W e conimemoi ate the da> and the hour when they wire changed lrom ignorant and timid mi n into enlightened and lear le.-.s heroes, and went 101 th to preach the (Jos;, el to the ends of the earth The gieat c har uc tei istic ol this feast is divine charity and pel feet love 1 hose tongues 01 lire that appear c-d to ihe Apostle.s and disciples of Jesus Christ were svnibols ol the die of chanlv winch glowed in then' heai ts You know, my dear bii'thren, the one gieat law, the gicat commandment, the one upon which depends our salvation is the love of Cod above all things lor- Uis own sake, on account ol His own jnln.it" per lect ion 1 -. 1 hat commandment Inis a twofold obiett . it legards Cod and out neighbor- Wo arc told to love Cod with 01. r whole heaits, with our whole strength, and with all inn liiimls, and then v\e aie told to love o'u m-ighbor «is ouiseUcs Now we ('.O not lo'.e ourselves it we do not love (!od , bet.aii.se by not having that love' ol (Jed we art 1 the duett enemies of our' elves A man th-it does not love Cod cann. t love himself . h" is rather a h.iter of hunsell th.in a lo\er , and we cannot really love our neighbor, therelo.e, unless we love him lor Cods sake M here II 11I 1 - a d'lTonnre lictwcin note philanthropy and Divine chanty l'hilant hi onv teaches us to love man tor man's sale, because ho is our lol-low-m.ui, our C(|ual in nature . but Divine charity teaches us to love ot, r neitrhlw>j- because he is a cieaiure ot Cod, because Cod commands u<~ to love him, t ci auso lie is made to the image of Cod, because he is destined to supeitiatur al huppinc-s When wo love 0111 neighbor lor Cod's sake we have supernatural chanty,

Ti i:o Chanty

as distinguished from a mere natural phi'anthi opv Again, w aen we love v r neighbor as a representative ol Christ, as taking the place of (bust, our eh. v it v is truly Chiistian chant v Now our Divine Sa\io'i'\ in His marvellous love and inestimable condescension, identifies Ilmi^cll with the hf.mian race. We see, lor instance, how ITe identities Himself with His Church when she is pcißecutcd. You know that iact re-

h^?n m ~ CtS ° f the A P° s tles. Saul, before his convers on, waging war against the Christians, was jour2 5.? ai '? S Damascus, when suddenly a bright light shone belore him and he heard the voice of Christ, siying, Saul Saul why persecutor thou Me ? ' Can anything be plainer ? Is it possible to conceive a moreperiSiti?iJU°o?°H C ?M lBt \ den i iilod Htase" with the re£reihses^vv.th the,!? iJ UU n CC V When they suflor ? He sympathises with them when they are persecuted. In a word he is identical with them in their suffering and in the* vZ y \hnnl VV laS * l [U ' n been said b y Catholic writers that though Christ has ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, yet He has found means in His Divine wisdom and infinite power, to remain with us in this world, and that in a threefold manner He you al days even to the end of the world.' ' 1 willg ye you the Spirit of Truth to abide with you for ever' therefore Christ remains by that guidance or spirit in "»s Holy Church through the course of ages. Again we Catholics know that He abides with us in the BlesS ?n.?ond a T nt ' he 'T He is Perpetually our sacrifice and our food, a spiritual and heavenly food. But He also tod %%nt^ th th US iU a S e PerSO . n of "> e P° or *»« theafflfc" ted , and this is the point I wish to put before you fnr S^hf n h ng> beca " se * « appropriate for the purpise nr < C £>J 7l mcCt ' LuVlStL u VISt iS alWa -y S With US the pi? i- AcA c poor you have always with you.' He Himself has the poor and afflicted as His representatives That seems an extraordinary proposition, Vet it is one He has revealed to us in the most solemn manner possible. I do not know that there is any passage in the Ho y Scripture in which He has taught any truth with such force and majesty as that one ; for He puts Himselt before us as the Sovereign Judge of mankind coming in great power and majesty, and the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the good from the bad as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. lie pictures to us that great' final scene in which we shall all assist. First He will say to the good. Come ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world • lor- 1 was hungry and you gave Me to eat ; I was thirst\ and vo|u gave Me to chink; I was a stranger and you took me in , I was naked and you clothed Me • I was a prisoner and you visited Me.' They will say ' to Inn: When, Lord, did we do this? When did we feed clothe, and visit Thee, when did we take Thee in ? ' And ■ What ye did unto the least of one of My brethren ye did unto Me. 'I here Christ identifies Himself with the poor, with the neglected, with the afllictud in every way, and therefore, my dear brethren. He is identified in a certain way with those poor neglected fatherless ones

The Orphanage of Stoke

This brings me to my subject ; but before I appeal to von for generous donations lowaids that institution I will put belore you in a few words its past story. Now \ou know, it is characteristic of the works of* God to begin in a lowly and obscure manner, and then to grow to perlection, spieadin^ over the whole face of the eaith, producing marvels ot love and salvation. Many \eais ago one of the cuiates of -Nelson was travelling m the Molnel a district, and there he found some Catholic oiphans who were staving with non-Catholics, and in danger of not being able to know and practise their i'aith That suggested to him the idea of establishing a place in Nelson where the children would be educated and l)i ought up to know their religion. It suggested the lust idea ol an orphanage in Nelson. The children wire provided lor m a very homely way at first ; but a building by degrees was erected in the' city of Nelson, the orphans giew in numbers, and the building had to lie enlaiged, lor its use and good work spread all over tho Colony r J hen fatherless and neglected boys were by law sent to Mclson. and we were bound to' build a larger institution We bought a veiy largo estate, bori owing luoney for the purpose; we made very great sacrifices, ior a large institution able to aVooniinodate about 2<><) t oys , and this work was going on in a thriving way when it met with the fate of every

Great Work of Cod,

it nn\t with persicution : it met with the cross, it was tiled in the turnace and tried severely ; but it thrived still Almighty Cod in II is \\ lsdom "tried it once more 1:1 a n aimer whnh yoiu all remember. Towards the end ol List Apiil, it accidently caught fire and was destroyed The children weie saved fiom the fire, all of them in the first instance because the appliances were up to date, but one ol the youngest, overcome by curiosity, returned from a distance of over a hundred yards. It happened in the early morning, in the dark, and he was not mi«s(d : he lpturned out of curiosity to some part of the building whore some of the staff were trying to save a portion of tho property from the flames, and ho perished The hoys had nothing on but their nightclothes r l he in t* .started wheie all tho clothing was kept . and the staff of the house, the matron and teachers lost abs.oh.tely everything except the clothes they «oic wearing at the time Immediately public charity in NeKoti took up the matter, ladies came to the presbytery and worl-ed, non-Catholics as well as Catholics, ior those children, making clothes for them We bought clothes in the city, we appealed to charity all round, and in a short time the children were fairly well provided. Then wo had to erect dormitories ; and all that was possible was done to make them comfortable. But they

» uf if pr °P, er budding yet ;we have now to erect one We have about £4000 in hand from the insurance ?J!*u ™ d buildl "g and that will be a nucleus to begin ni i + " eW bu . lldin * cannot be up-to-date, cannot i f? pLww, letjuirements without an expenditure of about £8000 and th« margin between four and eight or nine thousand pounds we have to get by the beneficence of well-wishers, both Catholic and non-Catholic, throughout the Colony. 1 might mention this : Mr. Tinline, A Non-Catholic Resident of Nelson, hsis already handed in a cheque for £40. and that is only the beginning of what he intends to do Ho has been eve.r a great benefactor to the institution and spent over £200 before the building was destioyed by lne iur the plantation of the property and other purposes. It is hoped that these poor neglected childien will one day be respectable members of society, and we want them to have a lair start in life ; we want them to have a sound education, to be able to hold their own in temporal affairs ; we want them to be trained in religion that they may have the requisite force of character, that they may have consolation in their sufferings, that they may have the moans of struggling against temptations and become useful and happy membeis of the community. We wish to give them a' good plain education and good Catholic instruction, so that they may be turned out good creditable citizens in the Colony. That is the position that stands before us. Now it "is for this purpose that you are here in such large numbers ; and allow me to tender to you my sincere thanks. I am delighted to see so many members of all Churches who sympathise with us and desire to assist us in this great work. Now 1 wish your assistance in this undeitaking because it is a work of compassion, a work ol great charity and most meritorious for heaven And 1 wish all of you to give your subscriptions with the highest motives. Now the most perfect motive is to look upon these children as the representatives of Jesus Christ. This is the source of all the marvellous beneficence shown by the Catholic Church. This is the great secret of these wondrous charities which we find through out the Catholic world, this is the secret of that respect, that admirable patience, those delicate attentions which are found in those Catholic missionaries and Sisters of Charity who view the poor, the lowly, and the afflicted, not as mere human creatures, but as Representatives of Jesus Christ. It is thus you ought to view them ; therefoie when you give your money give it as if you were giving it to God Himself. If He were to come and ask you, and say : • Give Me something for My children, for My dear neglected ones, give it to Me for them who represent Me,' is there one that would refuse Him "> Oh, no, you would be too happy, too honored*. But I may tell you with perfect truth that if you give to-night for that purpose you will l>e as much rewarded by Him one day as if you gave to Himself and your gift will be raised to a high level ; it will be supernaturalised, it will be made worthy of the supreme award of Jesus Christ I need not say any more ; b*it when the collectors go round, you will remember these poor fatherless, neglected childien, •you will gne for them in order that they may be properly educated and treated for life in the same wav as yourselves View them also as children of Jesus Christ. so that one day when you go before your God and Sovereign Judge, He will say : ' Come ye blessed of My Fathei . possess the kingdom prepaied for you f i om the foundation of the world For 1 was hungiy and you gave Me to eat, I was thitsty and you gave Me to drink, I was na.ked and you clothed Me, I was a stranger and you took Me in, I was a prisoner and you visited Me. You did that in the person of those children whom you were invited to assist. Come now and eniov your rewa.rd, the possession of Myself and My kingdom lor all eternity.' Amen

As a result of this appeal and private contributions in the parish a sum of £140 has been added to the fund.