DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 36, 3 September 1903, Page 4

DIOCESE OF AUCKLAND.

(From our own correspondent.) August 27. Rev. Father Buckley, recently ordained in Rome, arrived in Auckland, en route to Dunedin, last Sunday night from Sydney by the Mararoa. He was the guest of the Bishop on Monday. Mr. Harry Martin, Gisborne, has collected and forwaided to the secretary of the Irish National Federation, Auckland, the sum of seven guineas for the Irish Parliamentary Fund. The annual ball given by the ladies of St. Patrick's parish took place in the P'ederal Hall last evening and was a great success. The hall was handsomely decorated and reflected x-he greatest credit upon the committee, Mesdames Lonergan, Middleton, Tobin, Kearns, Foley, Bacon, Corley, and Misses Gough, McDermott, Tobin, Corley, Brett, and Harkins. Mrs. Leonnardo, hon. sec. acted most indefatigably in arranging details.

The examinations of the Catholic schools in the city and suburbs by the Government Inspectors are in piogiess. Those finished have shown excellent results. In the schools under the Sisters of Mercy in St. Patrick's parish only seven failures occurred. The examiner gave unstinted praise to the Sisters' system of teaching. The parochial school of the Marist Brothers also showed excellent results. The Sisters of St. Joseph's schools at St. Benedict's and Newmarket and Surry Hills were likewise eminently successful, this being also the case with the Sacred Heart School, Ponsonby, under the Sisters of Mercy. Parents of children who decry our schools and send them elsewhere should note this.

At St. Benedict's and at the Auxiliary church at Surry Hills last Sunday the Rev. Father Furlong spoke in very complimentary terms regarding the ' Tablet,' and uiged upon parents and others to have it in their homes. He quoted the apostolic blessing bestowed upon the Catholic press of the world by the late lamented and illustrious Pope Leo XIII. , and said too much importance could not be placed upon the value of a paper like the ' Tablet.' The money wasted upon questionable literature, now too prevalent in Catholic families, should be expended upon good wholesome Catholic newspapers.

On Sunday last at St Patrick's at the 11 o'clock Mass a ' Te Deum ' was sung by the chair in honor of the 73id anniversary of the birth of his Majesty Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austro-Hungaiy. The Austrian and German Consuls and a large body of Austnans were present. His Lordship the Bishop in the course of his sermon said that his Majesty, who was crowned in 1848, was now the oldest reigning monarch in the world. Though past the age of 73, yet he still retained his faculties, and throughout his mighty dominions and in whatever part of the world Austnans were they would come to the Catholic Church to oner up their prayers of thanksgiving, and he (the Bishop) felt sure that in this they would have the unanimous co-operation of their co-reh-gionists The Bishop referred to the trials and vicissitudes which beset the King when he ascended the throne, then a young man of 18, and how he had done his share lo suppiess the spirit of ievolution which prevailed over tne whole of Europe He asked the congregation to remain after Mass while the ' Te Deum ' was being sung. In the course of his sermon his Lordship paid a high tribute to those Austnans who have settled in the northern part of our province He said that on his recent tour ot the inland districts the priests everywhere spoke of theiir unswerving devotion to religious duty, and he had been told that the tradespeople regarded them as being very honest in their dealings, and in this respect the Austnans set a fine example to a great numbter of iheir British colonists'.

His Lordship then unveiled the new stained glass window donated to the church by Mr. Michael Walsh. The window, which cost something like £120, has been erected as a memorial to the deceased parents of Mr Walsh. The main features of the window are pictures' of St . Edward and St Ann, the patron saints of the donor's deceased parents The Right Rev Dr. Lenihan said he had been told by those best able to judge that it was the finest window in the city of Auckland. He would venture to say it was the finest in New Zealand.