LENTEN PASTORAL

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9, 1 March 1906, Page 19

LENTEN PASTORAL

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH

The following Pastoral has been issued by the Right Rev. Dr. Grimes, Bishop of Christchurch :— Dearly Beloved Brethren and Children in Jesus Christ, The year of grace, one thousand nine hundred and five and nine hundred and six, will ever be memorable in the history of our diocese. For more than a decade of years many a fervent prayer has been offered that the Almighty, in His infinite goodness, would grant us the privilege of a foundation of the Sisters of Nazareth in our midst. On the eve of the Epiphany,, nineteen hundred and five, we had the consolation to know that our prayers were answered. It was then our pleasing duty to welcome ta their temporary home a devoted band ofi six Sisters sent by their Mother-General at Hammersmith to begin a branch of their illustrious Institute in our city of Christchurch. Accompanied by several members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and a few other friends, we, in our own and the name of the whole diocese,'tendered that generous band a most cordial welcome. In

greeting .those who, in imitation of their Divine Master, give themselves so ..ungrudgingly to the service of God whilst relieving the most suffering portion of- humanity, we asked them to accept our sincere thanks for the practical proofs they gave us of the highest form of religion in the sacrifice they made, bidding farewell to home and friends and country, fearlessly encountering the perils of the deep to come to I>he very Antipodes at the call of charity, which, to the devoted Daughters of Nazareth, is no other than love Divine., What but this Divine love could induce them to accept as a labor of love the severing of ties so dear to the human heart, to soothe the sorrowful, comfort the distressed, and act as ministering angels to the aged and infirm, the orphan and the cripple, the poor and most abandoned incurables ? May we not now repeat what we then assured them, viz., that the daily exercise of their noble mission would win for them the sympathy the help and affectionate esteem of all classes of society^ irrespective of race or religion ? In fulfilling their God-like work, the sole claim to their charity is any and well nigh every form of want and suffering. Were we not right in promising them the cordial cooperation of the whole community, that of the clergy, the laity, and the press, which had already more than once spoken most sympathetically of them and their great work ?

Now that their coming amongst us is an accomplished fact ; now that they daily minister to 'the poor little orphan, the blind, the aged and incurable, to the number of fifty and more, the only bounds to their ministering being their too limited accommodation, may they not rely on your utmost help, mindful as you are of the Scriptural promise that whatever we do for them or theirs we do for Christ Jesus, Who has solemnly promised an eternal reward to any such assistance ? You will be glad to hear .that the Sisters of Nazareth have secured, not ifar from the centre of the city, a more 'suitable site, where, in the near future, they hope to begin the erecting of an establishment in keeping with their requirements. Henceforth they will share wit<h the Nuns of the Good Shepherd, who are doing such admirable work for the entire Colony, the proceeds of the collection taken up every Rosary Sunday for the Diocesan Charities. Are we not justified in affirming that the advent of the Sisters of Nazareth will ever be one of the most memorable events in the history of our diocese ? Th the 35th Chapter of the Book of Exodus we read that when, at the command of their Divinely appointed leader, the people of Israel undertook to erect the Tabernacle, ' all, both men and women, with devout mind, offered gifts, that, the work might be done which the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary offerings to the Lord with a most ready and devout mind, to make the work of the Tabernacle of the testimony, they offered whatsoever was necessary to the service j and to the holy vestments both men and women gave bracelets and oar-rings, and tablets, vessels of gjold, metal of silver and brass, violet, purple and scarlet and fine linen, onyx stones and precious stones, and snices >and oils for the lights . . . and to make incenso of most sweet savor.' Such is the Scriptural record of the generosity of Wie people of old, 'for what the Apostle of the Gentiles assures us was but the shadow and figure of the Christian reality. When the history of the Church in New Zealand will have been written some of its brightest pages will be a record of facts no less striking in recounting the erecting of our beautiful Cathedral, so aptly called by the New Zealand « Tablet,' ' The Architectural Gem of the Colony.' Whenj, at the command of another Moses, the late Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., we began to appeal in behalf of that great undertaking, the generosity of our people elicited the admiration of all classes of society. Who could fail to admire the spontaneous offer of a thousand pounds and of a thousand guineas, made by men who had obtained the same by the toil of their hands ? Like the people of old, others have stripped themselves of golden trinklets, offering sacred vessels of silver and gold, and church furniture and large donations ; this too, anonymously. Some have deprived themselves hot only of ,the luxuries, but even of the seeming necessities of life to contribute to this great work. Out of their slender resources priests and religious have furnished their quota. Even little children willingly sacrificed their pocket money, bestowing it as a voluntary offering tt> the Cathedral Fund. Many a widow's mite has gone to the building of our noble pile. More than one has insisted upon the donation of a life-long economy to help the erecting of the Tabern-acle of God amongst men ! No one can claim that our stately Cathedral is the work of the wealthy. It is the fruit of the hard earnings of the poor and

the lowly, generous to a sacrifice of their well-woK pounds, their shillings and their pence. May we not boldly affirm that it is the outcome of the noblest, the holiest aspirations of our loyal people ? What makes their generosity the more striking is the fact that it has not interfered with the many local calls "P°» their limited means. Chief Pastor and Spiritual Father of all in the Diocese, it is a source of consolation to us to know that whilst th© walls and towers of our Cathedral were rearing their lofty heights, other important works were begun or completed improved or enlarged. Witness the beautiful churches at St. Andrews, Albury, Makikihi, Waiau, Cheviot, and Hanmer ; commodious halls and graceful spires, like those recently erected in Greymouth ; substantial presbyteries at St. Mary's, Hawarden, and Ross, whilst another is in the course of erection at Ashburton Well equipped convents or schools have arisen in Hokitika Rimu, Kumara, and Blackball, on the West Coastat Woolston and Akaroa, Darfield and Leeston and' lemuka. Plans are already in hand for a convent in Kangiora, and for new churches at Timaru and Waimate. All these the fruit of the liberal contributions of a faithful and grateful flock. No less cheering is it to ,know that the work of the Cathedral neither prevented the establishment of the noble Institute of Nazareth Home nor the necessary additions to the wonderworking Convent of Mount Magdala. Strangers to our holy faith marvel at the daily sacrifices so cheerfully made by our Catholic people for whatever redounds to the greater glory of God the honor of our holy religion, and the uplifting or 'wellbeing of fallen humanity. To many' it is an unfathomable mystery that with the numerous calls in their several parishes our Catholics so generously respond to appeals in behalf of a Cathedral, which, in the ordinary course, many of them will never behold. For us the reason is obvious. The well-known faith, practical faith, of our devoted flock ia the answer. What but faith, and a practical faith, could prompt them to be generous though their generosity call for the greatest sacrifices ? Everywhere the children of the Catholic Church understand that whilst they would have \in their respective parishes the temples wherein they worship fair in form and substantial structures, that in the Episcopal City should be fairer far, more vast and substantial than all others. Why would they have this Cathedral Church to surpass the* rest ? Because there alone, the ChurcTi's ritual, so dear to them can be carried out in all its litureical grandeur. Tin's is one reason, but there ia one still greater. By .the vastness of its dimensions, the beauty and stateliness of its form, they would have that temple a speaking symbol of the glorious Church to 7l h P .i 1S ,m h ? ir , P roudest Privilege on earth to belong. What fond mother is loved and revered by the fondest of sons with half the fondness of Catholic children for their holy Mother, the Church ? Men marvel at the Catholic's attachment to the Church. Why should they marvel ™• \ ? as nootn o ot that Ohurch Panted in the blood ot Christ Jesus ? Did not that same Jesus bequeath her to us to be the mother of our souls, the guardian of Gods own truth, the pledge and assurance of a blissful 1 , iimmortalnty ? What, more precious grift could we receive' from the hands of the Almighty? Is she not the living instrument, the very organ of the Divinity amongst us? Is she not the source, and depository of eternal, truths, the, dispenser of Heaven's choicest gifts and graces ? May we not, with countless saints and sages caJl her the. permanent Incarnation of the ff ° n u , °^ d-d -l n u our midst ? Do nofc the inspired pages o Holy -Writ show us the incarnate God so closely identifying Himself with His Catholic Church as toconsider as done to Himself whatever is done to her? What wonder then, that we love this Church more than father or mother sister or brother, wife or husband, or outfit e!se on fcarth ? Is she not the Church of our ?£ ?+£?f rS> T nY +Z l W l 101 ? forfeited home and land and i' f f J tfl/ rather than forfeit their allegiance to this holy Mother ? Watered and nurtured in the' blood" of our martyred ancestors, is it any wonder that we are proud of that Ohurch ? Is it any wonder that we longto see her everywhere praised, honored, .and exalted ? Filling as she does the inmost yearnings of our soul'knowing that Church to be what she is, what wonder if we strain every nerve to see her become as dear 'to our o"rseav n es a " d OUr children>s children as she is dear to (To be concluded next week.)