Masterton

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 51, 19 December 1907, Page 13

Masterton

(From our own correspondent.) December 14. The usual meeting of the H.A.C.B. Society was held on Tuesday evening, the president (Bro. H. O'Leary) being in the chair. Two new members were initiated. The delegates on the Friendly Societies' Council reported that it was intended to hold a picnic of all the societies at Pigeon Bush on Anniversary Day (January 22). The ceremony of blessing and unveiling the statue of the Immaculate Conception, which was recently'erected ia the grounds of St. Bride's Convent, Masterton, ' in commemoration of the centenary of the religious Order of St. Bride, was performed by the Very Rev. Dean ..McKenna, assisted by the Rev. Fathers T. McKenna and 'Kelly. There, was a very large attendance, .and deep interest was taken in the proceedings. Prior to the ceremony itself, there was a procession round the co-n-vent grounds, in which the school children, the Children of Mary, the members of the Hibernian Society, and others took part. At the conclusion of the blessing the Very Rev. Dean McKenna, addressing those present, spoke of' the establishment oft n , the Order of St. Bride over 100 years ago, and its growth since that date. He traced the religious persecutions in Ireland from the middle of the 1 6th century to the end of the 18th century, during which time the education ofVthe ■Irish- people had been greatly neglected, and it was for this reason at the end of years of "persecution that Ihe Order of St. Bride was established. It was in 1807 that the late Very Rev. Dr. Delaney conceived the idea of establishing an Order that might educate the young, and after many trials and much difficulty he succeeded in founding the religious Order of St. Bride on February 1, 1807, in the diocese of Kildare, Ireland, and thus he ' kindled a living fire that nothing can withstand.' One hundred " years ago, said the speaker, the seed was sown, and now it had grown up into a huge plant. Up to 1883 the Order was confined to its own diocese, but in that year a little band of six Sisters set out for Australia, and set up a branch of the Order in that strange' land. They could easily imagine what courage was necessary for such an undertaking, but the Sisters persevered in a manner that hais made them famous, until now— 2s years later— there were thirteen communities of the

r Order possessing 150 Sisters in Australasia. The speaker had been instrumental in bringing them to New Zealand, and he felt proud of it. Ten years ago they founded a convent -in Masterton, and his audience knew as well as he did what progress they had made. He asked those present to pray that the Sisters would prosper in their future work, not only in Masterton, but in the whole of New Zealand.