The Church in New Zealand

New Zealand Tablet, 19 May 1910, Page 793

The Church in New Zealand

The present generation of Catholics have but a. faint idea of the labors, hardships, and sacrifices of the early Catholic missionaries in this Dominon. They see all around them cathedrals, churches, convents, schools, and institutes of charity, and perhaps never think how these came to be built within the space of sixty odd years. There are men living to-day who remember the time when a few little wooden buildings, of no architectural pretensions whatever, were all that the Catholics of this Dominion could boast of in the way of churches. A solitary priest in an isolated settlement, sometimes surrounded by hostile Natives, had a whole province for his missionary district, whilst his flock consisted of *a score or two of Europeans located at great distances from one another, and in places difficult of access. In addition to the risks which the spiritual shepherd ran in passing through the territory of unfriendly, and very often fanatical, Natives, he encountered many dangers by flood and field in the course of his travels. His way very often lay through the trackless bush, and his resting place at night was beneath a friendly tree, with no’ roof save the starry heavens. When he awoke in the morning, with limbs benumbed, he knew that his next meal depended on his arrival, sooner or later, at a settler’s hut, or, perhaps, a Native settlement. To attend a sick person meant sometimes a week’s journey over rough country and the crossing of dangerous rivers. Father Chataigner, the first pastor of Christchurch, was, on one occasion, summoned to the bedside of a dying Catholic who lived close to Moeraki, near Palmerston South. He proceeded in a little sailing craft from Lyttelton to Port Chalmers. Finding himself further south than was necessary .he had to go northward for a distance of about fifty miles to reach his destination, where he arrived just a week after leaving Christchurch. He made the return journey overland, and more than once went very near losing his life when crossing Canterbury rivers that are now spanned by substantial bridges. The pioneer Catholic missionaries in other districts had similar experiences, yet they repined not, neither did their zeal for the spiritual welfare of their scattered flock flag in the least. They sought out the stray sheep, and, when possible, brought them back to the fold. They worked for the honor and glory of God, and sought not human praise. Indeed so modest and retiring were they that their heroic deeds were in many instances known but to themselves and God. A couple of years ago Mr. J. J. Wilson, of Christchurch, conceived the idea of compiling a history of the Church in those early days of the Dominion, and with infinite patience and great labor he succeeded in gathering materials from all over New Zealand. These he embodied in a series of articles which he contributed to the New Zealand Tablet. By the time they were completed the author had gathered such a quantity of valuable and interesting information that his many friends strongly advised and encouraged him to publish it in book form, so that it might remain as a permanent record. This has been done, and under the title of The Church in New Zealand Memoirs of the Early Days, the work has been printed for the author by the N.Z. Tablet Printing and Publishing Company. In the volume just issued Mr. Wilson has arranged the contents under four principal headings, corresponding with the ecclesiastical divisions of, the Dominion. The Right Rev. Dr. Grimes, Bishop of Christchurch, writing to the author, says: 'You ere well inspired to gather together so many stirring facts connected with the labors of the pioneer missionaries. Men of boundless faith, undaunted courage, pluck, and perseverance, the bare record of their noble deeds is a powerful sermon for all of us. I feel confident that the work when published will be read with deep interest by many, and even with no little-emotion.’

The author very modestly says in his preface that his object •in the publication of the volume was that a wealth of valuable historic information may not be lost for all time, and that those who now remain may be afforded an -opportunity to “ tell the tale” for the benefit of future generations.’ _ It is by no means a modest publication; the task of collecting materials for such a work was one from which anyone lacking the author’s enthusiasm, energy, and perseverance, would have quailed. Mr. Wilson deserves the sincere thanks of ’ his co-religionists for having placed at their disposal such a valuable record of the struggles, sacrifices, and labors of the early Catholic missionaries. The book is one which should find a place on the bookshelf of every Catholic householder in New Zealander, for its periisal cannot fail to excite the admiration of young and old for these men of boundless faith and undaunted courage,’ the bare record of whose ‘ noble deeds is a powerful sermon for all.’ It is a book, too, which should be included in the prize list of every Catholic school, as it is most desirable that the rising generation should know with what labor and self-sacrifice the mustard seed of the Faith was planted in these southern isles. A comprehensive index adds considerably to the value of the volume as a work of reference. It is handsomely bound in cloth with gilt letters and printed on good paper.* « It may be procured from this office, from the Catholic Book Depot, Christchurch, or from the leading Catholic booksellers in the Dominion. Pp. 255; price 3s fid, posted 4s.