Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 22 December 1910, Page 2108

Notes

A Happy Christmas This issue will roach the great body of our readers just as the happy Christmas festival is upon us. We therefore grasp in spirit now the kindly hands of our friends and readers, and wish them the fullest measure of the best blessings which were brought from heaven on that day—' full of joy and benison' to earth '—when the air was shaken with the songs of angels proclaiming peace to men of good will. Held Over Owing to extreme pressure on our space a number of school reports, etc., have had to be. held over. Those interested will please note that all such reports —as far as possiblewill appear in the order in which they reach our office. Ordination Ceremonies The close of the year has witnessed two ordinations to the priesthood from among the alumni of Holy Cross College, Mosgiel— of J. Tobin, ordained at Mosgiel, and J. Hanrahan, ordained on Sunday last at Christchurch. Now that the ecclesiastical seminary is in full operation the ordination ceremony is likely to be a much more frequent spectacle in our Cathedral churches. The essentials of the ceremony are exceedingly simple, and exceedingly beautiful; and we know of nothing better calculated to impress on the minds of the laity who follow the function with reasonable knowledge and intelligence a clear idea both of the dignity and of the real nature of

the priesthood. At present it is almost impossible for the laity to follow an ordination intelligently, because —so far as we knowno suitable manual of the ceremony is avail' able; and if the seminary authorities could see their way to prepare a very brief pamphlet on the subject for popular use— be sold at, say, sixpence— would supply the proverbial 'much-felt want,' and would, we are sure, mori than defray the cost of issue. * On the occasion of the Christchurch ordination his Lordship Bishop Grimes availed himself of the apportunity to publicly express his appreciation of the admirable work that was being done at the Provincial Seminary at Mosgiel. The Bishops, said his Lordship, had long felt the urgent need of such an institution ; and when the venerable Bishop of Dunedin—who had had experience at the head of important seminaries in Ireland, Rome, and. Australia announced his readiness to take up the work of establishing and conducting a similar institution for New Zealand, they had hailed the intimation with delight. The seminary was now an accomplished fact; already some nine or ten young Levites had been given to the service of the sanctuary from within its walls; and the Bishop of Dunedin had had the gratification of seeing his noble ideals realised and his work for the glory of God and the good of the Church brought to successful and happy fruition.