DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, 13 April 1911, Page 667

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

(From our own correspondent.) April 10. A site has been acquired by St. Joseph’s Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Mission to Catholic Seamen) for the erection of a hall and assembly rooms, close to the*church at Lyttelton. The Rev. Father Kimbell, S.M. (Marist Missionary), who is resting, and recruiting his health at the Hanmer Springs, has much improved, and hopes soon to resume his duties. A fortnight ago his Lordship the Bishop received from an anonymous subscriber a sum of £lO, and shortly before he received, also anonymously, £25 evidently from the same generous giver towards the Cathedral fund, which he desires to acknowledge with sincere thanks. When resuming his episcopal visitation of the diocese, taking in the South Canterbury parochial district, his Lordship the Bishop intends after Easter to commence at Fairlie, visiting also the Albury and Cave portions of the Fairlie parish. Whilst at. the Cave his Lordship will lay the foundation stone of a church to be erected there. His Lordship the Bishop, who had been spending a short time at Hanmer, returned to the city at the end of the week. Whilst there, besides the daily Masses celebrated by his Lordship, Mass was celebrated in the local church at 10 o’clock on last Sunday week by the Rev. Father Kimbell, S.M., at which the Bishop preached. On Sunday last (Palm Sunday) the palms were blessed in the Cathedral by his Lordship the Bishop, who was afterwards assisted in their distribution by several of the clergy. In the ceremony his Lordship was attended by the Rev. Father Creagh, C.SS R., as assistant priest, the Rev. Father Lynch, C.SS.R., deacon, the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, sub-deacon, and Very Rev. Father Price, Adm., master of ceremonies. The 11 o’clock Mass followed, when a mission sermon was preached by the Rev. Father Whelan, C.SS.R. At 3.30 o’clock in the afternoon his Lordship the Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 39 candidates, some of whom were recent converts. The Very Rev. Father Price,“Adm., and Rev. Dr. Kennedy, were in attendance. The mission conducted by the Rederaptorist Fathers in the Cathedral was continued during the week with extraordinary success, crowded congregations being the rule. A special course of sermons was delivered in the evenings. On Wednesday evening the second great solemnity of the mission, that in honor of the Blessed Virgin, was observed, when a. special altar, erected in the sanctuary and surmounted with.-a beautiful statue, was tastefully adorned with floral tributes, and brilliantly illuminated. The Rev. Father Creagh was the occasional preacher, and delivered an: impressive discourse on ‘The Mother of Our Saviour.’ On Sunday evening in the presence of a great congregation, the mission was solemnly closed, when the Rev, Father Creagh, C.SS.R., preached. The subject of his discourse was ‘Perseverance,’ and at the conclusion he imparted the Papal Blessing. Masses for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed were celebrated this (Monday) morning by the missionaries, who also preached briefly on the efficacy of prayer and good works for the suffering souls in Purgatory. The congregations were large, and nearly all present received Holy Communion. Addressing a crowded congregation in the Cathedral at the close of the Mission on last Sunday evening, the Rev. Father Creagh, C.SS.R., said he had assisted at Missions in all parts of the world, but at none had he witnessed such wondrous things wrought by the Grace of God as had been manifested during the-past three weeks in this city. What at first was intended to be a renewal

mission had almost from the start developed into a general one. On the previous Sunday morning, upwards of a thousand men and youths of the parish approached the Holy Table. Each morning during the week the altar rails were thronged, and at the special eight o’clock Mass on the present Sunday a never-to bo-forgotten sight Was witnessed. All one side of the Cathedral was occupied by women and the other by men. Thirteen hundred of the congregation approached the Holy Table, whilst 300 observed a similar duty at the seven o’clock Mass, ■ and many more at the 9.30 o’clock Mass. Altogether : ten thousand Holy Communions were received during the three weeks’ mission. Such excellent results were mainly attributable (he said) to the splendid organisation of the parish and the devotion of his Lordship the Bishop and resident clergy. This he enlarged upon in eloquent terms, and incidentally referred to the noble Cathedral — life work of, and enduring monument to the zeal and foresight of an illustrious prelate, \ The fervent prayers of the Redemptorist Fathers, and he trusted those also of his Lordship’s flock, would be that the celebration of his Lordship’s silver episcopal jubilee in the near future would be marked by the greatest of all the ceremonies of the Church consecration of the sacred edifice.