Palmerston North

New Zealand Tablet, 15 July 1915, Page 47

Palmerston North

(From our own correspondent.) . . -'V. "fc July 7. At a meeting of the parish committee of the Catholic Federation, Mr. G. V. Graham was elected delegate to the half-yearly meeting of the Diocesan Council to be held in Wellington on July 15. ' On Sunday there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Patrick’s Church from the last Mass until after the evening devotions, when there was a procession, followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Rev. Father Forrester preached an instructive sermon on St. Peter. On Wednesday morning a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated for the repose of the souls of the soldiers who have fallen at the front, especially for those from the district. Hie Rev. Father Forrester was celebrant, Rev. Father Doolaghty deacon, Rev. Father Cashman subdeacon, and Rev. Father McManus master of ceremonies. His Grace Archbishop Redwood, Very Rev. Dean Holley (Wanganui), and Very Rev. Dean Power (Hawera) were present. The solemn music was rendered by the Sisters of Mercy. After Mass his Grace the Archbishop delivered an address on the social and religious aspect of the war. For many years previous to the war, the Archbishop stated, France was in the hands of clique Governments, which had made every attempt to banish God from the life of the French nation. This was at once apparent by the fact that the priests were compelled by the laws of conscription to do military service, and in the present war 25,000 were in the fighting line, and were bearing themselves like heroes, and were proving that they were not what the French Government had represented them to be.. They had won. the confidence and respect of the entire population of France. In contrast to the previous attitude of attempting to remove religion from the social life of the nation, France to-day was inviting the co-opera-tion and assistance of the Church in her hour of trial. The churches were full from 6 a.m. till evening in a perpetual prayer for victory. The Archbishop made special reference to the splendid work of the priests in the trenches, where, besides taking their share in the fighting, they celebrated Mass and administered the Sacraments. They were assisting in bearing the burden of France, and were ready to face danger with the best of the fighting men. The great lesson to be drawn from the war was that a moral regeneration had set in in France—a lesson that would benefit the present as well as future generations.