THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH

New Zealand Tablet, 6 April 1916, Page 19

THE SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH

' The golden . jubilee of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart was . celebrated at .their Head House," North Sydney, ;: with-befitting ceremonies. 'On March 16, .17, and 18 there was a Triduum in the Mother Mary Memorial Chapel, at which splendid discourses were delivered by ]the Very Rev. Father P. Cullen (Provincial of the Vincentian Fathers), , Very Rev. Father E. Gleeson (Head Superior in Australia of the Redemptorist Fathers), and the. Very Rev. Father Alphonsus Coen, C.P. (Superior St. Brigid’s, Marrickville). On Sunday, March 19, his Excellency the Apostolic Delegate celebrated Pontifical High Mass. After Mass the Mother-General entertained a gathering of distinguished visitors at a jubilee banquet, at which his Excellency Archbishop Cerretti presided. His’Excellency, in replying to the toast of his health, which was proposed by his Lordship Bishop O’Connor, paid a tribute to the labors of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had from the first encountered many trials and crosses. No doubt the blessing of God rested upon them, and now they were in almost every diocese continuing their glorious work for the children in the schools, and helping the bishops and priests for the salvation of souls. The Holy Father, added his Excellency, knew of the sanctifying life of the Sisters, and in spirit was amongst them in the celebrations, and wished them every success and the blessings of God. In the afternoon the Rosary was recited in the memorial chapel in the presence of a large congregation. This was followed by an eloquent panegyric of the life of Mother Mary of the Cross, by Rev. Father E. J. Sydes, S.J. The following letter . has been received by the Mother-General of the Sisters of St. Joseph from his holiness the Pope, through the Apostolic Delegate, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the Order: Beloved daughter in Christ, health and Apostolic Benediction. ,

• . • v - ‘ W gratefully acknowledge your kindly sentiments of filial love and your offering of Peter’s Pence. You wished to signify by your gift of fifty sovereigns the fifty years of your institute, but your offering signifies to Us, not only the fifty years of your institute, but also your good works multiplied a hundred thousand times, and the beauty and splendor of your virtue. For your virtue shines forth especially in your many undertakings for promoting and fostering religion in all the dioceses of Australasia. The Apostolic Delegate, who informs Us of your , labors, adds, moreover, that you are especially devoted to aiding the poor, and particularly those : country "people v who, -on account of distance and the* scarcity of the clergy, have - rarely the opportunity of hearing the Word - of Life from the priest. There could, be no more fitting opportunity of congratulating you, on this your devotion to the needy, than the approaching jubilee of your institute; . And while We do so with all good will, and recall together with you the benefits bestowed upon you by God, We give grateful thanks to that same Lord and God, and earnestly pray that He may sustain by His grace what He has wrought in you, and by your zealous labors He may increase the same to richer and more joyful fruit. And may the ; Apostolic Benediction which We lovingly bestow upon all, and especially on you,' beloved daughter in Christ, be an earnest of those blessings. Moreover, We grant to all the opportunity of gaining a Plenary Indulgence, who having confessed their sins and received the Holy Sacrament of., the altar devoutly, visit any chapel attached to a house of your institute. : Given in Rome s at St. -Peter’s, on the Bth day of January; 1916, and in the second; year of Our Pontificate.. *. ‘ , 1 ‘' “ ■ '■** '_ ” ‘ ' - .• ; ■ ..... ; Benedict XV., P.P. v