GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE REV. FATHER BARRY, C.SS.R.

New Zealand Tablet, 25 January 1917, Page 42

GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE REV. FATHER BARRY, C.SS.R.

; ; The Rev. Walter Barry, the venerable - and distinguished Missionary of -• the Redemptorist Order, celebrated, at Mount St. Gerard’s, Wellington, the fiftieth anniversary ' of his ordination to the priesthood- on December 28, 1916. " Owing to a weakness and indisposition consequent upon his recent illness, all celebrations on an elaborate scale, which are the natural accompaniment of such a rare event, had to be dispensed with. As a consequence, and at the express desire of the jubilarian, no public notification of the jubilee was'given; yet many of Father Barry’s well-wishers throughout Ireland and Australasia did not forget to convey to him their heartiest congratulations. He was specially privileged to receive the Benediction of his Holiness, in a letter written by his own hand, a favor to be appreciated, since the Supreme Pontiff very seldom graces such blessings with his own personal greetings and signature. The following is a copy of the letter of our Holy Father the Pope forwarded to Father Barry on the occasion of his jubilee : ‘ Benedictionem Apostolicam cum Indulgentia Plenaria semel lucranda libenti animo . impertimur dilecto filio P. Gualterio Barry, Sacerdoti e Congregatione SSmi, Redemptoris, quinquagenium annum ah inito sacerdotio propediem celebraturo. ‘ En Aedibus Vaticanis, ‘ die 9 Octobris, 1916.’ ‘ Benedictus, P.P., XV.’ [Translation.] ‘ We most willingly impart the Apostolic Benediction, together with a Plenary Indulgence, to Our beloved son, Father Walter Barry, Priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who is about to celebrate, at an early date, the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. ‘ From the Palace of the Vatican, 9th of October, 1916. ‘ Benedict XV., Pope.’ Father Barry was also the recipient of congratulations from his Excellency Archbishop Cerretti, the Apostolic Delegate of Australasia: ‘ December 6, 1916. * My dear Father Barry,—l have just learned with pleasure that you are about to celebrate the golden jubilee of your ordination to the priesthood. On this happy occasion allow me to congratulate you most cordially, and to express the sincere wish that you may be spared many years to work in the vineyard of our Divine Master with the same success that has crowned your priestly undertakings in the past. ‘ In the name of the Holy Father, I bless you most affectionately, and I remain, ‘ Yours sincerely in Christ, B. Cerretti, ‘ Archbishop of Corinth, ‘ Apostolic Delegate.’ The Superior-General of the Redemptorist Order, the Very Rev. Father Murray, C.SS.R., wrote to convey his sincerest good wishes to the jubilarian: —‘l enclose the autograph blessing of the Vicar of Christ, ■which is the official recognition of the great work you have done for Him, and for His Church, and I bless you in the name of Saint Alphonsus, and also in my own.’ •> The Very Rev, Father Gleeson (Vice-Provincial of Australasia), Very Rev. Father Roche (Rector) and the community of St. Gerard’s were joined in the jubilee celebrations by his Grace Archbishop Redwood, his Grace Archbishop O’Shea, the Ven. Archdeacon Devoy, S.M., and the Very Rev. Fathers Keogh,

— _ ■ 1 ■ ■; —■ 1 —■ - . S.M., ■ Smith, S.M., More, ’Farrell, ■ S.M., ' O’Leary, , to.M. r. /-C ■ : ;y .%; ;:y.. .>,/■ ,y , His Grace Archbishop Redwood, in a ; graceful t and very happy speech, proposed the health of ? the ; jubilarian. : Father Barry is truly a link with the past. Born in the historic County of Wexford in the year 1842, his childhood was spent in the midst of surroundings where every hill and glen spoke - with a silent yet , im- t pressive eloquence of the mighty deeds of an heroic past. Here he imbibed that spirit of patriotism and enthusiasm, which in after years held spellbound 1 the 5000 men of the Limerick Confraternity of the ; Holy ; Family, in his soul-inspiring lectures on Irish History,’ when the members of the confraternity were privileged to enjoy the advantages of his advice and direction, his wisdom and eloquence. ; He entered the great ecclesiastical College of Maynooth in the year 1861, and had the advantage and happiness of forming an acquaintance with some of the most illustrious prelates of the Catholic Church. There was the present illustrious Primate of All-Ireland, the worthy successor of St. Patrick, his eminence Cardinal Logue. There, too, were many others whose brilliant genius gave fair hopes of what the future has more than realised; his Grace Archbishop Walsh, of Dublin, his Grace Archbishop Carr, of Melbourne, and also his Grace Dr. Healy, of Tuam. There, too, were their Lordships, Bishop O’Dwyer of Limerick, Bishop Brown of Ferns, and Bishop Brown of Cloyne, who subsequently became President of the College ; and also the far-famed author of Lectures of a Certain Professor, Father O’Farrell, of Kildare. But the day soon arrived for his ordination; and owing to the urgent demand for priests, he was recalled from Maynooth, and ordained, in St. Peter’s College, Wexford, by the late Dr. Furlong, on the 28th of December, 1866. Father Barry spent about ten years as a secular priest in his native diocese of Ferns. In the year 1876 he entered the Redemptorist Novitiate, then at Bishop Eton, near Liverpool, and was professed a member of the Congregation on the Bth of September 1877. During the forty years which Father Barry has spent in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, his life has been one of strenuous activity; most of his missionary labors in the Old Country were, however, devoted to the reformation, and salvation of the many poor destitute soulsvictims rather of circumstances and surroundings,—who are scattered throughout the densely populated districts and corrupt cities of England and Scotland. In the year 1894 Father Barry, anxious to carry the consolations of religion to his countrymen in the more secluded parts of Australasia, was sent, at his own express desire, to devote his energies to assisting the emigrant Irish of the Southern Seas. Since his arrival in these dominions his zeal and labors have been blessed with the most fruitful benedictions. Father Barry has several times been Rector of Redemptorist Communities —in Dundalk; in Perth, in Scotland and for seven years in Ballarat. To know Father Barry is to admire and love him. And those, especially among the priesthood, who have had the privilege of his society and conversation, have always been charmed with his knowledge of men and events, and particularly with his allusions to the past; for his wide experience and singular attainments have given a charm to his personality which the advance of years has only intensified and embellished. We cannot but express the feelings of all when we say that it is a pity such men should pass away, when their wisdom and virtue have attained to their greatest fruition. We wish the venerable jubilarian ad multos annos, and hope he will be spared for the next ten years, when diamonds will decorate the golden jubilee, and be a forecast of the eternal crown awaiting him beyond the skies