THE LATE DEAN CAREW

New Zealand Tablet, 28 March 1918, Page 27

THE LATE DEAN CAREW

MONTH'S MIND. On Wednesday, March 13, a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Patrick's Church, Greymouth, in observance of the Month's Mind of the late Dean Carew. The Very Rev. Dean Hyland (Rangiora, nephew of the deceased) was celebrant, Rev. Father Eccleton, S.M., was deacon, and Rev. Father Hanrahan subdeacon. In the choir and sanctuary were Rev. Fathers Clancy (Hokitika), Aubry, Campbell, Quinn (Greymouth), Riordan (Ross), O'Hare (Kumara), Hegarty (Westport), Maguinness (Broken Hill, N.S.W.), Burger (Christchurch), and Kimbell (Wellington). The altar was appropriately draped in black for the solemn ceremony, and the music was rendered by the choir of clergy. The large number of people who assembled to assist at the Mass bore eloquent testimony to the deep regard in which the late revered Dean was held by all the people of Greymouth. ' On the conclusion of the Mass the Rev. Father Clancy ascended the pulpit and preached the occasional sermon. Quoting the text, "In all things show thyself an example of good works : in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity; let no man despise ye." (Titus ii.) Such a text (he said) would as a motto serve any priest living, but as an epitaph it sits well on him whose memory to-day we celebrate. You who knew him best in life will confirm the justice of its choice, for was not his life an example of good works—in integrity, in doctrine, in gravity ; and who dare despise him ? Not you at least, for in life you honored him : and* to-day's ceremoniesthe morning Masses thronged with Communicants, these obsequies so devoutly followed by a congregation overflowing even in such a spacious build—reveal fidelity to his gracious memory, and give us all an earnest of your enlightened faith. Yes, dearly beloved brethren, the honor you pay your priests is in keeping with the dignity they possess. This dignity springs from no human considerations. By divine ordinance, says the Council of Trent, sacrifice and priesthood are so inseparable that they are found together under all laws. Therefore, in the new dispensation the origin of the priesthood is divine, conferring the two-fold power over the mystic body as well as over the real body of Christ. The illustrious Dominican priest, Father Lacordaire, relates a conversation pf two eminent philo-

sophers of France. They had met in the courtyard of the Institut. Catching sight of a young priest passing by, "Look," said one; "look at that young stripling, still in his youth, yet he has attained what we are laboring in vain to get. We assemble in our halls the intellectual youth of France ; we work hard ; we strive to prove to them by syllogisms that man has got a soul. But 10, look at him on his way; he is bent on visiting a home to bring two souls together, to reconcile man and wife, or he drags a young soul out of a den of iniquity and saves it. Yet these are the men we would fling into the river. 'Tis we ourselves who merit millstones round our necks and drowning in the depths." This narrative, to some extent at least, illustrates the power of the priestone .aspect of his power over the souls of men, —the mystic Body of Christ; the other power is no less divine or essential. "If anyone shall say that in the New Testament there is no visible and eternal priesthood, nor any power of consecrating and offering the Body of our Lord, as well as of remitting and. retaining sins, but merely the ollice and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel, let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Sess. XXITL, C. 1.) In those inspired words, dear brethren, in the above example also you can easily find an answer for the faith that is in you. For those outside the faith may question you as to that honor which you so willingly pay and which mostly they resent, for their laity and clergy, ignoring anything divine in their minister, would fain bring ours down to their level : nay, some fanatics scour the world in search of derelicts, cedars fallen from Lebanon. Thus time is wasted and labor lost. Are they in search of men as cruel as Herod, as corrupt as Nero, as perfidius as Judas? Let them turn back the early annals of their Church and there they will find the royal monster and the monk, not to be outdone, who married him, and the bishop, worthy man, who anointed him. They are theirs, no longer ours. Fallen from grace, false to every duty, lost to shame, yet ample to found another Church —their last, excesson such crumbling foundations are human institutions founded. But we, in keeping with tradition, honor our priest living or dead. "On the 30th day (says St. Cyprian) remember me ; in your charity offer the Holy Sacrifice for me." "Place my body where you will," are the last instructions of St. Monica. "Place my body where you will, but one request I make that you remember me at the altar." "Obsequies," continues St. Augustine, "console the living: there is no doubt the faithful departed are assisted by the prayers of the Church and the salutary sacrifice. We believe this is an apostolic tradition, since it is in vogue everywhere in the Church." On the 30th day, true to tradition, you, too, remember your late pastor: and one whom, 'tis said, he cherished, deems it an honor to bs associated with you and your sympathetic .clergy drawn from all parts of the Dominion on this sad occasion. And amongst us who understood better than he the dignity of the priesthood? His whole life divides itself naturally into two partsthe one, the preparation for the priesthood : the other, its realisation. Thus we are called back to that country of his birth— Isle of Destiny in pagan times—the Island of Saints and Scholars." "The English visitor to Ireland," says Cardinal Newman, "penetrates into the heart of the country; he recognises an innocence in the young face and a piety

and patience in the aged voice, which strikingly and sadly contrast with the habits of his own rural population." In no place in Ireland was this innocence and resignation more in evidence than in that county where once stood the untenanted homes of Tipperary. Cradled in a country beautiful; beyond compare, legendary," historic, poetic, her countrymen lay claim to the palm for the courage and virtue thus mirrored in the face of the young. The home of young Carew was admirably adapted to his training. Meditation and prayer sanctified the early dawn, and assiduous fulfilment of his daily duties laid the foundation of his character. The home influence exerted itself to its full in youth, and asserted itself throughout his long life. Although he suited himself to circumstances, and assimilated himself with new surroundings, yet he was never absorbed by environment. Round the blazing hearth he heard the legendary lore of pagan Ireland ; there his memory was stored with the history of Christian Ireland./ Her home glories, her foreign conquests for the Cross, her protracted sufferings for the faith, till "the Island of Saints and Scholars" had not a temple to worship in, nor a school to call her own—all these he was told. As he grew up he saw with his own eyes the monasteries in ruins, the cathedrals crumbling away ; he witnessed the evictions, he heard the wails of the emigrant, he recognised the tyranny of Empire that had stamped the life out of everything except the faith. All these tinged his soul with sadness, but begot the heroic soul of sacrifice. He would follow the exiles across the ocean as their priest. To that he would devote his youth in preparation, and his manhood • in its fulfilment, and die, if God's holy will, in the midst of his chosen people. Distinguished throughout his collegiate course for industry and discipline, he was duly ordained, and sailed for New Zealand, the scene of his missionary labors. Wherever he went, owing to the co-operation of his people, his policy was a success: schools rose, churches were erected, convents flourished. The law of self preservation dictated his policy; and experience has sanctioned its wisdom. Thus in the midst of the fruits of his works, surrounded with a grateful people, his life was crowned with good works and length of years, leaving an example of good works, in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity. Amen. After the sermon the final prayers for the departed were sung by the priests' choir, and the playing of the "Dead March" brought the sad ceremonies to a close.