DEDICATION OF CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF PEACE ROXBURGH

New Zealand Tablet, 18 September 1919, Page 18

DEDICATION OF CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF PEACE ROXBURGH

The new Church of Our ’ Lady of Peace, Roxburgh, was solemnly dedicated by the Very Rev. Father Coffey, Adm., on Sunday, September 11. After the blessing of the church Solemn High Mass was sung, Rev. Father Collins being the celebrant, Father Morkane deacon, and Father Neill (Rector of the parish) subdcacon. The music of the dedication ceremony and High Mass was beautifully rendered by the choir, under the leadership of Mr. J. H. Waigth, juu. The occasional sermon was preached by Rev. Father Morkane:

“I have chosen this place to Myself for a house of Sacrifice. . . My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place; for 1 have chosen and have sanctified this place,that My name may be there for ever, and My eyes and My heart may remain there perpetually.” (2 Paral. vii. 12-16.)

With the beautiful rites of our Holy Church and amid the triumphant harmonies of the choirs of heaven, this new Church of Our Lady of Peace, the fruit of your deep piety and zealous faith, is to-day solemnly dedicated to the worship of God. It is an occasion that should kindle brighter the light of our faith, that should strengthen our undying hope, -and inflame our hearts with the love of our God and Father. Washed in the waters of blessing, sealed with the Sign of the Cross, this church is today made holy and offered to God. For all time, now, this building is set apart from every profane use, becoming in truth a Catholic church, a house of prayer, a temple of the Most High. You, my dear brethren, have heeded the sad cry of the Sacred Heart, “The birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their dens, but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay His head,” and you have built Him a home in your nr’dst. True, it is a lowly dwelling for the Eternal God of Heaven; and yet to-day do not angel voices cry out with the Psalmist, “How truly lovely is the Tabernacle of the Lord of Hosts!” (I’s. 83.) The universe of God’s creation, my dear brethren, ever chants in magnificent harmony the glory of the Creator, pouring out its countless melodies, too fine for our gross ears, in praise and benediction of the beauty, the power, and the goodness of the Almighty God. “The heavens show forth the glory of God and the firmament declareth the work of His hands.” (Ps. 18.) And ever as this earth of ours revolves its heaven-appointed course, from the great thurible of nature there rises aloft the sweet incense of praise and worship. Yet this fragrance of glory must fail to reach the heart of . Our God unless gathered into 1 lie hearts of men, the children of God, thence to be offered as a sweet-scented sacrifice in union with the humble tribute of man’s intellect and will. Man’s supreme duty it is to know and love and worship God. For this was man created. 'To God, then, we must render tribute of all our faculties of soul and body; to Him we must return in sacrifice His own gifts to us; in Him we must live, move, and have our being. Time itself is His; shall we marvel then that to Him we must consecrate in .a special manner so many hours and days of our short life? Space, too, in all its limitless expanse, is His; everywhere is God by His presence, His power, and His essence. “Whither shall I go from Thy spirit,” cried the Psalmist, “or whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I ascend into heaven Thou art there; if I descend into hell Thou art there; if I take ray wings early in the morning and dwell, in , the uttermost parts of the sea even there also shall Thy hand lead me.” (Ps. 138.) And yet what an abyss yawns ’ between the human soul and its Creator! We strive to bridge this~gulf, and of this most strenuous effort of .man this new building is but another manifestation. It. symbolises our efforts to

spam the chasm that divides man, in the depths" of his nothingness, from , the . eternal hills of God.- What else, indeed, is religion r, Is iit not; the effort of . man--* to love, worship, and,, serve his God? Is it not . our striving to bring God within the grasp of human faculty? To render this .task easy.; God became man, “The Word was made llesh and dwelt among us.” . Then, to keep close to /Jesus and His divine teaching we build our churches, for the church is the scene of the presence of Christ. It is Christ’s home among us, : His children, whom He. loves too well to leave orphans, and with whom He wills to “remain all days, even to the end of the world.” The infinite love of the Sacred Heart has made Our Lord and Our God choose countless homes with the children of earth, and with the completion and dedication of this Church of Our Lady of Peace, Christ crosses yet another threshold, and, coming into this new house of His, He sets up another throne on earth. Among your homes Christ now makes His; amid your humble roofs Ho raises His, for “His delight is to be with the children of men.” Whence, now, this loving condescension of Our God? The divine lips themselves make answer: “I have chosen and have sanctified this place, that My name may be there for. ever, and My eyes and My heart may remain there perpetually.” This church to-day becomes the house of God, and His house is the house of prayer, that noblest exercise of the soul of man.' For prayer these walls have been raised aloft, this roof has been placed overhead. For prayer, too, is this altar and its abiding Presence. And what are all ’the wonders and beauties of earth compared to the flowering of the soul in prayer? Divine in its origin and in- its encV the fruit of God’s special grace, prayer lifts our souls into the highest heavens. It is the delight of the angels to gather into golden vials every prayer-laden sigh 7>f our hearts, and to offer them as fragrant incense to God in heaven. Henceforth we can cry out with the servant of God: “Terrible is this place! It is the house of God and the vestibule of heaven.” In vision Jacob saw “a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven ; the angels of God ascending and descending by it” (Gen. xxviii., 11-12). This vision shadows forth to us the very features of this and every Catholic church. From this day forward, within these walls, man’s soul will be raised aloft to God by the ladder of prayer, whose top touches heaven itself, and downwards in holy haste will step the angelic bearers of Christ's reward of grace. This church now becomes the treasure-house of the infinite merits of Christ; for here, as from a throne of mercy, He will set flowing into our souls the sacramental torrents of grace. In the Old Law the tabernacle of skins, which the wandering tribes bore about with them, and later the temple of stone, of cedar, and of precious metals, were but figures of the Christian Church of the New Dispensation. In those dwelt the glory of God, but His favor rested upon prayer alone; nothing within those walls could touch the body" of man and heal his soul. With the New Law an “ampler and more perfect tabernacle" is ours, containing the deep fountain of pleasant and healing waters, flowing forth in seven-fold life-giving streams into our thirsting souls. Of those seven means of grace, with outward sign, ordained by Jesus- Christ, I need say but little. Nor is it necessary to remind you that henceforth this church will give roof and shelter to those living streams of sacramental grace, and that here the power of God will work in and through these divinely-appointed signs. - Here you will bring those tender souls, “new to earth

and sky,” that God will bless you with, and through the saving waters of Christ's Baptism you will usher them over the threshold of Christ’s Church and Kingdom of Heaven. Here, times without number, you will be led by God’s grace into the sacred tribunal of Penance, wherein the healing balm of Christ’s pitying Blood, will be gently applied to your world-weary, sin-stained souls. Humble and contrite of heart, fearful yet yearning for love, how many times will you, like the Magdalene, cast yourself before the feet of Jesus in the Sacrament of Penance, nor will you rise till His ambassador speaks the healing words of pardon. Then, reconciled to God, you will rise up in the joy of new spiritual life, and going forth with eyes lit with grace you will walk in lightness of heart, even as the paralytic whom Jesus bade to take up his bed and walk. From the tribunal of infinite mercy you will pass to the Banquet of infinite love. You will taste how sweet the Lord is;,you will eat of His Flesh and drink of His Blood, and you will have life in you, and Jesus will make His home with you. For all this, and very much more, is the Holy Eucharist, wherein is Jesus Himself for the food and life of our souls. Here, through the long years, the little lamp will burn, bearing in its light a wonderful message to your souls; here will the tabernacle long shelter the Prisoner of Love, and the. tiny ciborium encircle the precious manna of the New Covenant. Here will dwell your

best friend—a changeless, ever-faithful friend— Divine Presence as real, His hands as full of gifts, His patience as tireless, His Sacred Heart as loving, as when, so long ago, vfrom Mary’s arms He looked out on the world He came to .redeem. The angels linger here, for Jesus now is here, with His body, His blood, His soul, and His divinity. True, no visible halo rests upon this silent altar, yet it speaks to the heart of every Catholic of the great abiding I resence. With this supreme gift of Himself Jesus deigns to enrich and consecrate our church, and so no spot of the Holy Land, no scene of His Sacred Passion, is to us more sacred than this humble church and altar. This. church now is something even more than Christ’s home with us. It is the scene of that great Sacrifice of the Mass, that renewal of Calvary, the Sacrifice whose Priest and Victim is none other than Christ Himself. To apply the Sacrifice of the Cross, with all its infinite merits, to our souls, the Sacred Heart of Jesus thought of a plan, a plan that only infinite love and power could carry out. In a word, our Saviour decreed that the Sacrifice of the Cross should be renewed every day on our altars. “Do this Ho said, “in commemoration of Me.” Here now is the altar; here, too, is Calvary; and here in your midst will be carried out at the hands of Christ’s minister that great, solemn act of Sacrifice consummated on Calvary. True in the manner of the Sacrifice, this altar differs from Calvary, for now no weapon can pierce, Jesus but the sword of His own consecrating words. Yet, in essence, the Sacrifice of the Mass is the same as that of Calvary, is as mighty and august an oblation. Coming, then, to Mass, you come to bathe your souls in the copious, ever-flowing fountain of merit that gushes forth from the foot of the Cross. Your church is now another Bethlehem, another Nazareth, another Calvary. If this be so, then must there be with us here another Blessed Presence, since none of these sacred scenes is without Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We know this church to lie the home of Christ, and even as over that little home of Nazareth always presided the gentle Mother, so in this new homo shall we find the Blessed" Presence and loving welcome of Mary, Mother of God and of men. The truly Christian heart can no more separate Mary from Jesus than it can separate the Incarnation from the Deity. She it is that makes the Incarnation so real, so tender, so attractive; she it is that makes Jesus so near and dear to ns in His helpless infancy as in His helpless agony on the Cross. This church, then, will be Mary’s home, as it is the home of her Son ; and, being Mary’s home, it is the home of us all, for all are now brothers'of Jesus Christ and the children of Mary. Yet, in a very special manner will this church be Our Lady’s home; for to her, as Queen of Peace, is this church dedicated, and the blessed name of Our Lady of Peace this church will always bear. May the Queen of Peace, then, bless and protect you ; may she dwell with her Son in the minds and hearts of all that have made sacrifices for this house of God and may she inspire even greater sacrifices, richer offerings. Above ajl f pj ay, with St. Paul, that through her-loving intercession, “The Lord of Peace Himself may give you everlasting peace in every place” (2 Tliess. iii., 16). In the evening, Vespers and Benediction ; the sermon being preached by the Very Rev. Father O’Donnell, of Gore. Both morning and evening the spacious new church was crowded, visitors having come from all parts of the district. STYLE AND DIMENSIONS. The building, which has been erected by Mr. Daniel Boyd from plans prepared by Mr. H. Mandeno, registered architect, Dunedin, is of solid construction. The walls are of concrete and plastered both inside and outside, the roof is covered with red Abbotsford tiles. The interior of the building is of chaste design, the walls are very lightly tinted in a .soft creamy shade, the glass in the windows is of light straw Flemish, and this all harmonises with the oiled wood and brown stained ceiling, and produces a pleasing, soft tone throughout the body of the church. The sanctuary is of, the simplest finish, but the -tinted walls and white-painted wooden ceiling give a delightful setting for the beautiful marble altar. Several important additions have, been made to the building since the original tender was accepted. A gallery for the choir has been added at the western end of the nave; this is reached by a neat figured rod pine staircase, and the front of the gallery is finished with a plain wooden baluslrading to match the other woodwork in the gallery. The marble altar in the sanctuary is also an addition to the original plans. This Is really a most beautiful piece of workmanship, and was constructed, by Mr. J. Tait, sculptor, of Christchurch, from designs submitted by Mr. Mandeno. The marble vised is chiefly white Carrara, but this is. relieved by introducing panels of mottled . red below the table, with supporting ■ columns of green. New Zealand serpentine. The whole of the-Shelves above .the table and the panelled reredos behind

the tabernacle are constructed. of white Carrara. The whole effect is most beautiful, and the simplicity gives an added t m of The L —" e “ °5 018 desi e"> tli correct propS' Stri fe' • Panels > I reredos > and tabernacle give in the va j" fes of design, and , show .up the beautiful grain Ikar thTt 6 m a way h if, h is not possible in a small hi “7 18 T- r . y ornate. : The tabernacle iis surmounted; hnJWIT, : n ° Py / hlCh , 1S m keepin S with the main motif. The building is designed to., accommodate about 175 on the floor l th fl 6 " ave ’ kut there-must have been about 200 people on the floor, of the church on Sunday; they were not overcrowded, and what was also very satisfactory was the good tlf td l ln of the building. The universal opinion was that the whole design was very successful, and it will undoubtedly be a notable addition to the many fine country churches which have been erected from time to time by the Catholic community,- throughout, New Zealand. .vf