The Obsequies of the Late Dean McKenna

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 29, 20 July 1922, Page 22

The Obsequies of the Late Dean McKenna

(By telegraph from an esteemed correspondent.) The obsequies on Tuesday morning, the 11th inst., of the late Dean McKenna were surrounded by every manifestation of affection and respect. Representatives from every portion of Taranaki were present. About one hundred journeyed from Hawera, where the late Dean had spent the first three years of his priestly life. Very Rev. Dean Power was celebrant of the Solemn Requiem Mass; Rev. Father Vincent Kelly being deacon; Rev. Father Fraher, subdeacon; and Rev. Father Mark Devoy, ■S.M., master of ceremonies. In the choir were Very Rev. Deans Holley, S.M. (Provincial), and T. McKenna, Rev. v atheis Ireacy, Maples, Prendergast, Cahill. G. Mahonv, S.M., McManus, Moloney, S.M., J. Kelly, O’Dwyer, Sanaderson J. Moore, N. Moore, Doolaghtv, Harnett, Menard, S.M., Ginisty, S.M., Daly, Fitzgibbon, J. Power, McLaughlin, Kennedy, Dillon, Sweeney, Butler, Moran, and Reardon. The funeral cortege was led by the school children dressed in whit© with black sashes,' the Children of Mary 11 regalia, the Sisters of the Missions from all parts of Taranaki, and the priests in cassock and surplices. One hundred Hibernians in regalia formed a guard of honor, the pall-bearers being Messrs. McHardy, Jones, Bennett, 31 dnuix, Henderson, and O’Shea. Masses for the repose of the soul of the late Dean had heeu celebrated in the church and convent chapel from six until nine 'o’clock. At the Solemn Requiem the sublime music of the Gregorian Chant was sung by a full choir of priests, with lather Moloney at the organ. As the funeral left the church the “Dead March” from “Saul” was plaved by Mr. Dobson. The singing at the graveside of the “Benedictus, arranged for six voices, was very devotional and moving. Dean Power, a friend of the ’ deceased for 40 years, gave the absolution, and conducted the last sacred rites. The priests express their gratitude to the veuerable Archdeacon Evans, of the Anglican, Church, and to the Rev. Mr. Oswald, of the Presbyterian Church, for their sympathy, to the municipality who had ordered the line of procession to be kept free of traffic, and indeed to the whole of the people of New Plymouth who, with every mark of sympathy and respect, lined the whole route. Rev. lather McManus preached a. panegyric which touched the hearts of the assembled multitude: It is my sad task (he said) to give expression to the common sorrow that is ours on the death of Dean Me£ewaiV- <)r 36 years he had labored in the archdiocese or Wellington; three of.these years were spent in Hawera and 33 in the parish of New Plymouth. It is no/wonder! then that after such a long span of fruitful and selfsacrificing service in your midst you should feel so keenly the tremendous loss you have Many of vou, no doubt most of you, received - the Sacrament of Baptism at his hands. The seedling of holy faith then planted m your souls was developed under his instruction in the church and in the schools, and will some day, please God, ripen into the fruit of eternal life. You are his debtors in time, you will be his debtors in eternity. When sorrow and trouble visited your homes (and few homes are tree from sorrow) there was one friend would anply the healing,'balm to your ’bleeding wounds; , one who was clothed with the character of; Christ would blend the supernatural graces of Christ’s compassion with your sorrow and distress. When the angel of death visited your ■ home to call away some loved one, your pastor stood beside ,the ..bed ■of death to impart the sacramental graces which would strengthen and sustain the soul in that awful moment, and to soothe the sorrow of the bereaved ones who were left., In the early days of your provincial settlement, when in many parts there were neither roads-nor bridges, Dean McKenna, surmounting obstacles that were neli-mgh insurmountable, like -the, early missionaries.. carried religion; into the homes of those ,who would otherwise have been bereft of the . priceless heritage. ; The hardships ior . these ; early years no doubt told t upon his constitution,

but, though they crushed the body they could not quell the fires of zeal that burned within the soul. For the past eight or nine years you saw him in your midst broken in' body, a physical wreck of his former self, but fired with one idea, to live for God. and to labor for His people; to die in harness, to spend himself and to be spent in the service of his Master Jesus Christ. What lessons of zeal and self-sacrifice have been crowded into the last eight years of his life! No need to recount them, for yourselves are witnesses of them. One lesson must have burned itself into your souls, the lesson derived from circumstances under which he celebrated his last Mass. When, perhaps, you are, tempted to excuse yourselves from the obligation of assisting at Holy Mass owing to the pressure of work or state of your health,,, this vision of this priest of God at the altar fighting against, death that he might offer for you the Holy Sacrifice, will rise as an accuser to compel you to discharge your duty, and to save you from mortal sin. Well may you thank God that you have had in your midst and for so long a time a priest who was a saint. The modern reformer and the philanthropist is never tired of recommending to others the application of those theories which are to save the race; Dean McKenna was ever mindful of the apostolic injunction attendi tibi—begin with yourself when he had learned the lessons of .sanctity and adduced them to practice in his own life, then he could recommend them with confidence to' the lives of others. He was in truth “the good shepherd who gives his life for his flock.’ Wherever he labored in New Plymouth, Stratford, Inglewood, Waitara he built churches, schools, and convents which will remain monuments to his zeal. There is one monument more dear to God and the priestly soul of your pastorthe monument of love in the hearts of his .people, erected there by his devotion to duty, and above all, his love and care for the little ones of his flock. In the long years of his sojourn amongst you you saw what manner of man he was. You noted his zeal for the glory of God, you were impressed by his self-sacrifice and devotion to duty, you listened to the words of wisdom which fell from his lips in his Sunday sermons; but there was one aspect of his saintly character which only those who were privileged to live under his roof could fully understand, namely, his devotion to the hidden life of Jesus Christ; he reproduced in his own life, as perfectly as human frailty will permit, the hidden life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. In the quiet seclusion of his own room he loved to read and meditate upon the hidden life of Jiis Master and Model. When the people were at their amusements or taking their rest, lsean McKenna was kneeling in the church before the Blessed Sacrament studying the hidden life of Jesus where that hidden life has reached the highest perfection of triumphant love. Without wishing to obtrude a personal note, the preacher thanked God that the first years of his life as a priest were spent in New Plymouth under the Dean’s fatherly guidance and direction. He sympathised with the parishioners on the great loss they had suffered, frith his brother priests to whom the. late Dean was ever a burning and a shining light, and with his Grace the Archbishop, who had lost a prudent and wise counsellor. He concluded by recommending the soul of the dead to the pious prayers of the people. Notwithstanding the well-assured hope and trust that he was already in the enjoyment of the beatific vision it would be a great comfort to his bereaved parishioners to feel though his Christlike heart is stilled in death the zeal which characterised his ministry on earth is not quenched but intensified in heaven.