Commonwealth Notes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 30, 16 July 1924, Page 33

Commonwealth Notes

NEW SOUTH WALES. At the last meeting of the committee of the Catholic Evidence Guild, it was announced that his Grace Most Rev. Dr. Sheehan, Coadjutor-Archbishop of Sydney, had consented to his election to the post of President of the Guild. It is well known that Dr. Sheehan is a scholar of a high order, whose wide and deep knowledge will be of invaluable assistance to the work of the Catholic Evidence Guild. The Feast of Corpus Christi, that glorious occasion of public manifestation by members of the Church of their belief in the Real-Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, was celebrated solemnly, withal, joyously, at St. Patrick’s College, Manly, on Sunday last (says the Catholic Press for June 26). It was a magnificent demonstration of loyalty and devotion to the Divine Victim, and it must always be a questionable matter whether this feast, one of the Church’s great festivals, is celebrated anywhere with greater fervor than that which is shown at Manly. Over 40,000 people participated in the celebrations, and the intensity of their devotion was deeply impressive. The Bishop of Port Augusta (the Right Rev. A. Killian, D.D.), in response to the presentation of an illuminated address from the priests of the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese, of which he was the late administrator, said he deeply prized the fine friendship and genuine goodwill expressed in every sentence of . the address. He would always hold in affectionate recollection his many happy years in the great bushland in the west of New South Wales. He left that portion of Australia em_braced=~in the vast territory of Wilcannia-Forbes diocese with genuine pangs of regret. Those Who lived in the crowded city parishes of the eoa»t regarded the great lone back country as a nightmare. But he, and those whose feeling .towards him prompted the address, knew that the person who would attune his soul to the real spirit of -Australia must live outbagk. In no place was this spirit more to be found than in'the great diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes. v , VICTORIA. Splendid enthusiasm marked the notable series of functions, religious and social, held in connection with the sacerdotal diamond jubilee of Right Rev. Mgr. Shanahan, P.P., which was celebrated _at Hamilton on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 24 and 25. The festivities were very largely attended, visitors being present from all portions of the parish and the diocese of Ballarat, and from various parts of the State. - The death occurered towards the end of last month of the Rev. Father Charles Conlon, who was appointed parish priest of RingAvood in December. He was also parish priest at Drysdale for several years, and at different times * was stationed at Geelong, Clifton Hiil, Castlemaine, and Nprth Fitzroy. He was ordained to the priesthood ’ in* AH .■ Hallows College,. Ireland. Father Conlon was attached to the Melbourne iarchdiocese, for about 18 years. The Rev. Father^M.- Conlon, of Ballarat East, is his brother." A Requiem ( Mass' was celebrated ; at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, at which his Grace the (Archbishop, of Melbourne presided. i jv'.-.; '"•* ’ ~.. • *■’ On Sunday afternoon, -22nd lilt., the foundation stone of St. Dominic’s new church-school, . East Camberwell, which is in charge of the Dominican Fathers, -was blessed and laid by his Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Rev. Dr. Manriix, assisted by the Right Rev. Dr. McCarthy, Bishop of Sandhurst. During the course of an eloquent address, the Very Rev. Prior Hogan, 0.P., said that it was exactly 700 years ago since the first Dominicans went to Ireland, and 25 years ago three Fathers came to Adelaide, as pioneers of the Order in Australia. They were under the leadership and guidance of one who is known throughout Australia as the Most Rev, Robert William Spence, 'Archbishop; of Adelaide. “Last year the Dominicans celebrated their silver jubilee in Australia,” continued Prior Hogan, and your Grace has further honored it by giving us a foundation in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, as his . Grace the Archbishop of Sydney also honors® it by

giving us a-house in his archdiocese.” Prior Hogan then announced- that the total debt was - £13,699, of which £6IBB was a parochial debt. The ground for a church, the school, and possibly a convent, had been purchased for £4299. The cost of the church-school would be about £2999, but he had every confidence in the generosity of the-people that the debt would soon be substantially reduced. QUEENSLAND. The annual Corpus Christi procession at the spacious grounds of Nudgee College is always a very popular event, and great crowds of devout worshippers attend it. This year’s celebration was indeed a very memorable one, judging from the immensity of the assembly and the enthusiasm which prevailed. It w r as an inspiring, a soul-stirring spectacle. Throughout the vast assembly an emotion silent and intense was evident, an emotion that welled up from the fountain of that deep reverential faith which has taken a steadfast hold of the people of Brisbane, and which affords ample evidence of its sincerity and genuineness in the Sunday attendance at Mass, and in the frequentation of the Sacraments. The Blessed Sacrament was carried by his Grace the Archbishop. The whole atmosphere of the place resounded with- the devotional chanting of sacred hymns, sung by the processionists, accompanied by the sweet - strains of music rendered by the famous St. James’s Brass Band. The procession passed round the oval enclosure of the college grounds. -When the Blessed Sacrament arrived at the artistically-erected altar, which was beautifully adorned with candles, r flowers, palms and streamers, the multitude knelt, and a spell of soul-inspiring silence prevailed for a few moments, which was broken suddenly by the strains'of the “0 Salutaris.” The setting of the picture was truly enthralling. After Benediction his Grace the Archbishop delivered a very eloquent and appropriate address, 'in which he . pointed out., that the wonderful gatherings brought vividly before one’s mind the Gospel story .of ■ the 'multitude that pressed round the Divine Master during the days of His public ministry on earth. We are. no less favored than 7 those multitudes, for we, too, have walked with Christ, and pressed round about Him. The multitudes of old. recognised His Divinity, veiled under human form. We recognise it under the veil of the Sacred Host, and Ave believe in His presence amongst us under that form as really as His Disciples believed in the Divine Presence hidden under the humanity which Christ had assumed; in order that He might,walk amongst men, talk to them, and die for them. Very Rev. Father O’Reilly, Provincial of the Marist Fathers, New Zealand, was a guest of his Grace the Archbishop in “Dara” during a recent weekf Father O’Reilly early in the week paid a visit to Lismore, for the purpose of inspecting the site of the, proposed ooys’ college, which will probably be opened early in 1926, and which will be conducted by the Marist Fathers. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Very Rev. Father Hogan and Rev. Father McEvoy, 0.P., who have been on a brief visit to Adelaide, returned to Melbourne, where-they have been recently transferred to the new Dominican House at East Camberwell, on Thursday, June 12. Prior to their departure, they were given a farewell by the parishioners of North Adelaide. ' The Rev P. R. McCaffrey, 0.C.C., Alberton, is compiling a history of the Irish and English provinces of the Carmelite'Older. He expects to leave in about six months’ time for Ireland and Rome with a view to consulting documents . and records in Europe. Father McCaffrey was attached to the Carmelite Priory, Port Melbourne, for a number of years. frfrfrThe chaste ; heart is like the 7 mother-pearl, that can receive no drop of water but such as comes from Heaven. —St. Francis of Sales.