The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1887. A NOBLE WORK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1514, 23 March 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1887. A NOBLE WORK.

The work initiated m Christchurch something like two years ago by the Rev Father Ginaty, for the rescue of fallen women, is oneofsochristian-like and humane a character as to appeal to the sympathies not only of all Christian people, but of all men, of whatever creed, or even of no creed at all. For the enterprise Is a catholic one, m its broadest sense, knowing no distinction as to race or faith, the one only condition which entitles to the shelter of the Magdalen Asylum being the need of that shelter, succor being unhesitatingly afforded to all who stand m need of tf. The foundation stone of the Asylum was laid, it will be* remembered, by His Eminence Cardinal Morao m February of last year, and towards the cost of the buildings there had been contributed, up to the end of September list (the latest date to which we have financial particulars), the sum °f -£35°8 X 4S > °f which is derived from the Maxwell bequest, and two sums, of £700 and ;£ioo respectively, donated by ladies not resident m New Zealand, so that up to the date mentioned it would seem that exclusive of the Maxwell bequest the total contributed m the colony amounted to some only. We do not know what amount has been raised since September, but we learn from a circular issued by the Rev Father Ginaty. that over m all will be required to enable the contemplated plan of his great undertaking to be fully carried out. There would thus seem to be a balance of some £7000 yet to be provided, and although this may appear a large sum, yet it is one which might easily be raised by the general public by the exercise of a very small measure of selfdenial, scarcely a week passing during which the people of the colony do not throw away upon all sorts of luxuries and indulgences, some even of a harmful sort, twice or perhaps thrice this amount. That the Asylum has strong claims to aid, even though it be at the exercise of some selfdenial, will be cordially admitted by all who are cognisant with j the principles and plan upon which it is conducted (for pending the completion of the new buildings the 1 work is being cariied on at Christchurch m temporal y premises on a smaller scale), and the good which it and similar institutions have already effected. These institutions are under the management of tbe Sisters of the Order

of the Good Shepherd, whose system is based on classification and separation which cannot well be carried out at such institutions as the State Reformatory at Burnham. ,- The scheme of the Mount Magdalen Asylum indeed extends not only to the shelter and reclamation of failen women, but of neglected and criminal children, whom it is designed to rescue from criminal surroundings and to reform and educate aright. Under the system of the Sisters, says Father Ginaty, " the simply neglected and outcast are completely separated from the really criminal and immoral, and an endeavour will be made to instil into their minds an idea of the nobility and dignity of womanhood, so that, once habituated to virtue, they may come away good women and good mothers." And as regards the adult recipienls of the aid of such institutions it does not necessarily follow that to be qualified for admission they must be "fallen" women, m the generally-accepted sense of that term, that is to say women who have lapsed from the paths of virtue m a particular way; some, indeed, enter the Asylum to save themselves from becoming " unfortunates," others to save themselves from the appetite for drink, other because they are old, feeble, and destitute. " The waifs and the wanderers who are rescued from the paths of misery and sin by the Sisters are not asked to what creed they belong. It- is sufficient th?t they need succour." Only such questions are asked by the Sisters who receive the applicant as suffice to satisfy them that the latter is a fit object for the charity of the institution. Then she is admitted, warmly clad, comfortably lodged, and plainly, but abundantly fed, and her sad story (it may be of sin) is known only to the two Sisters by whom she is received and the Superioress of the Institution, a new name being given to her by which she is known so long as she remains an inmate. " She is commanded not to speak of her past lite to the others, such speech being neither profitable nor expedient. Only too glad is the poor creature to promise obedience, rejoicing to find that her identity is to ha hidden." Nor is the inmate compelled to remain longer than she desires to do. "At any time she chooses, a woman may leave the convent on three days' notice, but she leaves it unprovided for and m the clothes m which she entered. At the end of two years she is provided with a neat outfit, and, with a pound note m her pocket, she sets forth to try her fortune once more m the world. The Sisters prefer this mode to themselves finding situations for the " children ;" as unless the child betrays herself, no one need know where she has come from or whst she was formerly. Indeed, the whole scope of the work is aimed at a sweeping and washing away, a blotting out of the past, a cleansing of the very tablets of the memory." An institution of this kind at Abbotsford, Victoria, which began the work under four Sisters of the Order of the Good Shepherd, has now 80 Sisters engaged m it, while the inmates number 640. "The Order is established m England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and other countries. The ladies who join the Sisterhood, we find, coxne mostly from the ranks 01 the highest nobility. Indeed, with the great spirit of Christian philanthropy and desire to atone for the sins of their sex, they take up the life of devotion. The Order is everywhere. There is none that is more patronised, for its doors are never closed to a fallen woman of any denomination ; she has only to come and ask to be taken m, and the good it does is incalculable." For the particulars quoted above we are indebted to circulars and papers forwarded to us by the Ray. Father Ginaty, who is making an earnest appeal to the benevolent throughout the colony on behalf of the institution which he has founded m Christchurch. We feel sure that that appeal will not be made m vain, and hope that the charitablydisposed m this district will not be unmindful of the claims of the Mount Magdala Asylum.