LATE BISHOP GRIMES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2419, 26 March 1915, Page 6

LATE BISHOP GRIMES

YESTERDAY'S BURIAL SERVICE. (By Tclegr&nh.—Press Association.) Christchurch, March 25. Tho interment ol' the remains of the late Right Rev. John Joseph Grimes,. D.D., first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, took place this morning in the Chapel of the Holy Souls, within the Cathedral that was the fruit of the Bishop's untiring efforts ill his lifetime. A large and representative assembly not only of adherents of the Church of which deceased was the head in Christ-, church, but of citizens and public institutions, filled the spacious cathedral in all parts, and thero were no vacaut places when the solemn tolling of the bell heralded the sad service. Funeral marches by Beethoven and Chopin pealed from tho organ before the service started, followed later by "I Know. That My Redeemer Liveth." A higher Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop Cleary (Auckland), assisted by the Rev. Dean Hills, administrator of the diocese of Christchurch. The obsequies' occupied two hours, and at the conclusion the coffin was borne by a number of Hibernians to the Chapel of tho Holy Souls, and there; reverently, tho Bishop was laid in his last resting-place. • Archbishop O'Shea prefaced his panegyric of tho deceased by expressing the thanks of the Roman Catholic commtin-: ity for the kind sympathy they had received from tho whole of the citizons They were especially grateful to his Ex-, cellency the Governor, to the Prima Minister, to the Mayor of Christchurch, and to other public men for kind messages they had sent.' A gnat calamity, he said, had befallen the Christcliurch diocese, and in consequence their hearts were sad. Their beloved Bishop, who for nearly eight and'twenty'-years had ruled over the diocese, had been called to his reward. After a long and energetic life passing the allotted spaiij he had laid down the burden, and the diocese was in mourning. Although it was hard to' realise that that strong' heart had ceased to beat-, and that active brain would plan no more, they were assembled there in that beautiful building which the late Prelate raised with such loving care, to. render their last tribute of respect to all that was mortal of the first Bishop of Christchurch. Archbishop o'Snea dealt 'at some length with tho life and work olthe late Bishop, sketching his career from the time of his birth in Kent_ in 1842 .till the time of his death, dwelling particularly on the unceasing labours by which he had brought the_ diocosa during his episcopate to what it is today. .No wonder, he said, the great Cathedral would always bo looked upon as a monument to the first Bishop of Christchurch--the Bishop that had achieved all he had achieved must been no ordinary man, and Bishop Grimes was no ordinary man. He was endowed with qualities of head and heart abovo his fellows. He was a man of strong personality and disposition that mad© him friends everywhere—not only among his own people, but among people of all creeds and,classes. He was a man of tireless energy, and there was little that escaped his attention. He had a great love for this young country, and predicted great success for it in the. , future. He took a lively interest in the city of ChristchuTch, and was never tired of taking visitors around and showing them its many places of beauty His zeal for God's glory was what carried him through everything.