A STEAM CATHEDRAL ON THE AMAZON.

Te Aroha News, Volume 1, Issue 18, 6 October 1883, Page 3

A STEAM CATHEDRAL ON THE AMAZON.

There have often been missionary ships nn<l final ing churches, hut it has been reserved for the Cutholic Bishop ot' Para and Amazonas to propose to combine the two by building a lar^e mis sionuiy church to ply with steam upon the Amazon. The following glowing account is given of the Bishop's suggestion : — The floating church will bo dedicated wholly and exclusively to missionary purposes. It will be built by the most skilled artificers of Em ope and superbly decorated and adorned, lhe rarest and most precious woods with which the Amazonian va'ley abound pino in grain and varied i > colour, will wainscot the sacred interior. At one end will shine forth the alter, with its gilded reredos and glittering tabernacle, containing the Most Blessed Sacrament, and surrounded with the usual ornaments and tapers. This new floating cathedral — this. ." .Basilicanaval "—" — will, of course, possess its pulpit and confessional, its organ and baptismal font, and all the ornaments of church furniture requisite not merely for the decent, but even for the solemn and splended exercise of Catholic rites. In the lower portion of the ship a suitable room or cabin will be prepared for the Ordinary of the diocese, and a sufficient number for the priests attached to the missionary ship, as well as the usual accommodation for the necessary sailors and naval officers. The whole structure will be dedicated as soon as completed, to the .Blessed {Sacrament, and will be called Christopher (or Christbearer). Propelled by steam, and drawing but little water, it will carry the zealous missionaries along the great natural highway to the most distant parts of the country — as far as Bolivia, and Peru, Eucadar, and Columbia and Venezuela, and even to the more distant European colonies of Guayana. The dulcet sounds ot the swelling organ accompanying the soft, sonorous chant of the priests, will sp cad over the tranquil surface of the river, and give notice of the approach oi" Christ, ambulans suptr aquas. From time to time the good fathers will stop at convenient places, where the people will be collected to receive instruction and exhortation, where their children will be baptised, and where all who desire it will have an opportunity, now scarcely ever afforded, of going to Confession and Holy Communion. Mass will be celebrated with much pomp and circumstance withinthe hallowed precincts of the anchored church, and all will be invited to attend. After a time regular stations will probably be formed from one extremity to the other, which will be visited at certain stated intervals.