ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, GERALDINE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2330, 15 March 1892, Page 3

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, GERALDINE.

ARRIVAL OF THE BISHOP. The Right Rev. Dr. Grimes, Bishop of the diopese of Christchurch, arrived at Orari by Saturday’s express. There were present to escort him to Geraldine a large procession of members of St. Mary’s Church, in vehicles, numbering about 30, and several riding on horses. His Lordship was driven in a carriage with a pair of greys, lent by Mr A. White, and with him were Fathers Le Peti (Temuka), Tupnpm (Timaru), an(J Treacy. Half an hour after his arrival in Geraldine His Lordship made his Episcopal Visitation to the church, and on the threshold of the door was met by members of the Church, the following address of welcome being read to him by Mr dames Kajaugher i The Right Rev. Du. Chimes, SAL, Bishop oh CuuiSTCUujuc.il. My Loud, —We, the priest and people of Geraldine, extend our hearty welcome to you on this your second Episcopal Visitation to our parish- We recognise m Your Lordship the representative of our most Holy Father the Pope, and our Spiritual Father in God. We, in common with the other members of your diocese, felt regret at your forced absence from our midst, and have now jp express our great joy at .your return in gpbd health, and hope that Your Lordship i may long continue to enjoy that blessing.

We followed your movements at Home, and noted with pleasure the result of your visit to His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. Since your iv. turn we have had further proof of your solicitude for the welfare of your flock in the fact of your visits to the different parishes. We regret that owing to the improvements which have been made in the church we have been unable to invite you to our parish before. Your Lordship will be pleased to learn that since the arrival of the Rev. Father Treacy a long-standing debt has been paid off, and extensive additions made to • the church. In the collecting of money for these objects onr priest has been obliged to make considerable pecuniary sacrifices, and has been put to a great deal of trouble. In conclusion, we hope that Your Lordship may long be spared health and strength to carry on the work in your diocese, and to enable you to perform the arduous duties connected with your Episcopal position, and ask your blessing on ourselves and our family. Signed, on behalf of the people of the parish— Patrick Treacy, Kyran Brophy, Timothy Sugrue, Jeremiah Connolly, Edmund Burke, Micheal Connolly, P. H. McShane, Timothy Herlihy. After ascending to the sanctuary the rev. gentleman thanked the members of the church for the right royal, or more correctly speaking, Homan Catholic welcome which they had given him when he crossed the threshold of their parish on his episcopal visitation. They had met him at the door of the church and spoken to him in words of love and loyalty, and, as they had put it themselves they recognised in him the representative of the father of the church, Hope Leo XIII. It was not merely because of his position that he accepted their welcome, but becuse they had come to him making a profession of faith—it was the outward manifestation of their inward feelings. It was that faith enabled their forefathers to sacrifice everything, even to land, home, and country, to transmit to those who followed, that precious inheritance which they rightly deemed to be more than all the world beside. So in their welcome they paid a tribute to the holy principles of faith. He thanked them for their kind and cordial expressions regarding his health, and furthermore for the prayers they had offered for him during his absence. He was pleased to see that the efforts of their devoted priest united with their generosity had provided such a beautiful building which would bring honour and glory to God to whom it was dedicated. He was glad to see the increased accommodation. The church was really too small before, but now it was one which would be the pride and glory of Geraldine. When he first came to these parts there was some hesitation before enlarging the church at Geraldine, and it was considered hardly necessary, but he found now that there had been the necessity to increase it two fold. He need not in his presence pass any eulogiums on their priest, but he thought that the fact of his having cleared the church of debt, and improved it as it now was, would be the the best praise a Bishop could make use of. The Bishop then explained the object of his visitation, and the church laws with respect to the visitation of a Bishop, and' afterwards spoke on the question of State aid to Catholic Schools. He considered that where as in England, Ireland, and other places in Europe, Catholic Schools were placed on an equal footing with other schools, the Government of New Zealand were treating them very unfairly. He urged every Catholic present to give his vote only to those members of Parliamei: t who would fight for their rights. He was quite sorry ~to see so many Catholic children before him without a school of their own, for children required spiritual education not only once a week, but every day in the week.

THE DEDICATION, On Sunday morning at 8 o’clock a mass was held, His Lordship conducting. The weather was very wet, but the attendance was large. At eleven o’clock, when the weather had cleared up, the church was full of people who had assembled to witness the dedication of the church to God. His Lorship read the Ist Espistle to the Thessalonians, iv., 1 to 7, and the Gospel of St. Matthew,xvii., 1 to 9, and afterwards preached an eloquent sermon on the transfiguration of Christ, winding up with reference to the tabernacle of old and the temple of to-day. The time had long since come with the fulfilment of Christ’s words with regard to the Temple of God. That day they had met to ' witness a fulfilment of the divinely inspired words. They had a small building, but God in His infinite goodness accepted such as a temporary habitation for Himself, and His tabernacle. They had united with their devoted priest in longing for something better to present before God, and the day had come when they could dedicate si now temple to God, although not one as erected by their forefathers of old, who had wealth at their disposal. Their temple would henceforth be a house of prayer, and not only a house of prayer, for the whole earth should he a place of prayer. Every thought and every action should be ad many prayers raising as it were from the visible to the invisible. God, however, had exacted that there should be a place of prayer erected, but they wanted something more, they wanted a House of God—the Tabexmacle of God with men—a home fpy all the faithful. This was what their church would be from that day forward—a of God. It was this that made the Catholic Church what it is. What, he asked, was it that gave strength to a Father Damien and those who had made themselves lepers for the lepers of the earth 1 What ap:; 0 them such heroism ? The t" oernaclo of the Catholic Clpyrch, and the House of the Tabernacle. What made those Sisters of Mercy go out into the battle fields 1 Again it was the Tabernacle. What made the Catholic Priesthood what it is, and made young men give up home and all that was dear to them and consecrate to God their bodies, senses, faculties, and powers ( It was the Tabernacle and the Altar. He wished that the Temples they were building wove a million times hotter than they were, but God was satisfied so long as they did their best. During this service mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father Lo Petij the Rev. Father

Tupman being M.-.ster of Ceremonies. His Lordship the Bishop presided, assisted by the Rev. Father Treacy. A collection was taken up at the conclusion, which proved very satisfactory, leaving the church free of debt. CONFIRMATION. In the afternoon at 4 o’clock there was even a larger attendance than in the forenoon, and every seat in the building was occupied. Presented for the Sacrament of Confirmation were fifty-six persons, comprising four adults, and of young people 26 females and 26 males. His Lordship examined the young subjects minutely in their knowledge of the Christian doctrine, and the facility with which they answered his questions showed that they had been well trained by Father Treacey. His Lordship gave them praise for their knowledge, and addressed them on the obligations they would take upon themselves in Confirmation. Christ had promised to send them the paraclete, the Comforter, which would give them understanding of right and wrong. They had received God’s virtue, which would enable them to avoid evil and choose the good. He closed hisdiscourse by advising them to be constant in prayer, morning and evening. The sacrament of confirmation was then administered by His Lordship to the subjects, after which he imparted to the congregation the Papal Benediction, which it is customary for a Bishop to do on his first visit to a parish after his return from Rome. During the several services, the choir, which was seated in the gallery, with Mrs Willoughby at the instrument, sang at intervals, and seemed to please the audience very much. The church had a very pleasing appearance when filled with people and with all the candles on the altar lit. On the recommendation of the Bishop the congregation intend immediately to go on with the erection of a spire and other alterations which will add more beauty to the building. The Bishop will stay for a few days in Gqraldine, and will be in Temuka in the course of two weeks.