REQUIEM MASS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 April 1939, Page 7

REQUIEM MASS

FURTHER TRIBUTES TO LATE MR LYONS IMPRESSIVE CEREMONY IN MELBOURNE. BURIAL AT DEVONPORT TODAY. By Telegraph—Press Assoeia'lon —Copyright. MELBOURNE, April 12. The widow of the late Prime Minister. Mr J. A. Lyons, and three of his elder children, flew to Melbourne from Sydney today, where the children attended a Requiem Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, which was thronged by 5000 people. Father Mannix was the celebrant. Sir Earle Page, the Prime Minister, some members of the Federal Cabinet, the leader of the Federal Opposition, Mr Curtin, and the former GovernorGeneral, Sir Isaac Isaacs, were present. Melbourne has rarely seen a ceremony of such moving solemnity as the Requiem Mass in St Patrick's. The panegyric was preached by the administrator of the cathedral, the Very Rev Dr Lyons, who said in conclusion that the late Prime Minister had been called to his reward on the day his Divine Master carried His cross and died on it. “This great crowd is gathered here to pay tribute and offer gratitude to me who will be remembered among the great ones 'of this young Australia," ne concluded. Thousands stood outside the cathedral in drizzling rain while the mass was proceeding. Dame Lyons was not well enough to attend. The burial of Mr Lyons will take place at Devonport tomorrow afternoon. Members of the Cabinet at present in Melbourne will fly to Devonport in the morning. NEW ZEALAND SYMPATHY. NATIONAL PARTY MESSAGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The following cable message, expressing the sympathy of the New Zealand National Party at the death of the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Lyons has been sent to the Deputy-Prime Minister of Australia. Sir Earle Page, by the leader of the Party, Mr Hamilton: — "To ' the Government and to the people of Australia I wish to express ■ny own profound regret and that of every member of the National Party in New Zealand at the passing of Mr Lyons. Memories of his great qualities as a leader, his genuine appreciation of the rights of British people under democratic government, and his fearless defence of those, rights, his intense patriotism and his personal example of good citizenship remain as a great inspiration. Not only Australia, but also the whole of the British Empire, has lost a sincere and able statesman. Please convey to Dame Enid my expression of sincerest sympathy with heri and with her family, in their great loss.”