PROPOGATION OF THE FAITH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 19, 6 September 1873, Page 12

PROPOGATION OF THE FAITH.

{Concluded). Writing in May, 1872, our zealous Jesuit Father, says — '-'I spent Holy week in attending to a Mission ; and, having aleo visited Christians at two places. I returned to Virdoupatty on the 12th April, intending to go and baptize the catechumens of a village who hod been for three months expecting me. But a new deputation having arrived the next day from Vatrape, I yielded to the desire I nad long entertained of making an excursion into these mountainous regions $ and, consequently, we commenced our journey on the 15th " From Virdoupatty the road goes right to the west, for a dieT° c ° f twen |y ™les f meeting halfway my great Christian settlement ot Vellour; then, we enter a magnificent valley, ten milea wide by nfteen deep, shut in on all sides, except the east, by a range of lofty mountains. It is separated from the village of Cambam by a chain ot mountains, which foot passengers can cross m half a day's journey As it is very fertile 1 , it is also well peopled j there are about twenty large villages. The principal of these is Vatrape, giving its name to the valley, occupying the centre, and serving as the residence of » native inferior magistrate. The whole centre of the valley is covered with rice grounds watered by streams, and beautiful forests shade the sides of the hills. Being anxious to gain a good knowledge of the fine country, I journeyed along by easy stages from one wood to another, till I came to the last place in the valley, a village called Kanoussaboaram. It was from this the deputation had come in search of me. I passed by the one where formerly dwelt the Saliers of Madura, and saw their cemetery, still marked out by about thirty granite crosses. I also visited the site of their church ; it is not of much importance, and would be of little use to me even if I converted some of the villages. "Since these Saliars emigrated, there has not been a single Catholic in the valley, only some Protestants have formed an indepdent under a name which corresponds to the English ' free Church ' Their first minister, deceasod three years ago, was a Hindoo of the Pallers caste, named John Podaghea. An Engliihman, who had adopted and educated him, when about to return to Europe, left him a considerable quantity of land in the valley and a good sum of money on condition of devoting himself to the propagation of the pure Gospel in the country. John preached his Gospel assidously for some time under the authority of the Anglican ministers of Timsevelly, bat afterwards fell out with them and set up a separate sect. For twenty years, he was virtually king of the valley. He had in his pay thirty catechists, arid his adherents numoored, they say, 1,500 souls, nearly the whole of his caste. But since his death, the number has greatly diminished, and his son has been nearly ruined in consequence. I think I shall not find it hard to carry off hia flock. "As I had' not' a spot of ground in the valley, I intended to. encamp in the first wood I met near thn hamlet I was going to. But at this season, even the thickest wood cannot insure warmth. P«> vidence, ever kind and foreseeing, did better for me than that On approaching the village, I saw not far off, at the foot of a hill, and occupying a charming situation, one of the large cun stone buildings where travellers lodge, standing apart and easy of access, supplied with a well of excellent water. There we dismounted, and installed ourselves quite at our ease. I spent thirtj-five days in that spot, and might have spent a year without causing the slightest annoyance to any one. Ih my own district, there is not such a comfortable habitation to be found. Besides being comfortably lodged, I snjoyed the advantage of being able to see every one freely who desired to come to I me. As for the children, to speak of no others, I had more than one hundred brought to me that I might bless them. Of these, I baptized eighteen in extremis, many of whom are now in heaven. My congregationist Michael made excursions with the catechi&t, nearly every day visiting one village or another. '< However, immediately after my arrival, I took a piece of ground in the part of the village inhabited by the twelve families who were preparing for baptism. I had it enclosed and partly built a church within the bounds. On Whitsim Eve, I baptized forty-seven pagans Besides, I received the abjuration of three families formerly Catholic" one belonging to the paciahs, and the other two to the Pallers and natives of a neighbouring village, who had become Protestants, as they ingenuously said, for want of anything better, but who had had their children baptized by a .Catholic Missioaer. In this way I founded a Christian settlement of seventy souls in the valley, without countine an equal number of catechumens. " With all these satisfactory results, the campaign was not without its disappointments. The first came in this way. The caste of the Maravers is |one of the most numerous in tbe valley. Living in the valley where lam stopping, I lound their chief, This man has great influence, and held in as much awe as is a king. |My arrival in the country at first caused him offence, and he began to take measures for preventing the pariahs, the Pallers, the washerwomen, etc , having anything to do with me. This being the case, the people expected that 1 should have great difficulty in setting foot in the valley. Even the person who had sold me the site for the church dared not sign the agreement, although he was himself of the number of the catechumens and the ground was of no use to him. There was no reason for this chief taking a prejudice against me. except the fact that hia father had formerly had some disputes with the Anglican ministers, and had been ter twenty years m almost constant warfare with John. Naturally he supposed it would be the same thing with me, if I established myself m th ° valley. I was determined to let him sco that he need not be afraid of me. One fine morning, I repaired to his residence, without announcing my visit, and anattended by a suite of any kind. Making him sit down beside me, I talked to him as if I knew nothing of the it?will he entertained towards me. The plan succeeded wonderfully. Flattered by my visit, and amazed at the coolness of my address, he .©penly declared himself my friend and eve:i my humble servant. Nothing more was wanted to put a stop to every sign of hostility, and from that out the people came to me freely. He himself came several times to see me, and he would have been glad of an opportunity to do mo a service. All I asked him, however, was to let me aend my oxen

to his stables at night, for fear of the tigers which sometimes make an inoursion from the mountains. " The second trouble was, that the congregationist Michael fell grievously ill on the Sunday within the octave of the Ascension. For three days we had no hope of his recovery. He is now recovering at . DindiguL Blind as ho is, I have been obliged to take him with me to add in teaching the catechumens of my district, who now number more than a thousand ; but after the first turn, he fell ill of a bad fever, so <feat instead of being of any use, he caused me a great deal of trouble. May the will of God be done ! Extract of a letter from the Rev. Father Blanc, of the Society of Jesus, to the Rev. Father Provincial of Toulouse. " Southern Madura has at this moment 103 churches and 52 diapels, served by fifteen Missioners of the Society. "The Christian population of the locality|gave ther Bishop as grand » reception as the poverty of the inhabitants and the customs of the country would permit. Monseigneur baptized two catechumens and Confirmed a great many Christians. " From Caietar, Monseigneur Canoz repaired to a place in the most southern part of the varnicate, which he had been requested to •visit by a deputation of Christians belonging to twe castes of the Vellages and the Sanards, desirous of seeing their Bishop come to con*Becrate a church commenced seventeen years ago and now finished. This church, dedicated to the Holy Family, is of a very singular shape, representing a heart, with the altar occupying the point. Thanks to this arrangement, the Christians of the two rival castes, completely separated by a passage running the whole length of the nave of the •hurch, each see both the altar «nd the celebrant, while neither the Yellages nor the Sanards can say that they have the first or second places in church. " Tuticorn, the principal town in the southern Mission, was visited by the Bishop. Prettily built on the nhore of the Gulf of Manar, the town locks better than most Hindoo towns. In former times, the Dutch left buildings here which served as models for subsequent erections. The native population is almost exclusively composed of Christian Par«vere, a population essentially maritime, and occupied in fishing and in seeking for pearls and shells. The ansesters of these good people were converted by St. Francis Xavier, and no doubt the great apostle obtained for them the gift of that lively faith which seems to be a characteristic of the caste. Monseigneur Canoz (the Bishop) got a magnificent reception at Tuticorin. Our Bishop has had the consolation of receiving a deputation of the principal inhabitants of a pagan village, begging of him to send a Missioner to instruct them ia the Catholic faith. " At a village in former times converted by the Fathers of the old Society, there is still to be seen, near the Missioner's house, a grave where a Missioner was buried who died in 1752. Judging from iho inscription on the tomb-stone, this Father was of Hindoo origin. "At last, on the 24th of August, Monseigneur Canoz made his appearance into a village, where his long pastoral vi.itation was to have an end. In spite of their povei by, the inhabitants of the locality have erected at their own expense a very suitable church, thus giving a striking proof of their piety and their devotion to religion. "In concluding this all-too-short account, I beg to present to your Reverence a table that will show yon what labors have been undertaken and what fruits obtained by the fifteen Priests of the Southern Mission from the Ist of September, 1871, to the Ist of September, 1872 : Children of Christian parents baptized, 1,727 ; children of pagans in extremis, 467 ; children of catechumens, 45 ; adult oatechumens, 71 ; confessions, 56,960 ; communions, 60.445 ; extreme* Unctions, 279 ; confirmations, 2,928 ; marriages, 458.