RECEPTION OF BISHOP REDWOOD AT NELSON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 93, 6 February 1875, Page 11

RECEPTION OF BISHOP REDWOOD AT NELSON.

The Right Rev. Francis Redwood, D.D., Roman Catholic Bishop of Wellington, arrived by the Phoebe yesterday morning, which, by a strange coincidence, was the 21st anniversary of his departure from Nelson. The ships were gay with, bunting on the occasion, as was the signal staff and several flagstaffs in town. His arrival was announced by the firing of a gun from Britannia Heights. At 2 p.m. his Lordship, accompanied by the Church Committee, drove up to the junction of Nile and Collingwood streets, where a procession had been formed of the members of the congregation, and the children attending St. Mary's schools, with gay flags and j banners of every description. On his arrival, the Artillery Band, j engaged for the occasion, struck up the Gloria from Mozart's Twelfth Mass, at the conclusion of which the Bishop descended from his carruui^ svid • following address from the laity was read to him by L. ■ or q., R.M. : — To the Right I.i •. . i'rai' jledwood, D.D., Bishop of Wellington. The Laity of Nelson desire v to offer you a most cordial welcome on your return to the scenes of your youth. The son of a much respected pioneer of this province, and educated during boyhoodat St. Mary's Station, you come back to us, after some years absence, a Bishop of the Church, with peculiar claims upon our affection. We take this opportunity of acknowledging how much we owe to our dear friend and priest Father Garin, whose simple goodness and piety will be held in tender remembrance by our children's children; to w"iose zeal Aye are indebted for many good works, including the piesence of the Sisters of the Convent, .whose untiring usefulness in the cause of education we most gratefully recognise. But while we specially name Father Garin, Aye wish to mention also those other pious men who have acted from time to time as curates of this parish, whose self-denying lives have ever been to us as bright examples. We assure your Lordship of our unfailing devotion to the Sovereign Pontiff, of oxu? deep sympathy with him in his trials and persecutions, and our admiration of his patient endurance. • It will be a pleasure to us to aid in all good works which you may be pleased to contiuue or initiate in this part of the Diocese, and among them we hope it may be possible to make arrangements

for the higher education of Catholic youth, either by founding a College affiliated to the New Zealand University (which includes a Catholic Bishop and two laymen in its Council), or by the erection of a boarding house under the immediate supervision of the clergy, enable our youths to take advantage of an existing institution, or in any other way that may be most desirable. We believe that with God's blessing your Lordship's labors here will prove of great benefit to the cause of religion, and we, your faithful children, will constantly pray the Almighty to strengthen and support you, that you may be spared for many years to God's service, and may grow daily in His grace, as you surely will in the affections of your people. Mr. Ferris then read the following address from the working classes : — May it please your Lordship — We, the undersigned members of the Nelson congregation, for, and on behalf of, the working classes, beg to congratulate your Lordship vipon your visit to this portion of our large diocese, and to thank you for the honor you nave done this parish in giving us so early an opportunity of expressing our attachment and devotion to your Lordship and our Holy Father the Pope. There are some of us who remember you as a boy, and all of us are acquainted with your good family, and what they have done towards fostering our holy religion, and it is a great pleasure to us to sice one taken from those we know to occupy so elevated a position. We are not expected, nor have we the means, to give you an elaborate or costly address, but in all sincerity we can say we welcome you, we rejoice at your being appointed over us, and we will endeavor to obey and please you. In conclusion, we numbly invite your Lordship to bestow on us your episcopal blessing. (Here follow the signatures.) j The procession then started for the church, the Band playing one of the Oratory Hymns, which was changed to " None of all the I noblest cities " on arrival at the building where the Bey. A. M. Garin, who was much affected on the occasion of welcoming back to Nelson, in so elevated a position, his former pupil, read the following address : — To the Right Rev. Dr. Redwood, Bishop of Wellington. May it please your Lordship — Our hopes at last are realised, our wishes accomplished. We had been left in a long bereavement by the unexpected death of i our venerated and Holy Pastor, Bishop Viard. That lamented prelate, after having administered this Diocese during the long period of eighteen years, has gone to receive the reward of his labors ; and we, his flock, remained orphans. It was natural for us to form hopes and^to express wishes. It is not necessary to say with what gladness the happy tidings of your Lordship's nomination to the See of Wellington were received here both by clergy and laity. But if such was the universal joy, what will your Lordship think of the feelings of one who, several years ago, used to call you My Son, and who, by a providential inversion, rejoices now to call your Lordship My Father, My Lord ! Already we had heard of your consecration by the eminent Archbishop Manning, and anticipated soon to enjoy your presence. But your Lordship could not leave Europe without paying a visit to our glorious and most afflicted Sovereign Pontiff. From him you had received a spiritual mission. He was in sorrow, he was a captive ; yet he had in. his hand the power which rules the world ; he had in his mouth the words of wisdom — words which impart life, words which striking the ear penetrate the heart, and are never forgotten ; he had special blessings for those who approach him. This was your Lordship's object, to obtain from him a blessing for yourself, and one for your newly adopted flock ; and it is that precious blessing which we hope to receive to-day from you. Now, my Lord, allow us, clergy of Nelson, to express our jubilation at the remembrance of the days of your youth. It was here, on this very spot, in this school, in our little Chiirch, that we mingled -with yoiu* boyhood's diversions, your studies, and your promising virtues. This we consider most auspicious, and our endeavors under your solicitous influence will receive a new impulse to make his work to develop and improve this establishment, which your Lordship has seen in its infancy. England, as you have alluded to in your first circular, gave you birth ; New Zealand nursed your childhood j France educated your youth ; Ireland won your affections by your teaching her sons there; Italy entertained you as her guest. These facts alone, besides that Catholic spirit of faith which characterises our Holy Church and unites the members of different nations in one, will also be as a natural and powerful tie which will cement a mutual j affection between the Pastor and his flock. ! But what endears your person to us in a special manner, is the fact of the selection the Sovereign Pontiff made of your Lordship to the sublime dignity of the Episcopate ; yes, if his Holiness laid this heavy responsibility on your young shoulders, it was because it Avas supported by tried virtues and acquired merits, for " venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years, but the understanding of a man is gray hairs, and a spotless life is old age." — (Wisd. iv., 8, 9.) In conclusion, my Lord, allow me personally to entreat your Lordship that, as in your boyhood I often gave you my blessing, you will, in return, now impart to me yours ; mine was only a sacerdotal one, and yet it may be its effect which has worked in your young heart the grace of God ; yours is an Episcopal, and therefore a more efficacious one j* what have I not to expect from such a blessing, particularly when it is enriched with that of the Sovereign Pontiff. The procession then entered the church, which was crowded to overflowing, and the choir having sung a Te Deum, the Bishop replied to the addresses as follows :—: — Dear Brethren and Friends— X desire to thank you most sincerely for your kind addresses, and for your very cordial welcome, and the town of Nelson for all its display in honor of the

Prelate sent out by the successor of St. Peter to preach the truth in these parts. The flags flying from the masts, from the wharf, and from the hill-top, and the solemn voice of the cannon, and the decorations in the streets, I look upon as a token of your affection to one who is essentially a child of this town. Ido not claim any special merit for myself with regard to the position I now occupy, which, under God, is owing to the venerable man who has so long been your pastor, and who is so earnest, so single-minded, and so hearty in the service of God. To him you are indebted for one who now comes to you in the name of Christ to preach His word. I thank the Laity for the kindly sentiments displayed by all classes and conditions of society, and especially for their expressions of affection for and sympathy with their venerable pastor. It does not perhaps suit the solemnity and joyfulness of the present occasion to allude to our Sovereign Pontiff, now persecuted and imprisoned in his own palace, but I must thank you for the sympathy, endearment, and love towards him expressed in your address. I thank the clergy, too, not only him to whom I have specially referred, but the others, and to all who have assisted in the progress of the Church. Tears ago I left here, scarcely knowing whither I was going, but through all my career I trace the hand of a watchful Providence, which has led me on from step to step, and circumstance to circumstance, until I return to my early home appointed to the highest office the Church has at her disposal. Asa child, I have joined with many of you in partaking of the religious ministrations, the sacraments, and the instruction afforded at this church, and it is with no little pleasure that I now return to it in my present position. I rely much on the spirit of good feeling hitherto displayed in this town, and exhort you to continue in it that you may always remain in peace with your neighbors. I wish sincerely that I may be, and do, that which you express in your addresses, but I must largely rely on your co-operation and your prayers, and then I may say, with St. Augustine, " I shall be happy if you do that which I tell you, and you will be happy if you will obey me." Hitherto I have omitted to refer to the schools, the pupils of which I see to-day dressed like an orchard in bloom, and I look to those flowers to yield rich fruits. If 1 have forgotten to allude to any particular class, it is not intentional, for I look upon all around as old acquaintances, and each spot in this neighborhood speaks eloquently to me of- the past, and stirs my every feeling to its utmost depths, as I recall the memories of my childish days. I will now pronounce the blessing I have brought to you from Home where I saw the Holy Father who is the admiration of the world. I have spoken to him of this remote country, in which he takes the greatest interest, and I bring from him the most kindly sentiments towards you, while for my own part I now pronounce the Episcopal blessing. ! His Lordship then pronounced the benediction. — 'Evening Mail.'