THE SYNOD OF THE IRISH BISHOPS A.T MAYNOOTH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 133, 19 November 1875, Page 7

THE SYNOD OF THE IRISH BISHOPS A.T MAYNOOTH.

The Synod opened on Tuesday, 31st August, at St. Patricks College, Maynooth. The special correspondent of the ' Freeman's Journal' gives the following description of the ceremonial at the opening : — At about half -past nine o'clock the college belled out its warning tones, and soon there was a greater stir about the college squares and cloisters. The Prelates who, in mitres of white or of cloth of gold, and in amice or red cope, began to stream into the chapel of St. Joseph, which had been fixed upon as the place whence the procession was to start, and there awaited the coming of the eminent and illustrious Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, to whom is confided the responsibility of presiding over the Council. At a few minutes before ten o'clock intimation was conveyed to his Eminence that all was now in readiness, and immediately after■wards, accompanied by tlie ministers of the Mass, the masters of ceremonies, the cross-bearers, and other attendants, his Eminence entered St. Joseph's Chapel, and was received with all reverence "by the venerable assembly. He was then vested in cope and jewelled mitre, and some preliminary arrangements and formalities having been concluded the procession was formed, mid word was given that it should be set in motion. It was a charming morningjust then, and the grass and the foliage of the college square looked exquisitely fresh and green. First in the procession came the clergy of the religious orders not belonging to the Synod ; after them followed the secular clergy not belonging to the Synod; to these succeeded the choir of pnebts charged with the sacred music of the day. After the choir came the thco ogians of the Bishops; next came the provincials of religious orders; then the capitular dignitaries ; then followed the officers of the Council, "with the procurators of absent Bishops; then the prelates themselves; and, lastly, the Cardinal President of the Council, When the procession began to move the hymn " Veni Creator" was intoned by the choir, and was caught up and sung in .unison by the whole hody of the procession. The scene was a striking one, as the long array moved on in the sunlight around thf college grounds. When the circuit of the college grounds was made the procession entered the chapel, and the cleryy, dignitaries, and Bishops took the seats marked out for them by the masters of the ctiu monies on either side the choir. The old college chapel has witnessed m it.- time many sacred scenes. It has witnessed the conseciation of Bishops — it has seen thousands of Levites ordained into the prie jthcucl. — it has been sanctified by hundreds upon hundredb of "trbt Masses" oll't. red at its altars; it has has echoed to sad requiems chanted for dead students and superiors, but i^s crowning glery was reserved for Friday, when it became the mccting-phico of a National Synod. It is true that it all'orded scarcely the resources requisite for such an event, and much of the splendour of

the day's ceremonial was impaired because of the want of altar space. But it would have been a pity if it had passed away without leaving as an additional item for its history the fact of being the hall of a Council of the Irish Church. The following is a list of the prelates and others who were assembled in the church :—: — The Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin ; Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland ; Archbishop of Tuam ; Archbishop of Cashel; the Bishops of Droinore, Derry, Down and Connor, Kilmore, Cloghor, Ossory, Raphoe, Ferns, Ardagh, Cork, Ross, Killaloe, Limerick, Waterford, Cloyne, Achonry, Elphin, Galway, Clonfert, Killala, Kild&re; the Vicar- Apostolic of Madras, and the Abbot of Mount Melleray, Among the superiors of religious orders present were — Very Revs. Father Walshe, Provincial of the Jesuits; Father Dove, Provincial of the Vincentians; Father Cook, Provincial of the Oblates ; Father Conway, Provincial of the Dominicans ; Father Cosgrave, Provincial of Franciscans; and Father Holland, Provincial of the Discalced Carmelites. Canonists and theologions — Very Rev. Dr. Levins, P.P., Ardee ; Monsignor Woodlock, Rector of the Catholic University ; Dr. Quinn, P.P., V.G., Armagh; Dr. O'Flanagan, P.P., V.G., Ardagh ; Dean MacMahon and Canon Bermingham, Clogher; Professor Croly, Maynooth; Dr. Finegan, Kilmore; Dean Uantwell and Dr. Ryan, Cashel ; Dean Neville and Canon Sheehan, Cork; Archdeacon O'Resjan, P.P., Mallow; Dr. Whitehead, ex-V.P., Maynooth ; Dr. M'Carthy, V.P., Maynooth ; Dr. Molloy, Vice-Rector, Catholic University; Dr. Walshe, Professor of theology, Maynooth; Dr. Clery and Canon Lee, P.P., Bray; Dean Brown, Maynooth ; Dr. O'Malley, Killaloe; Dr. Macnamara, President of the Irish College, Paris. The Very Rev. Dr. Tynan and Father O'Higgins, who acted as reporters at the Vatican Council perform the same duty at the present National Synod. Having recited the prayers of invocation to the Blessed Virgin, to St. Patrick, and to St. Laurence O'Tool, the Cardinal President vested for Mass, which was then celebrated with all the ritual observances prescribed in the book of ceremonies. His Eminence was attended by the following ministers — The assistant priest was the Very Rev. Monsijnor M'Cabe, P.P., V.G. ; the assistant deacons of the throne weve the Very Rev. Dr. Woodlock, and the Very Rev. Canon Keogh ; the deacon and sub-deacon of the Mass were the Rev. Father Pee, C.C., Marlbourgh street, and the Rev. William Cullen; and the masters of the ceremonies -were the Rev. Father M'Swiggan, the Rev. Dr. Tynan, and the Rev. Father Higgins. At the conclusion of the Mass the Lord Bishop of Dromore ascended the pulpit, and preached an impressive and practical sermon. His lordship was dressed in the black episcopal dress peculiar to the Order of St. Dominick, of which he is a distinguished son. We append a report of his Lordship's address to the Fathers of the Council : — " Preach the Word, be instant in season, and out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke, in all patience, and in all doctrine." " My Lords, Very Rev. and Rev. Brethren, — When we reflect on the nature and requiiemeuts of the office in which it has pleased God to place us, Bishops and priests, our minds nrust he filled with, grateful astonishment at the dignity to which we have been raised, and at the same time awe-struck with the terrible responsibility which it involves. We are the ambassadors of Christ, to make known his commands, and to announce the treasures of His mercy, and the rigours of His justice. Pro Chrisio legaUone fungimur. We are the appointed teachers of the science immeasurably surpassing in value and sublimity the grandest discoveries of modern science. Nay, we are the helpers of God, not indeed in creation, which cost him only a word, a simple command, but in that great work for which He laboured during the three and thirty years of His blessed life, and for which He poured forth all His blood, even to the last drop that warmed His breaking heart. We have been invested with powers which He did not confide even to His angels. On the day of His resurrection, when He triumphed over sin and death, He left us, in the person of His Apostles, the wonderful power of breaking the chains of Satan, and restoring to the poor sinner his forfeited rights to everlasting bliss. 'As the Father,' said He, ' hath sent me, so I send you. Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins ye shall forgive shall be forgiven, and whose sms you shall retain sh ill "be retained.' At our bidding the very Son of God comes down on our altars, we receive Him into our bosom ; every day we unite ourselves to Him in the closest of unions. Noii fecit taliter omni natione. But according to the. sublimity of our calling shall be the depths of our degradation, if we neglect to perform the duties of our state, or perform them in a heartless or careless manner. On the day of final retribution Almighty God will bring us to account for the nock entrusted to us, and it is our first, our most necessary duty to guard that flock from the wiles of Satan, from the insidious stratagems or open persecutions of his proselytising agents. Faith is the foundation of all that renders our conduct meritorious to Him; without faith we cannot please God. Christ tells us Himself that he who believes not shall be condemned. Now, we have assembled here with the sanction, the warm approval of Christ's Vicar on earth, chiefly to guard that faith from every danger to which it is constantly exposed. For that purpose sanctity in the priests is an absolute condition. No matter what our learning, no matter what our eloquence, no matter what our talents or ability to detect the sophistries of those who oppose that faith, all will fail unless we aspire to that sanctity which Christ proposes to us by His example. If the Irish priests should ever become lukewarm in defending the interests ot God — it they should become zealous in promoting their t-smporal interests, but lukewarm in forwarding tho interests of God and the salvation of soiils; if they waste their time in unnecessary amusements or in study which does not appertain to their sacred office ; if they be vain, supercilious, estranged from the poor, then very soon the attachment which the Irish people feel towards thoir clergy will evaporate, the Sacraments, the source of grace, will be neglected, and the bonds which bind and have bound tho

Irish Church, to the Rock of Peter will be loosened, or perhaps snapped asunder. Veneration, -will give -way to dislike, dislike to hostility, and between hostility to the priests and a total disregard to religion, there are only very few steps. Whereas, if the priests be men of G-od, devoted to His service, devoted to prayer, to the fulfilment of their duties to the Church, then the people will still continue to love and venerate them, and all the stratagems and wiles of Satan will be completely baffled. Persecution will only endear still more the priests to the hearts of their people. It is by these means that we are to transmit unimpaired the faith ■which was bought for us on the Hill of Calvary, and preserved not only by the direct grace of God, but by the heroic sufferings of our ancestors. It is by these means that we shall be enabled to transmit the faith to future generations, to be to them the fruitful source of everything good. But, how are we to obtain this sanctity of life so necessary for our own salvation, and the salvation of our flock ? It is by keeping constantly before our eyes the great Model of Sanctity, Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and by endeavoring at all times to fashion our words, our thoughts, and our actions on His bright example, so that we may be qualified to say to our flock what St. Paul said to the Christians oi' his day — " lie ye imitators of me as lam of Christ Jesus." Now what were the virtues which Our Blessed Lord displayed in His own person, and proposed for our example ? First. He was humble ; He lowered Himself to the deepest humiliation ; He was born in a vile stable, and He expired on an. infamous gibbet. After being spat upon, struck on the face, hooted as a fool, derided as a mock king, and scourged at a pillar, He was crowned with thorns and crucified. Oh what an example of humility is this ! And He cmorces example by the truths He enounces. He has told us that trie true path to lasting grandeur is the path of humility. He has warned us that unless we become as little children we shall not enter into Hid kingdom. He has told us that he who has humbled himself even as a little child shall be the greater in the kingdom of Heaven. He assures us that the poor sorrowing publican, notwithstanding his misdeeds, of which he repented, was lar greater in the sight ol G-od than the proud Pharisee with all his sliowy virtues. Now this virtue of humility is certainly the groundwork, the basis of all that is solid in the Christian character. Pride is the mark of Satan upon the soul. Pride is the source of innumerable sins in all, aud especially whenever it is found in the clergy. It is the source of disobedience, quarrelling, detraction, oi enmities, and, worst of all, of heresies. "What was it that led those men, Ar±us, Nestorius, Eutyches, Pelagius, Photius, Luther, Calvin — wuat induced these men to rebel against the Church of God, leading' myriads with them to destruction ? What was it but intellectual pride ? Then it is for us to search into the recesses of our own hearts to see whether that vice of pride, that fatal infatuation of the mind dAvolls within our bjsoms. Are we humbie V Are we better pleased to minister in the lower places of the sanctuary than in its exalted stations that involve the terrible responsibility tor the greater number of souls ? Are we free from amuition ¥ or, on the other hand, are we habituated to dwell upon our learning, upon our talents, upon our eloquence, or upon our virtues ? Do we bear with slights, or do we not take tire at the least affront, real or supposed ? Oh, if such be the case, let us implore of Almighty God, through the intercession of the greatest created model ot humility, the humblest of all creatures, the blessed Mother of God, to grant us the grace of true humility; which, by making us imitate (Jurist in this world, will insure tor us a place near Him in His own bright kidgdom in the next. But Christ was not only humble ; He was also s meek. The bruised reed He did not break; the smoking tiax He did not extinguish. He bore not only the ignorance, the stupidity, tlie contentions of His disciples ; but He bore also the outrages, the savage cruelties which were heaped upon Hun. And when the yells o; gratihed malice mocked at every aeath throe that quivered through His lacerated frame -what was ±iis petition to His Heavenly father? Was it for punishment on those ungrateiui beings V No. " Father," He exclaimed, "forgive them ; tuey know not what they do." Oh, this is true charity. Tins is the charity that we as priests and Bishops are called upon to imitate. If we wish to be recognised as the true followers, oi Chris. t on His judgment Day we must love all — whether friends or lues, whether strangers or our iollow-countrymen ; whe her those of our own religion or those who are unhappily wandering m the mazes oi error. We must love especially the members ot our flock, not only in word, but in deed and in truth. Wo must love even them when their misdeeds wring our hearts with anguish. Our love must pursue them in their wanderings, hoping all things, bearing all things, ready to sacrifice ourselves for their everlasting happiness. But the great virtue that appeared in the conduct oi Our Blessed Lord was devotedness to Bis Father aud His Father's interests. He came into this world, as He says, not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him. What are the lirst words recorded of Him? "Do you not know," said He to His blessed mother, "that I must be about My Father's business?" What meat refreshed Him in His weary journey in quest of lost souls ? He tells us Himself it was the doing the will of His Father. It was this that caused Him to have recourse to prayer as His best consolation amidst all the ingratitude that Ho met with from men. After days of fatigue he spent all nights in prayer, as the Evangelists assure us. When tit Jerusalem He was accustomed, when the shadows of evening were falling upon the earth, to retire to the dark olive grove, and there pour iorth to His Bcavenly Father expressions of burning love mid petitions for unhappy man. And so invariable was this custom that the traitor Juuas, without the slightest hesitation, meeting the satellites of the High Pviest, went to the garden, certain that he would there iincl his betrayed Master in prayer. This is the great virtue at which we should all aim. This ought t:> bo the true characteristic of the priest. This it is which will render his yoke sweet and his burden light. Form all the resolutions we may* our re&olutioiis shall be broken, our courage

shall fail, and we shall find our struggles against unruly inclinations too -wearisome, and the temptations of life too powerful for weakness such, as ours. Bat if we love God in the way He comnaands — with our whole hearb, our whole soul, with all our mind and all our strength, then virtue, instead of being a wearisome task, will become the source of the greatest delight, producing in us that blessed peace, that banquet of the soul, that sunshine of the heart, wluch true lovers of Christ will always enjoy. Now is this devoted love of God the mainspring of all our actions ? Is it for this we have labored ? Is it i'or tins we have prayed ? Is this tlie animating principle of all our conduct ? If it is not, if we do not give oar hearts fully to God, then, indeed, we shall wander away from His service, and we shall become the odour of destruction instead of the odour of life to our flock. Let us remember at all times that if we had faith to remove mountains, ii" we had the gifts of prophecy and of all knowledge, if we spoke with the tongues of angels, still if we had not that full and all-penetrating love of God, we are aa worthless in His sight even as sounding- brass and tinkling cymbals. Humility, patience, and charity, devoted love of God, are the graces w e ought to imitate from the example set us by Christ. Let us pray to Almighty God that we may copy them into our conduct; that we may disregard the pleasures and pomps of this world, •which He despised ; and which on our baptism day we promiseow renounce. Then we shall be as living gospels to our flock. They shall see in our conduct how Christ would have acted under similar circumstances ; tlieir hearts shall be still united, that so the faith shall be preserved and transmitted irom generation to generation, to be the best blessing to God's people. And if in cultivating a spirit of holiness to enable us to triumph over every temptation, we imd constant watchfulness and every sacrifice of inclination necessary, let us go in spirit to Pilot's hall or to the hill of Calvary, and see how the yon of God loved us, how His love was written for us by the scourge that tore His back, and the iron nails driven into His quivering hands and feet ; let us there tliink of the amazing reward whic 1 He has prepared lor us. Generous as we may be towards Him, God will never be outdone in generosity. There is not a sacrifice which wo make for Him that Ho will not abundantly repay, and in a manner worthy of His own most bountiful nature. He has promised that He will seat us on His throne ; that we shall enter into joy; that we shall have all that bliss winch the human heart could not in its present state endvre without absolutely breaking with delight, and which, even in its disembodied state, it I could not bear unless it was fortilied by another gift from God — the light of glory. Let us then constantly think of these immense rewards, lor we are assured that " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart oi man to conceive the joys which God has prepared lor those who love him." When the sermon had finished the Cardinal took his place at j the faldstool beiore the altar and en toned the psalm " iSaCvum me fac," which was continued to its close by the prelates and. the choir of priests. His Eminence then pronounced the solemn invocation to the Holy Ghost that He would descend upon the Council and guide its deliberations, so that no human consideration— neither i ear nor favor — should cause its members to deviate in the least decree irom the way of truth and justice. The Litany of the Saints was next sung, bis Eminence invoking a blessing on the Council before tne conclusion of the supplications ; that portion of the Gospel of St. Luke which records the sending i'orbh by our Lord of His Apostles "to preach the Kingdom of God and heal the infirm" was chanted by the deacon ; the hymn ot the Holy Ghost was again solemnly and impressively given by the assembled ecclesiastics, and the public portion of the inauguration was then completed. All not belonging- to the Synod were requested to retire, the chapel doors wore closed, and the Council Avent into the session for deliberation and. for business. It will, no doubt, have beon remarked that we have made no mention of a lay attendance at the c oremonial. There were, indeed, some of the laity present, but tney were very few. This is easily accounted ior. The College chapel is very small, and it was feared that it any public intimation were given that the laity would be admitted to the function such numbers would have come as it j would luive been lound absolutely impossible to accommodate in the chapel. We need not s.iy that this absence was not caused by any mamerence to the solemn and touching rite of the day — they would have been present m thousands it room for the tnousands could have been provided. If they -were not present in body, they were present in spirit, and we are sure that tfcere was not a parish in Ireland m which, many and many a, prayer was not offered yesterday lor every needful light and guidance lor tlie venerable assembly that is now congregated in Maynooth. Had the new church of the college, ior which all so anxiously longing, and whose want was never more paiuiully felt than on yesterday, been in existence in all its liuo proportions and capacities, it would have been found only too limited to have received all of Ireland's priesthood and laity who would have gladly thronged to tlie function of the Coimcil's inauguration. — ' London Tablet. 3

Escst-asd and Fkaxce as Wine Diunkehs. — Mr. Tizetelly iv his " Wines of the World" tells us that, with all the increased consumption of wino in the United Kingdom, a comparison of the quanLity drunk during the year 1»72 by 1,851,7925 Parisians, with the quantity con&iuued during the same year by 3J.,G28,y38 inhabitants of Groat Jinlaiu and Ireland, tho«s how little a wine-drinking people we really are. The Parisians drank no less than 85,849,30' ii gallons of vino, equal to d.v.V gallons per head, whereas the entire population of the LJmtorl Kingdom drank merely 1^878,1(59 gallons, or less than one-filth ot the quantity consumed by the inhabitants of Paris alone, and only a little beyon.i halt' a gallon per head. Fokged P.ank Notes!. — Her Majesty's Consul at Stockholm reports that the banks in Sweden will no longer cash Bank of England notes, in consequence of the numerous forgeries said to bo in circula* lion on the Continent,