FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 183, 29 September 1876, Page 12

FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH.

To the Editor of the New Zealand Tablet. Sir, — We, the homeward-bound Sisters of Mercy from Wellington, have been informed on our arrival at Port Chalmers of the sudden death of our dear devoted pastor, the Rev. Father Petit Jean. W ill you insert in your columns this copy of a letter, his last effort for the Catholics of New Zealand, the last words he penned. We received the original, together with our beloved Father's blessing, but a few hours before starting on our mission, September 21. Alhambra, off Bluff, Sept. 22, 1876.

" Presbytery, "Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. " On the occasion of my presenting to the rev. Mother a copy of the statistics of New Zealand, for the use of the Sisters about to make a home voyage, the rev. Mother desired me to give some remarks in the form of a letter, which the travelling Sisters might show to the Superiors of the various convents where they would solicit fresh auxiliaries in the education of the Catholic youth in New Zealand. To this request I assented most cordially. *' Now, I ask from the excellent Superiors who may happen to read these lines, a favorable hearing and a true sympathy for New Zealand. I think I have a right to plead for this country. I consider myself its natural advocate. My sojourn in it of thirty-seven years, entitles me to call myself its father in an ordinary and religious point of view. Having arrived here before all government, I have spent my life in evangelising and administering the Sacraments to both natives and Europeans, in '.concert with my f ellow-laborers, the Marist Fathers. It was my sweet lot to seek Irish exiles wandering on these shores, and to impart to them the religious assistance which their state required. I cannot remember witSout emotion those Catholic soldiers to whom I administered spiritual succour in the name of their dear Church and country, in the camp, in the field, in hospitals, aye, on their death-bed, when, being mortally wounded, they had to be prepared for their last passage. I mention these things in the spirit of thanksgiving to God, and to enlist the sympathies of hearts for my New Zealand mission. All that could be said in favor of new colonies, in thai way to invite to their shores new holy laborers, applies to New Zealand a hundredfold. Here is a colony growing rapidly to almost an empire. The nine or ten provinces of which it ia composed would form each of them a most important settlement. Apart from the native population, the inhabitants of New Zealand now reach the number of upwards of four hundred thousand. Immigration alone adds every year nearly thirty thousand. A good many people are attracted to this land by the known advantage of its Boil and climate. It would not be surprising to see before many years. New Zealand get ahead of Victoria in population and prosperity. Such being the case, those who preside over the Catholic Church in these islands feel distressed, and are really alarmed, because thej are not prepared to meet the urgent demand of clergy and teachers, of churches and schools. To put off indefinitely the accomplishment of their desire would be disastrous, because the forty thousand Catholics, of whom the greater number are scattered over New Zealand, mixed among infidels or sectarians, or men quite indifferent in matters of religion, would necessarily run the risk of losing their faith. In the very centres of population, the Church does not keep her ground without some difficulty. What is moreparticularly wanted is an increase of good teachers and devoted Sisters. The ground is clear before us. The bishops hare repudiated the so-called national education, the baneful effects of which have been already keenly felt even ia this country. Having

rejected the doubtful favors of Government, they have made appeal to their flocks for the construction of large schools j thus, in Wellington alone, a house for Christian Brothers with a great central school-room is on the eve of erection. The Sisters of Mercy also have begun a structure, which will prove a magnificent convent. They have received a fine gift of land in one of the principal towns in the vicinity of the Empire City — Wellington. The inhabitants of that district, and foremost amongst them Protestants, come to express their readiness to co-operate in. the erection of convents and schools on those spots. So many voices call eloquently for help. I believe sincerely, that all the Sisters that can be spared and are not bound by too strong ties, should abandon themselves to the grace of God and hasten to New Zealand. The promptness of their charity will be twice meritorious, because of critical times and the urgent need of help. Delay would prove fatal to religion and to many children of St. Patrick. For want of Christian instruction, generations of people would be alienated from their ancestral Church. In the course of time, New Zealanders would be met with names of Catholic Ireland, but without its faith, without its love, to the horror and compassion of their brothers in blood. Let none be deterred from proceeding to New Zealand for fear of being deprived of facilities for observing rules, and prosecuting the work of perfection. I have the opportunity of observing that, in the very convent of Wellington in particular, the discipline of the Order is perfectly observed, and the means of sanctification are the same as at home. I might say many other things, or repeat the same in various ways, to induce the good Sisters of Mercy to come and join their fellow-sisters in New Zealand. I abstain, because a letter from a poor missionary must have limits, and be free from pretention. What I have said is cold, and far from conveying my warm feelings on the subject, but I commit my cause and its utterance to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I ask Him fervently to awake in the hearts of His pious spouses, a spark of His Divine Charity, by which He would excite them to do quickly for Him and for souls dear to Him, what is done for material interests and worldly enjoyments ; that is, to part with country, with persons dear to them, and in imitation of ancient monks and nuns, to emigrate in large numbers, and by founding colonies of their Order in a new country of so great importance, to co-operate in the extention of the sweet empire of Jesus and Mary. "I wish that my hearers could understand the simple but agreeable language of the native New Zealander, I would end my letter by an appeal in the name of the Maoris and in their language. I would say — • Haere mai, haere mai (come to us, come to us) ; kio .hohoro (make haste). Haere mai-ki a matou c nga mahine tapu-haere mai ki te wha Kaako i o matou tomariki haere mai-e nga matua poi. (Come amongst us, come, ye holy virgins of Christ, come teach our children, come, good mothers, come).' In reality, is not that simple language touching, and can we help hearing such moving accents ? — I remain, in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, your obedient servant, " J. Bap. Petit Jbau, Priest, S.M."