DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 11, 13 March 1902, Page 19

DIOCESE OF CHRISTCHURCH.

(From oar own correspondent.) March 10. There is a large number of Catholics : among the crews of the Australasian Squadron now in Lyttelton harbor. On the cruiser Phoebe alone there are, I am told, 40 of our co-religionista. Two Sisters of Our Lady of Missions, from the Christchurch Convent, left recently for Fremantle, Western Australia, to assist in the foundation of a new community of the Order there. Other Sisterß will probably be sent from Europe to join them. The choir of St. Mary's Church propose rendering Rossini's ' Stabat Mater,' with full orchestral accompaniment, on Palm Sunday. Owing to the difficult nature of the eolo music this part will be undertaken by outside assistance.

At Benediction in the Pro-Cathedral on Sunday evening Miss McLoughlin gave a very devotional rendering of an ' O Salutar s,' by Bialli. On next Sunday evening, Paßsion Sunday, the choir are to produce Rossini's ' Stabat Mater ' in its entirety. The arrangements in connection with the St. Patrick's Day celebrations are now almost complete. Large entries have been received for the athletic and cycling events to be hsld in Lancaster Park, and a first-class programme has been prepared for the concert to be held in Canterbury Hall in the evening. The afternoon of Monday is proclaimed a half-holiday, and it has been notified that almost every business firm has agreed to close. The Coronation Carnival, now bein^ vigorously promoted to assist the building fund of St Mary's presbytery, Manchester sfcrt-et, is to be opened on May 15. The services of Misa Low, a lady who has had considerable experience in Melbourne, Invercargill, and elsewhere, have been secured for rehear^iug the children in dancing 1 , marching, grouping, etc. ; and the Woolston Brass Band has been engaged for the season. A most varied, novel, and attractive programme is in course of preparation, and all connected with the carnival are working assiduously to make the event a success. A lesson in geography was being given in one of our suburban State schools the other day (where, by the way, religion and religious matters are supposed to have no place whatever). The lady teacher was dilating upon Rome, and pointing to St. Peter's and the Vatican said to the class: 'This great bailding was erected by Catholics from monies raised by the sale of indulgences.' A little Catholic girl, who was one of the claas, immediately replied : ' We don't sell indulgences and we don't buy them either.' ' Silence ' said the teacher, ' or I will send you to the headmaster for punishment.' As a sequel to the recent Stoke inquiry, one of the precious witnesses, formerly an inmate but later on transferred to Burnham, and subsequently sent up to Nelson to give evidence for the proBecution in that sorry affair, has now, it may be presumed, found his proper level and abode. This youth, a few weeks ago, escaped from Burnham (which model institution, by the way, is having a rather unenviable notoriety of late in the number of its escapees), and persuaded another inmate to accompany him. Coming to the city, they at night broke into a drapery store and thoroughly equipped themselves. Making their way into the country again, they were fed and provided with accommodation for the succeeding night by a kindly-intentioned but too confiding farmer, whom they repaid the following morning by taking hiß best horse, saddle and bridle, and another horse from a neighbour. Starting at daybreak they managed to reach the Waiau on their way, as, they told the arresting constable, to Kaikoura, where they hoped to dispose of their spoil, catch a steamer, and hie away to Auckland to join the Ninth Contingent. Their patriotic zeal was prematurely nipped. Constable Roche overtook them, and turned their footBteps, or rather those of their mounts, citywards, where eventually the worst offender was sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Lyttelton gaol, and the other sent back to Burnham. A training ship is what is sadly needed for this class, so as to put an effectual stop to their promiscuous roaming about the country.