Opening of a New Convent at Winton

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 35, 27 August 1903, Page 19

Opening of a New Convent at Winton

The new convent at Winton, which was blessed and opened a few Sundays ago by the Rev. father O'Neill is (says the ' Record ' handsome 1 " in design, the Gothic style of architecture having been employed, and covers an area of 42ft x 49ft. It has two storeys, rests upon concrete foundations, and is constructed of brick, set in hydraulic lime mortar. The outer walls are fourteen inches in thickness, and the structure is of a most substantial character throughout. Entrance is obtained through a neat closed-in porch, which admits one to a handsome vestibule. On the left of this is a commodious- reception room, 19ft x 15ft, lighted from the north and west. On the right is the chapel, also 19ft x 15ft, lighted from west and south and the south window, which is of cathedral glass, is occupied by the altar. These two apartments are cut off from the other portions of the building by a partition, the upper part of which is composed of cathedral and other glass. Passing from the vestibule, one comes to a hall out of which rises the stairs leading to the other floor. To the left of the hall is a community room, 12ft x 15ft, with a sunny aspect. Opposite this is the refectory, of the same dimensions, and lighted from the south. Adjoining the refectory comes a convenient kitchen, lift x 12ft, leading out of which is a pantry, 6ft x 6ft, having next to it a bathroom, storeroom, etc. Upstairs are five bedrooms, the Mother Superior's room, and an apartment which is reserved for visitors. All the inside walls of the convent are plastered, but the ceilings are of figured red pine, the doors, stairs, architraves, and dados being of the same material. Four large tanks at the rear of the building, with a holding capacity of 1600 gallons, are connected with a high-pressure boiler in the kitchen from which a hot water supply is sent to the bathroom, etc. The work was carried out in a very satisfactory manner by Mr. Birss, of Invercargill, under the supervision of Messrs. McKen r 'ie and Wilson, architects, of the same place. The building; has been erected at a cost of £1200, of which £900 has already been subscribed The occasional sermon was preached by Rev Father O'Neill, the subject being religious education, in the course of which he emphasised the necessity and importance of hawng Ihe child propci ly educated. Religious and secular training should go hand in hand. It had been contended, he said, that the Church was afraid of educated people ; 1 hat as soon as men became thoroughly educated they would not be Catholics, because they would see higher and nobler things and think for themsehes, with the result that they would cast off the authority of the Church. They were also told that the Church, being afiaid of education, was the enemy of it If theie was one man more than another who brought disgrace upon the Church— especially if he be a professed Catholic — it was the uneducated man The Catholic was not afraid of education. On the contrary the higher the education, the greater the secumy of the Church That had been the case for nearly nineteen hundred years, and would be the case to the end of time. Read of the comerts who came into the Church and would they find them coming from the ranks of the illiterate ? No, but from among the highly educated '\ his was because the more a man knew, the more enlightened his intelligence was and the nearer he came to the truth of God.